Convert.ToUInt32 (String, IFormatProvider) converts string to 32-bit unsigned integer using culture-specific format
Imports System.Globalization Module Example Public Sub Main() Dim provider As New NumberFormatInfo() provider.PositiveSign = "pos " provider.NegativeSign = "neg " Dim values() As String = { "123456789", "+123456789", "pos 123456789", _ "111111111", "-1", "neg 1" } For Each value As String In values Console.Write("{0,-20} -->", value) Try Console.WriteLine("{0,20}", Convert.ToUInt32(value, provider)) Catch e As Exception Console.WriteLine("Exception") End Try Next End Sub End Module