Adding a "-" with String.Format VB.Net

Question

I am trying to get an item such as WO123000 to come out as WO-123000. Here is the code, but it isn't working for me.

WorkOrder = String.Format("{0:##-######}", Trim(WorkOrderNum))

This is where WorkOrderNum is WO123000. This error stems from VB6.Format migration issues.

I am just trying to get the string to add a dash after the first characters. — user2311799, Apr 10 '14 at 12:43
They can be any characters. Not just letters as the first two. — user2311799, Apr 10 '14 at 12:44
Are you trying to format the number too, or is it reliable? E.g. are you trying to turn `"WO1"` into `"WO-00001"`? — Geoff, Apr 10 '14 at 12:50
Nothing that String.SubString() should not be able to fix. Or simply [keep using the VB6 Format function](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4072490/is-there-a-way-to-programmatically-convert-vb6-formatting-strings-to-net-format/4072859#4072859). — Hans Passant, Apr 10 '14 at 12:56
What did the VB6 code look like. I doubt that `Format(WorkOrderNum,"##-######")` would have worked for that either. — Matt Wilko, Apr 10 '14 at 13:07

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 10 '14 at 12:47

If the length of the string remains constant:

Dim WorkOrderNum = "WO123000"   
Dim testStr As String = String.Format("{0}-{1}", WorkOrderNum.SubString(0, 2), WorkOrderNum.SubString(2, 6))    
Console.WriteLine(testStr)

'outputs WO-123000

Although I'm sure there's a better way of doing this which should include error handling etc this was just a demo!

Geoff · Answer 2 · 2014-04-10T13:06:32.143

If you don't need to format the number itself, the following should give you what you want:

WorkOrder = Trim(WorkOrderNum).Insert(2, "-")

If the input varies a lot (as your comment states it does) then you'll want to extract the number first, then format it:

string WorkOrder = "abc123";
int woNum;
if (int.TryParse(System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Match(WorkOrder, @"\d+").Value, out woNum))
{
    return String.Format("WO-{0:00000}", woNum);
}

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 10 '14 at 12:50

0

I'm assuming that WO stands for 'Work Order'. This would suggest to me that the first two letters of every work order will be WO. This means that you can just do the following instead of formatting:

Dim WorkOrderNum As String = "WO123000"
Dim OutputOrderNum As String = WorkOrderNum.Replace("WO", "WO-")

Hope this helped,

Rodit

answered Apr 10 '14 at 12:50

rodit

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But, it doesn't have to be. If they wanted, it could be 11111111 – user2311799 Apr 10 '14 at 12:54
Then it is like formatting a random string @user2311799 – rodit Apr 10 '14 at 12:55

Adding a "-" with String.Format VB.Net

3 Answers3