Change from string to variable - php

Question

Hi Guys , just need a tiny help here . the green numbers on the right are strings . how do I change them to numbers ? Additionally I also need them to be 2 decimal place. What function do I use?? I tried the method below but the output was 0. Answers all welcome.
$profitText = $profitText*1;
$profitText = (float)$profitText;
round($profitText,2);
number_format($profitText, 2);
EDITED
Okay guys the deriving of this variable is really complex. every step has its functional purpose but heres the derivation. After the last profitText at the bottom, I realised this is now a string. why is that so? and how do I fix it?
$offeropen=$row['offerprice'];//1.3334
$pips=$offerpricepl-$offeropen;//difference btw prices , eg. 0.0023
$closedb=$offerpricepl;// nothing
$pips1=round($pips, 6);// round to 6 decimal points
$pips2 = str_replace('.', '', $pips1);// remove decimal
if ($pips2<0)
{
$pips2 = str_replace('-', '', $pips2);// methodology for adjusting figures and negative values back
$pips2 = ltrim($pips2, '0');
$pips2 = -1 * abs($pips2);
}
else {
$pips2 = ltrim($pips2, '0');// for triming 0 on the left
}
$pips3=$pips2/$minipipskiller;// methodology
$ticksize= "0.0001";// FOR PROFIT AND LOSS
$lot1 = "100000";
$sizecalc=$row['size'] * $lot1;
if ($row['type']=="buy")
{
$profitandloss=$sizecalc*$ticksize*$pips3; //per TRADE
}
if ($row['type']=="sell")
{
$profitandloss=$sizecalc*$ticksize*$pips3; //per TRADE
}
$zero= '0';
if($profitandloss<$zero) {
$profitText = "<div style=\"color: red;\">$profitandloss</div>";
} elseif ($profitandloss>$zero) {
$profitText = "<div style=\"color: green;\">$profitandloss</div>";
}
// for profit and loss counting
$profitText=ltrim($profitText,'0');

Answer 1

Here's your problem:
$profitText = "<div style=\"color: red;\">$profitandloss</div>";
You're trying to turn $profitText into a number. It's actually a string of HTML, and PHP can't manage to work out what it's supposed to do with it, so when you cast it to a number, it's returning 0.
Solution:
Use $profitandloss instead

Answer 2

this will do both requested points together:
$floatProfitVar = number_format($profit, 2, '.');

Answer 3

I think you need
floatval(mixed var)
http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.floatval.php
$profit = round(floatval(trim($profitText)), 2);
Proof: http://codepad.org/jFTqhUIk

Answer 4

The function you're looking for is sprintf or printf and has been designed for exactly that job:
printf('%.2F', '1.8'); # prints "1.80"
Demo: https://eval.in/44078
You can use string input for the float number parameter (F = float, locale independent) as well as integer or float input. PHP is loosely typed.
Use sprintf if you want to get back a string, printf prints directly.

Answer 5

$value = intval(floatval($profitText)*100)/100.0

Answer 6

I don't think this $profitText = $profitText*1; would work unless you first do $profitText = (float)$profitText;. Remember that you have to convert the string first before you can do any manipulation.
floatval(mixed $var) can also be used instead of typecasting but typecasting should work fine