Index: lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/NumberUtil.java
===================================================================
diff -u
--- lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/NumberUtil.java	(revision 0)
+++ lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/NumberUtil.java	(revision 6e0c7a759490988dc0e6e7b4a7952162d5942e7e)
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+/****************************************************************
+ * Copyright (C) 2005 LAMS Foundation (http://lamsfoundation.org)
+ * =============================================================
+ * License Information: http://lamsfoundation.org/licensing/lams/2.0/
+ * 
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2.0 
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ * 
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ * 
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301
+ * USA
+ * 
+ * http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt
+ * ****************************************************************
+ */
+/* $$Id$$ */
+package org.lamsfoundation.lams.util;
+
+import java.text.NumberFormat;
+import java.text.ParsePosition;
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Locale;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.TimeZone;
+
+import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
+import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessage;
+import org.apache.struts.action.ActionMessages;
+import org.lamsfoundation.lams.usermanagement.SupportedLocale;
+import org.lamsfoundation.lams.usermanagement.service.IUserManagementService;
+import org.lamsfoundation.lams.web.util.HttpSessionManager;
+import org.springframework.web.context.WebApplicationContext;
+import org.springframework.web.context.support.WebApplicationContextUtils;
+
+
+/**
+ * Various internationalisation (internationalization) utilities for numbers
+ *  
+ * @author Fiona Malikoff
+ *
+ */
+public class NumberUtil {
+
+	private static Locale getServerLocale() {
+		String defaults[] = LanguageUtil.getDefaultLangCountry();
+    	return new Locale(defaults[0]!=null?defaults[0]:"", defaults[1]!=null?defaults[1]:"");
+	}
+	
+	/** Format a given float or double to the I18N format specified by the locale. If no locale supplied, uses LAMS server's default locale.
+	 * @param mark
+	 * @param locale
+	 * @param numFractionDigits
+	 * @return
+	 */
+	public static String formatLocalisedNumber(Number number, Locale locale, int numFractionDigits) {
+		NumberFormat format = null;
+		if ( locale == null ) {
+			format = NumberFormat.getInstance(getServerLocale());
+		} else {
+			format = NumberFormat.getInstance(locale);
+		}
+		return formatLocalisedNumber(number, format, numFractionDigits);
+	}
+
+	/** Format a given float or double to the I18N format specified by the numberFormat. If no numberFormat supplied, 
+	 * uses LAMS server's default numberFormat based on the server locale.
+	 * @param mark
+	 * @param locale
+	 * @param numFractionDigits
+	 * @return
+	 */
+	public static String formatLocalisedNumber(Number number, NumberFormat numberFormat, int numFractionDigits) {
+		NumberFormat format = numberFormat != null ? numberFormat : NumberFormat.getInstance();
+		format.setMaximumFractionDigits(numFractionDigits);
+		return format.format(number);
+	}
+
+	/** Convert a string back into a Float. Assumes string was formatted using formatLocalisedNumber originally. Should
+	 * ensure that it is using the same locale/number format as when it was formatted. If no locale is suppied, it 
+	 * will use the server's locale
+	 * 
+	 * Need to strip out any spaces as spaces are valid group separators in some European locales (e.g. Polish) 
+	 * but they seem to come back from Firefox as a plain space rather than the special separating space.
+	 */
+	public static Float getLocalisedFloat(String inputStr, Locale locale)  {
+		String numberStr = inputStr;
+		if ( numberStr != null ) 
+			numberStr = numberStr.replace(" ", "");
+		if ( numberStr != null && numberStr.length() > 0 ) {
+			Locale useLocale = locale != null ? locale : getServerLocale();
+			NumberFormat format = NumberFormat.getInstance(useLocale);
+			ParsePosition pp = new ParsePosition(0);
+			Number num = format.parse(numberStr, pp);
+			if ( num != null && pp.getIndex() == numberStr.length() ) {
+				return num.floatValue();
+			}
+		}
+		throw new NumberFormatException("Unable to convert number "+numberStr+"to float using locale "+locale.getCountry()+" "+locale.getLanguage());
+	}
+
+	/** Convert a string back into a Float. Assumes string was formatted using formatLocalisedNumber originally. Should
+	 * ensure that it is using the same locale/number format as when it was formatted. If no locale is suppied, it 
+	 * will use the server's locale.
+	 * 
+	 * Need to strip out any spaces as spaces are valid group separators in some European locales  (e.g. Polish) 
+	 * but they seem to come back from Firefox as a plain space rather than the special separating space.
+	 */
+	public static Double getLocalisedDouble(String inputStr, Locale locale)  {
+		String numberStr = inputStr;
+		if ( numberStr != null ) 
+			numberStr = numberStr.replace(" ", "");
+		if ( numberStr != null && numberStr.length() > 0 ) {
+			Locale useLocale = locale != null ? locale : getServerLocale();
+			NumberFormat format = NumberFormat.getInstance(useLocale);
+			ParsePosition pp = new ParsePosition(0);
+			Number num = format.parse(numberStr, pp);
+			if ( num != null && pp.getIndex() == numberStr.length() ) {
+				return num.doubleValue();
+			}
+		}
+		throw new NumberFormatException("Unable to convert number "+numberStr+"to double using locale "+locale.getCountry()+" "+locale.getLanguage());
+	}
+
+}