Type Conversion

Kronos provides functions to convert values between different types. These functions are available globally.

to_string

Convert any value to its string representation.

Syntax: call to_string with value

Example:

set num_str to call to_string with 42        # Returns "42"
set bool_str to call to_string with true     # Returns "true"
set null_str to call to_string with null     # Returns "null"
set list_str to call to_string with list 1, 2, 3  # Returns string representation

to_number

Convert a string to a number. Also accepts numbers (returns them unchanged).

Syntax: call to_number with value

Example:

set num1 to call to_number with "123"     # Returns 123
set num2 to call to_number with "3.14"    # Returns 3.14
set num3 to call to_number with "-10"     # Returns -10
set num4 to call to_number with 42        # Returns 42 (unchanged)

Error Handling:

try:
    set num to call to_number with "abc"
    print num
catch error:
    print "Invalid number format"

to_bool

Convert a value to a boolean.

Syntax: call to_bool with value

Conversion Rules:

Strings: "true" → true, "false" → false (case-insensitive)
Numbers: Non-zero → true, Zero → false
Booleans: Returns unchanged
null: Returns false

Example:

set bool1 to call to_bool with "true"     # Returns true
set bool2 to call to_bool with "false"    # Returns false
set bool3 to call to_bool with "True"     # Returns true (case-insensitive)
set bool4 to call to_bool with 42         # Returns true
set bool5 to call to_bool with 0          # Returns false
set bool6 to call to_bool with null       # Returns false

Examples

Parsing User Input

function parse_user_input with input_str:
    try:
        set num_value to call to_number with input_str
        return num_value
    catch error:
        print f"Invalid number: {input_str}"
        return null

set user_input to "42"
set parsed to call parse_user_input with user_input
if parsed is not null:
    print f"Parsed number: {parsed}"

Converting Configuration Values

set config to map "port": "8080", "debug": "true", "timeout": "30"

# Convert port to number
set port to call to_number with config at "port"

# Convert debug to boolean
set debug to call to_bool with config at "debug"

# Convert timeout to number
set timeout to call to_number with config at "timeout"

print f"Port: {port}, Debug: {debug}, Timeout: {timeout}"

Building Formatted Strings

set age to 25
set is_active to true
set score to 95.5

# Convert to strings for formatting
set age_str to call to_string with age
set active_str to call to_string with is_active
set score_str to call to_string with score

set message to f"Age: {age_str}, Active: {active_str}, Score: {score_str}"
print message

Validating and Converting

function safe_to_number with value:
    try:
        return call to_number with value
    catch error:
        return null

function safe_to_bool with value:
    set result to call to_bool with value
    return result

set inputs to list "123", "45.6", "true", "false", "invalid"

for input in inputs:
    set num_val to call safe_to_number with input
    set bool_val to call safe_to_bool with input
    
    if num_val is not null:
        print f"{input} → number: {num_val}"
    else:
        print f"{input} → boolean: {bool_val}"

Type Conversion

On this page