SByte.TryParse tries to convert string to SByte equivalent
Module Example Public Sub Main() Dim numericStrings() As String = {"-3.6", "12.8", "+16.7", " 3 ", _ "(17)", "-17", "+12", "18-", "987", _ "1,024", " 127 "} Dim number As SByte For Each numericString As String In numericStrings If SByte.TryParse(numericString, number) Then Console.WriteLine("Converted '{0}' to {1}.", numericString, number) Else Console.WriteLine("Cannot convert '{0}' to an SByte.", numericString) End If Next End Sub End Module