# Field Not Reading as Numeric

**URL:** https://discuss.workflowgen.com/t/field-not-reading-as-numeric/973
**Category:** General WorkflowGen Discussion
**Created:** [February 28, 2018, 5:58pm UTC](https://discuss.workflowgen.com/t/field-not-reading-as-numeric/973 "2018-02-28T17:58:51Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![athomas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@athomas](https://discuss.workflowgen.com/u/athomas)
#### Post date: [February 28, 2018, 5:58pm UTC](https://discuss.workflowgen.com/t/field-not-reading-as-numeric/973/1 "2018-02-28T17:58:51Z")

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I have a field with a “_Numeric_” format. I added a conditional code to another field that bases it’s validation on if the initial field is a certain number. However, when I go to test the form, I get an error saying that the contents of the numeric field is a string and, therefore, cannot interact with a operand. How can I get the system to read it as a number?

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### Author: ![pnicoll](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/discuss.workflowgen.com/pnicoll/32/454_2.png) [@pnicoll](https://discuss.workflowgen.com/u/pnicoll)
#### Post date: [March 1, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://discuss.workflowgen.com/t/field-not-reading-as-numeric/973/2 "2018-03-01T15:00:59Z")

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Hi Andre,

If the numeric field has a default value, the condition can be based on numerics, such as `Int32.Parse(REQUEST_TEXTBOX1.Text) != 12`.

Otherwise, if the numeric field doesn’t have a default value, you can compare strings; for example, `REQUEST_TEXTBOX1.Text.Trim() != "12"`.