Why does convert num NOT follow a universal typecasting paradigm and NOT trim leading zeroes?

[nick405060]

I guess the question is a bit facetious

But, I would still like to know what the (flawed) logic is behind this? It's like Splunk wants you to spend hours debugging or have poor data integrity.

| makeresults | eval test="06" | convert num(test) | eval test="".test | eval a=if(test="6","yes","WHY")

[diogofgm]

Check this please:

| makeresults | eval test=tonumber("06") | eval a=if(test="6","yes, splunk can cast to number","WHY")

[nick405060]

Already noted in a comment on the question.

[somesoni2]

See this version of your query:

| makeresults | eval test="06" | convert num(test) | eval test="".test | eval result1=if(test="6","just 6","NA") , result2=if(test="06", "zero padded 6", "NA"), result3=if(test=6,"number 6", "NA") 

[nick405060]

ugh

[nick405060]

PS for anyone looking for a workaround, not an explanation (which is what I am looking for in an answer), you can just use tonumber or ltrim etc