The really obvious way to do it is to make sure that the scalar doesn't contain a non-numeric character.
if ($var && $var !~ /\D/) { # We have a value and it's a number }
You need the initial check to make sure that $var actually contains something, otherwise the !~ will trigger a warning about unitialized variables.

So, you can code up a neato little function, sorta like:

sub isNum { if ($var && $var !~ /\D/) { return 1; } else { return 0; } }
Then, put that into a module of yours and have that module inherit from Exporter and you're all good! :)

(Yes, I'm sure someone's already done this, but this was too cool an opportunity to promote module use. *blush*)

------
We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age.

Vote paco for President!


In reply to Re: Checking whether a $var is a number by dragonchild
in thread Checking whether a $var is a number by George_Sherston

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":



  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.