Whole number, decimal and float

What it is

Three column types hold plain numbers. Whole Number holds integers from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647. Decimal Number holds up to 10 decimal places. Floating Point Number holds up to 5. Decimal and float values lie between -100,000,000,000 and 100,000,000,000. The form shows the number with the group and decimal separators from the user's Personalization settings.

When to use it

Use Whole Number for counts, Decimal Number for values where exact digits matter, and Floating Point Number for approximate measures. Use Currency for money, because it adds the currency symbol and an exchange rate. A Whole Number with the Duration format is covered under Duration.

Licensing and configuration

No extra licence. Set the data type, Minimum value, Maximum value and, for decimals, the precision in the table designer. The user's number format comes from Personalization settings, so you do not configure it on the column.

Pitfalls

• You cannot change the data type once a column is saved, so decide between decimal and float early.
• Float stores approximate values. Do not use it for amounts that must add up exactly.
• Values outside the minimum and maximum are refused with a message. See Field validation.
• Users who type a number in another locale's format get unexpected values. Check the format in Personalization settings first.

Try it in the demo

1. Open the Numbers section of the first accelerator.
2. Edit Whole number, Decimal and Float and note how many decimals each allows.
3. Open Personalization settings in the gear menu and change the number format.
4. Return to the form and read the same values in the new format.