In jQuery, what's the best way of formatting a number to 2 decimal places?

Question

This is what I have right now:

$("#number").val(parseFloat($("#number").val()).toFixed(2));

It looks messy to me. I don't think I'm chaining the functions correctly. Do I have to call it for each textbox, or can I create a separate function?

Answer 1

If you're doing this to several fields, or doing it quite often, then perhaps a plugin is the answer.
Here's the beginnings of a jQuery plugin that formats the value of a field to two decimal places.
It is triggered by the onchange event of the field. You may want something different.

<script type="text/javascript">

    // mini jQuery plugin that formats to two decimal places
    (function($) {
        $.fn.currencyFormat = function() {
            this.each( function( i ) {
                $(this).change( function( e ){
                    if( isNaN( parseFloat( this.value ) ) ) return;
                    this.value = parseFloat(this.value).toFixed(2);
                });
            });
            return this; //for chaining
        }
    })( jQuery );

    // apply the currencyFormat behaviour to elements with 'currency' as their class
    $( function() {
        $('.currency').currencyFormat();
    });

</script>   
<input type="text" name="one" class="currency"><br>
<input type="text" name="two" class="currency">