The NUMVAL function returns the numeric value represented by the character string specified by argument-1. Leading and trailing spaces are ignored. The type of this function is numeric. 
 
  General Format
 
	  
	  
 
  Arguments
 
	   
	 - Argument-1 must be an alphanumeric 
		 
		   or national or national
 literal or an alphanumeric 
		  
		   or national or national
 data item whose content has one of the following two formats: 
		  
		  
  
 
 or 
		  
		  
  
 
 where space is a string of zero or more spaces and digit is a string of one to 18 digits. 
		 
- The total number of digits in argument-1 must not exceed 18. 
	 
- If the DECIMAL POINT IS COMMA clause is specified in the Special-Names paragraph, a comma must be used in argument-1 rather than a decimal point. 
	 
Returned Values
 
	   
	 - The returned value is the numeric value represented by argument-1. 
	 
- The number of digits returned is 18. 
	 
- Floating-point format is used for numeric non-integer results.