Convert.ToSByte (String) converts string to 8-bit signed integer.
Imports System Imports System.Globalization Imports Microsoft.VisualBasic Module ToSByteProviderDemo Sub ConvertToSByte( numericStr As String,provider As IFormatProvider ) Dim defaultValue As Object Dim providerValue As Object Try defaultValue = Convert.ToSByte( numericStr ) Catch ex As Exception Console.WriteLine( ex ) End Try Try providerValue = Convert.ToSByte( numericStr, provider ) Catch ex As Exception Console.WriteLine( ex ) End Try Console.WriteLine( defaultValue ) Console.WriteLine( providerValue ) End Sub Sub Main( ) Dim provider As NumberFormatInfo = new NumberFormatInfo( ) provider.NegativeSign = "neg " provider.PositiveSign = "pos " provider.NumberDecimalSeparator = "." provider.NumberNegativePattern = 0 ConvertToSByte( "123", provider ) End Sub End Module