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<head>
<title>UK TeX FAQ -- question label dec_comma</title>
</head><body>
<h3>The comma as a decimal separator</h3>
<p/>TeX embodies the British/American cultural convention of using a
period as the separator between the whole number and the decimal
fraction part of a decimal number. Other cultures use a comma as
separator, but if you use a comma in maths mode you get a small space
after it; this space makes a comma that is used as a decimal separator
look untidy.
<p/>A simple solution to this problem, in maths mode, is to type
<code>3</code><code>{,}</code><code>14</code> in place of <code>3,14</code>. While such a
technique may produce the right results, it is plainly not a
comfortable way to undertake any but the most trivial amounts of
typing numbers.
<p/>Therefore, if you need to use commas as decimal separator, you will
probably welcome macro support. There are two packages that
can help relieve the tedium: <i>icomma</i> and <i>ziffer</i>.
<p/><i>Icomma</i> ensures that there will be no extra space after a
comma, unless you type a space after it (as in <code>f(x, y)</code> — in
the absence of the package, you don’t need that space), in which case
the usual small space after the comma appears. <i>Ziffer</i> is
specifically targeted at the needs of those typesetting German, but
covers the present need, as well as providing the double-minus sign
used in German (and other languages) for the empty ‘cents’ part of an
amount of currency.
<p/>The <i>numprint</i> package provides a command
<code>\</code><code>numprint{</code><em>number</em><code>}</code> that prints its argument according to
settings you give it, or according to settings chosen to match the
language you have selected in <i>babel</i>. The formatting works
equally well in text or maths. The command is very flexible (it can also
group the digits of very ‘long’ numbers), but is inevitably less
convenient than <i>icomma</i> or <i>ziffer</i> if you are typing a
lot of numbers.
<dl>
<dt><tt><i>icomma.sty</i></tt><dd>Distributed as part of <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/was.zip">macros/latex/contrib/was</a> (or <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/was/">browse the directory</a>)
<dt><tt><i>numprint.sty</i></tt><dd><a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/numprint.zip">macros/latex/contrib/numprint</a> (or <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/numprint/">browse the directory</a>)
<dt><tt><i>ziffer.sty</i></tt><dd><a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/ziffer.zip">macros/latex/contrib/ziffer</a> (or <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/ziffer/">browse the directory</a>)
</dl>
<p/><p>This question on the Web: <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=dec_comma">http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=dec_comma</a>
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