Adding commas to number string

A while back I wrote a quick routine in LISP to write a block of mtext which would list the area of a houselot in square feet& acres and calculate a shape factor (a zoning requirement). Today I decided to "improve" my routine by adding commas into the square footage (typically between ten thousand and a million) to make it more presentable and easier to read.
When I run it I get an error "..bad argument type: consp 2.."
What is "consp" ? Is this something simple that I don't get ?
This is the first routine I've written in 5 years, so I'm at a loss for where to start looking for the error.

 

Post the code.

What is the file you attached (shapef.sit)?
___

 

Oh ... a Stuffit file. You'd be better off using ZIP format, since windows
will open that without any extra software.
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I tried a zip first and kept getting an "invalid file type error" .

 

I checked my PC and found that WinRAR was associated with ZIP files so I installed WinZip and tried making a new zip file. I still can't attach the file, zipped or not. (it's small- 1631 bytes, 741 bytes zipped)
Error " The file type of your attachment is not allowed. Try zipping the file and reattach "

 

If you're using anything newer than Windows98, you should be able to create
a .zip file by simply right clicking on the file name, then Send to and
select "comrpressed file." This way Windows creates its own ZIP file, and
you don't need any add-ons. If your ZIP file is still refused, then you may
have to contact your ISP.
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Here's one way:
(defun @rtoc (N Prec / Sign Str i j)
(setq Prec (max 0 Prec)
Sign (if (minusp N) "-" "")
Str (rtos (abs N) 2 Prec)
i (vl-string-search "." Str)
j i
)
(if (zerop (setq i (rem i 3)))(setq i 3))
(while (< i j)
(setq Str (strcat (substr Str 1 i) "," (substr Str (1+ i)))
i (+ i 4)
j (1+ j)
)
)
(strcat Sign Str)
)

would list the area of a houselot in square feet& acres and calculate a shape
factor (a zoning requirement). Today I decided to "improve" my routine by adding
commas into the square footage (typically between ten thousand and a million) to
make it more presentable and easier to read.

to start looking for the error.

 

I didn't know windows did zip files by itself, I've just always used a third party program. Apparently the file is handled differently (maybe just by the OS) because when I remove the file association to the third party program it suddenly works. File attached.

 

Oops. I jeft out an imortant part. Corrected:
(defun @rtoc (N Prec / Sign Str i j)
(setq Prec (max 0 Prec)
Sign (if (minusp N) "-" "")
Str (rtos (abs N) 2 Prec)
i (vl-string-search "." Str)
)
(if (not i)(setq i (strlen Str))) ; <-- Here
(setq j i)
(if (zerop (setq i (rem i 3)))(setq i 3))
(while (< i j)
(setq Str (strcat (substr Str 1 i) "," (substr Str (1+ i)))
i (+ i 4)
j (1+ j)
)
)
(strcat Sign Str)
)

 

For starters, you've used the wrong function in all of your string
manipulations: it's (substr ...) not (subst ...).
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Oh, and you should strongly consider using a single (cond ...) structure in
place of those multiple (if ... ) clauses.

 

Thank you for your reply. I tried patching your code into my routine but kept getting a bad argument type error. I really couldn't follow how the code worked (clearly my shortcoming there) so I did't know how to find the problem. I think the main problen is I don't know what I'm doing.

 

.... note especially the correct syntax for the (cond ...) structure.
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My apologies for lack of direction. The function wants to accept two (2)
arguments...
N = the number as a 'REAL or 'INT
Prec = the precision as an 'INT

For example:
Command: (@rtoc 123456789.1234 4)
should return the string "123,456,789.1234"

Or suppose you had a numeric variable 'N and wanted the precision to be 2; then
use...
(@rtoc N 2)

HTH - John

getting a bad argument type error. I really couldn't follow how the code worked
(clearly my shortcoming there) so I did't know how to find the problem. I think
the main problen is I don't know what I'm doing.

 

That does just what I want. Thanks for the help.

 

Command: (car 2)
; error: bad argument type: consp 2

"consp" is the name of a function which checks whether something is a
cons cell, i.e. a data structure created by the "cons" function.
In other words, a list or a dotted pair.

(Actually not a user-visible part of Visual Lisp, but the -p naming
convention is typical in Lisp culture.)


So, in some place in your program you are giving number 2 as a parameter
to something that expects a list.

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