Answers.Body: <p>Have you tried <code>subhead.hLevel.value</code>?</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-02-01T18:26:08.730Z
Answers.Text: Doh! I am an idiot. That works. Thanks Olivier :)
Answers.UserDisplayName: Jonathan Schofield
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-02-01T18:30:48.223Z
Answers.Text: @JonathanSchofield Happened to me, that's the only reason I picked up on it ;) Glad I could help
Answers.UserDisplayName: Oli
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2019-02-01T18:21:40.410Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2019-02-01T18:21:40.410Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Oli
Body: <p>I had a <strong>dropdown</strong> field with a handle of <code>hLevel</code>, with only numeric values in it, anticipating that I could do math with the values in my template. But it seems I can't.</p>
  
  <p><code>{% set dif = subhead.hLevel - subhead.next.hLevel %}</code></p>
  
  <p>…returns an error message ending in:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>“could not be converted to int”</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>I found a thread convinced that <code>number_format</code> “<a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24488946/intval-in-twig-template#comment81690544_24489675">converts a string to a number</a>”, so I tried that:</p>
  
  <p><code>{% set dif = subhead.hLevel|number_format - subhead.next.hLevel|number_format %}</code></p>
  
  <p>…but that doesn't work either. The error message changes to:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>“could not be converted to double”</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Which doesn't surprise me as I did think that <code>number_format</code> is for float to formatted string conversion, not the other way round as well.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯</p>
  
  <p>When I change the field format to <strong>number</strong> everything works fine, but…</p>
  
  <p>It would be good if there is an option to have <strong>dropdown</strong> field values be <strong>parsed as numbers</strong>, because from a UX perspective I would prefer that the field is a dropdown.</p>
  
  <p>Or is there some workaround I've missed?</p>
  
Tags: <drop-down><number><math>
Title: Math with numeric values derived from a dropdown field
ThreadText: # Math with numeric values derived from a dropdown field
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2019-02-01)
  
  I had a **dropdown** field with a handle of `hLevel`, with only numeric values in it, anticipating that I could do math with the values in my template. But it seems I can't.
  
  `{% set dif = subhead.hLevel - subhead.next.hLevel %}`
  
  …returns an error message ending in:
  
  > “could not be converted to int”
  
  I found a thread convinced that `number_format` “[converts a string to a number](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24488946/intval-in-twig-template#comment81690544_24489675)”, so I tried that:
  
  `{% set dif = subhead.hLevel|number_format - subhead.next.hLevel|number_format %}`
  
  …but that doesn't work either. The error message changes to:
  
  > “could not be converted to double”
  
  Which doesn't surprise me as I did think that `number_format` is for float to formatted string conversion, not the other way round as well. ¯\\_(ツ)\_/¯
  
  When I change the field format to **number** everything works fine, but…
  
  It would be good if there is an option to have **dropdown** field values be **parsed as numbers**, because from a UX perspective I would prefer that the field is a dropdown.
  
  Or is there some workaround I've missed?
  
  **Tags:** drop-down, number, math
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2019-02-01. Score: 5
  
  Have you tried `subhead.hLevel.value`?
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: Doh! I am an idiot. That works. Thanks Olivier :)  
  > **username_1**: @username_0 Happened to me, that's the only reason I picked up on it ;) Glad I could help  
  
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