ActionScript for Flash MX: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition By Colin Moock
Chapter 18. ActionScript Language Reference
Number( ) Global Function
Flash 5
convert a value to the Number datatype
Number(value)
Arguments
value
An expression containing the value to be converted to a number.
Returns
The result of converting value to a primitive number.
Description
The Number( ) function converts its value argument to a primitive numeric value and returns that converted value. The results of converting various types of data to primitive numbers are described in Table 3-1 in Chapter 3. It's rarely necessary to use the Number( ) function; ActionScript automatically converts values to the number type when appropriate.
Be sure not to confuse the global Number( ) function with the Number class constructor. The former is a function that converts a value to the number type, whereas the latter is the class used to wrap a primitive numeric datum in an object that can take properties and methods.
Usage
Note that the Number( ) function frequently appears in Flash 4 .fla files that have been converted to the Flash 5 format. For information on how datatypes are handled when Flash 4 files are converted to Flash 5, see Section C.3.4.
See Also
The Number class, parseFloat( ), parseInt( ); Section 3.4.2
