The '''VAL''' Function returns the decimal numerical equivalent value of a [[STRING]] numerical value.
{{PageSyntax}}
:: value = VAL(string_value$)
* VAL converts string numbers to numerical values including decimal point values and prefixed "[[&H]]" hexadecimal, "[[&O]]" octal.
* VAL conversion stops at non-numeric characters except for letter "D" or "E" exponential notation values.
:String values with "D" and "E" letters between numbers may be converted also! EX: '''{{text|VAL("9D4") <nowiki>=</nowiki> 90000|green}}'''
* If the first string character is not a number VAL returns 0. VAL may return erratic values with "%" or "&" starting characters.
* Hexadecimal [[HEX$]] string values with the "[[&H]]" prefix can be converted to a decimal value with digits 0 to 9 and letters A to F, like; dec = VAL("&H"+hexvar$).
* In QB64 use an [[INTEGER]] return variable to hold integer values returned by VAL [[HEX$|Hex]] strings: '''{{text|value% <nowiki>= VAL("&HFFFF") =</nowiki> -1|green}}'''
:''Explanation:'' 10 + 33 + 1 = 44, the strings were converted to values.
:You have to convert the string to values in order to use them in a mathematical expression also since mixing strings with numbers isn't allowed. VAL will stop at a text letter so VAL("123G56) would return 123.
:If VAL wasn't used the program would break with an error, as you can't add the value 1 to a string, if the 1 was a string ("1") then the program would return "10331", but now since we used VAL, the numbers were added as they should.
hexnumber$ = "&H" + {{Cl|HEX$}}(decnumber%) 'convert decimal value to hex and add hex prefix
PRINT hexnumber$
decimal% = {{Cl|VAL}}(hexnumber$)
PRINT decimal% '' ''
{{CodeEnd}}
{{OutputStart}}
&H60
96
{{OutputEnd}}
: ''Explanation:'' [[HEX$]] converts a decimal number to hexadecimal, but [[VAL]] will only recognize it as a valid value with the "&H" prefix. Especially since hexadecimal numbers can use "A" through "F" in them. Create a converter function from this code!