[Caml-list] string_of_float less accurate than sprintf "%f" ?

["Beck01, Wolfgang" <BeckW@t-systems.com>]

Hello,

while doing some time measurements with Unix.gettimeofday() I
discovered a problem with string_of_float:

# string_of_float 123456789.123456789;;
- : string = "123456789.123"

OK, just it may by just an inaccuracy of the float type. However,
sprintf returns a different result:

# sprintf "%f" 123456789.123456789;;
- : string = "123456789.1234567"

I am using ocaml 3.02 under FreeBSD 4.5. However, the 'Changes' file
did not mention string_of_float in more recent ocaml versions.

My application needs to be fast (that's why I am using OCaml :-) and
sprintf is of course slower than string_of_float.

Did I miss a 'double' type in the manual?

--
Wolfgang Beck
T-Systems Nova GmbH 
-------------------
To unsubscribe, mail caml-list-request@inria.fr Archives: http://caml.inria.fr
Bug reports: http://caml.inria.fr/bin/caml-bugs FAQ: http://caml.inria.fr/FAQ/
Beginner's list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ocaml_beginners