Rounding a double value to x number of decimal places in swift

Can anyone tell me how to round a double value to x number of decimal places in Swift?

I have:

var totalWorkTimeInHours = (totalWorkTime/60/60)

With totalWorkTime being an NSTimeInterval (double) in second.

totalWorkTimeInHours will give me the hours, but it gives me the amount of time in such a long precise number e.g. 1.543240952039......

How do I round this down to, say, 1.543 when I print totalWorkTimeInHours?

You can use Swift's round function to accomplish this.

To round a Double with 3 digits precision, first multiply it by 1000, round it and divide the rounded result by 1000:

let x = 1.23556789
let y = Double(round(1000 * x) / 1000)
print(y) /// 1.236

Unlike any kind of printf(...) or String(format: ...) solutions, the result of this operation is still of type Double.

EDIT:
Regarding the comments that it sometimes does not work, please read this: What Every Programmer Should Know About Floating-Point Arithmetic

Extension for Swift 2

A more general solution is the following extension, which works with Swift 2 & iOS 9:

extension Double {
    /// Rounds the double to decimal places value
    func roundToPlaces(places:Int) -> Double {
        let divisor = pow(10.0, Double(places))
        return round(self * divisor) / divisor
    }
}

Extension for Swift 3

In Swift 3 round is replaced by rounded:

extension Double {
    /// Rounds the double to decimal places value
    func rounded(toPlaces places:Int) -> Double {
        let divisor = pow(10.0, Double(places))
        return (self * divisor).rounded() / divisor
    }
}

Example which returns Double rounded to 4 decimal places:

let x = Double(0.123456789).roundToPlaces(4)  // x becomes 0.1235 under Swift 2
let x = Double(0.123456789).rounded(toPlaces: 4)  // Swift 3 version

How do I round this down to, say, 1.543 when I print totalWorkTimeInHours?

To round totalWorkTimeInHours to 3 digits for printing, use the String constructor which takes a format string:

print(String(format: "%.3f", totalWorkTimeInHours))

With Swift 5, according to your needs, you can choose one of the 9 following styles in order to have a rounded result from a Double.

#1. Using FloatingPoint rounded() method

In the simplest case, you may use the Double rounded() method.

let roundedValue1 = (0.6844 * 1000).rounded() / 1000
let roundedValue2 = (0.6849 * 1000).rounded() / 1000
print(roundedValue1) // returns 0.684
print(roundedValue2) // returns 0.685

#2. Using FloatingPoint rounded(_:) method

let roundedValue1 = (0.6844 * 1000).rounded(.toNearestOrEven) / 1000
let roundedValue2 = (0.6849 * 1000).rounded(.toNearestOrEven) / 1000
print(roundedValue1) // returns 0.684
print(roundedValue2) // returns 0.685

#3. Using Darwin round function

Foundation offers a round function via Darwin.

import Foundation

let roundedValue1 = round(0.6844 * 1000) / 1000
let roundedValue2 = round(0.6849 * 1000) / 1000
print(roundedValue1) // returns 0.684
print(roundedValue2) // returns 0.685

#4. Using a Double extension custom method built with Darwin round and pow functions

If you want to repeat the previous operation many times, refactoring your code can be a good idea.

import Foundation

extension Double {
    func roundToDecimal(_ fractionDigits: Int) -> Double {
        let multiplier = pow(10, Double(fractionDigits))
        return Darwin.round(self * multiplier) / multiplier
    }
}

let roundedValue1 = 0.6844.roundToDecimal(3)
let roundedValue2 = 0.6849.roundToDecimal(3)
print(roundedValue1) // returns 0.684
print(roundedValue2) // returns 0.685

#5. Using NSDecimalNumber rounding(accordingToBehavior:) method

If needed, NSDecimalNumber offers a verbose but powerful solution for rounding decimal numbers.

import Foundation

let scale: Int16 = 3

let behavior = NSDecimalNumberHandler(roundingMode: .plain, scale: scale, raiseOnExactness: false, raiseOnOverflow: false, raiseOnUnderflow: false, raiseOnDivideByZero: true)

let roundedValue1 = NSDecimalNumber(value: 0.6844).rounding(accordingToBehavior: behavior)
let roundedValue2 = NSDecimalNumber(value: 0.6849).rounding(accordingToBehavior: behavior)

print(roundedValue1) // returns 0.684
print(roundedValue2) // returns 0.685

#6. Using NSDecimalRound(_:_:_:_:) function

import Foundation

let scale = 3

var value1 = Decimal(0.6844)
var value2 = Decimal(0.6849)

var roundedValue1 = Decimal()
var roundedValue2 = Decimal()

NSDecimalRound(&roundedValue1, &value1, scale, NSDecimalNumber.RoundingMode.plain)
NSDecimalRound(&roundedValue2, &value2, scale, NSDecimalNumber.RoundingMode.plain)

print(roundedValue1) // returns 0.684
print(roundedValue2) // returns 0.685

#7. Using NSString init(format:arguments:) initializer

If you want to return a NSString from your rounding operation, using NSString initializer is a simple but efficient solution.

import Foundation

let roundedValue1 = NSString(format: "%.3f", 0.6844)
let roundedValue2 = NSString(format: "%.3f", 0.6849)
print(roundedValue1) // prints 0.684
print(roundedValue2) // prints 0.685

#8. Using String init(format:_:) initializer

Swift’s String type is bridged with Foundation’s NSString class. Therefore, you can use the following code in order to return a String from your rounding operation:

import Foundation

let roundedValue1 = String(format: "%.3f", 0.6844)
let roundedValue2 = String(format: "%.3f", 0.6849)
print(roundedValue1) // prints 0.684
print(roundedValue2) // prints 0.685

#9. Using NumberFormatter

If you expect to get a String? from your rounding operation, NumberFormatter offers a highly customizable solution.

import Foundation

let formatter = NumberFormatter()
formatter.numberStyle = NumberFormatter.Style.decimal
formatter.roundingMode = NumberFormatter.RoundingMode.halfUp
formatter.maximumFractionDigits = 3

let roundedValue1 = formatter.string(from: 0.6844)
let roundedValue2 = formatter.string(from: 0.6849)
print(String(describing: roundedValue1)) // prints Optional("0.684")
print(String(describing: roundedValue2)) // prints Optional("0.685")

In Swift 5.5 and Xcode 13.2:

let pi: Double = 3.14159265358979
String(format:"%.2f", pi)

Example:

PS.: It still the same since Swift 2.0 and Xcode 7.2