Formatters

All formatting and parsing in Infinite Value goes through the IInfValFormatter interface. A formatter converts an InfVal to a string and back. The project-wide default is set in the Configuration asset and can be overridden per call or per component.

FormatterAsset

A FormatterAsset is a ScriptableObject that wraps any IInfValFormatter instance so it can be assigned in the inspector and shared across components.

Create one via Assets > Create > Infinite Value > Formatter, then select a formatter type from the dropdown and configure its fields.

🖼 img/formatter_asset
FormatterAsset inspector with type dropdown

FormatterAsset: type dropdown and fields

Assign a FormatterAsset to the Default Formatter field in the Configuration asset, or directly to an InfValInputField component to override the default for that field.

Built-in formatters

Examples use default settings. Each formatter's fields are listed in the Public API.

Formatting into parts

Format can hand the pieces of a value back separately instead of as one string, for laying the number and its unit out on their own.

List<string> parts = new List<string>();

value.Format(parts, 2);
numberLabel.text = parts[0];             // "10.1"
unitLabel.text   = parts[1] + "Wh";      // "kWh"

The first part is always the number; how the rest is grouped is up to the formatter. The built-in formatters give ["10.1", "k"] for a unit (["1.5", " ", "Million"] for ConwayGuyFormatter), ["1.23", "e", "-6"] for scientific notation and ["999"] for a plain value. Joined back together, the parts are the same string ToString() returns, except that a part never starts with the space before a name: asked for 2 parts, ConwayGuyFormatter gives ["1.5", "Million"].

partCount of 0 or less asks for the formatter's natural split. A positive value asks for exactly that many parts, up to InfValFormatHelper.maxPartCount (16), merging the tail or padding with empty strings, so a layout with a fixed number of fields never has to check Count. The list is cleared and refilled, so the same one can be reused across calls instead of allocating a new one.

Custom formatters

Implement IInfValFormatter to build a fully custom formatter. Mark the class [Serializable] so it can be wrapped in a FormatterAsset and edited in the inspector.

using System;
using InfiniteValue;

[Serializable]
public class MyFormatter : IInfValFormatter
{
    public string Format(in InfVal value)                    { ... }
    public bool TryParse(string text, out InfVal result)     { ... }
    public bool IsValidPartialInput(string text)             { ... }
}

Format(in InfVal, List<string>, int) has a default implementation that puts the whole output in one part. Implement it to support formatting into parts.

Use the static InfValFormatHelper class for the heavy lifting. It exposes Format, TryParse, Parse, IsValidPartialInput, GetDecimalSeparator, GetGroupSeparator, AreUnitsValid, defaultExponentMarkers, and maxPartCount.