SuiteTalk Decimal Number Format – JCurve Solutions

Scenario

SOAP Web Services Integrations in NetSuite can use different actions to retrieve specific records and the respective fields. Some of the values can be custom fields as well. In a customization where the custom fields are of type Decimal and its value is calculated from other fields through the use of a formula, for example, the value 0.00025 will show correctly in the User Interface but when using the search or get actions with SOAP Web Services the value is returned as 2.5E-4. This is expected behavior. If the decimal number contains more than two zeros after the delimiter NetSuite will convert it to this format.

Solution

The Integration Application side should use an text formatter and format text/number according to their needs, since if the issue regards a decimal standard field the type can't be changed. From NetSuite side, another way of preventing the problem or a alternative solution is to use a Free-form Text type of custom field instead of a Decimal one. In this case SOAP Web Services will return the Decimal number as text but in the right format.

Navigate to Customization > Lists, Records & Fields
Select the respective type of field
Click Edit
Change the Type to Free-form Text
Click Save

Below is a sample of how to perform a get action for a Item using SOAP Web Services:

<soapenv:Envelope
    xmlns:xsd='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema'
    xmlns:xsi='http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance'
    xmlns:soapenv='http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/'
    xmlns:listAcct='urn:accounting_2020_1.lists.webservices.netsuite.com'
    xmlns:platformCommon='urn:common_2020_1.platform.webservices.netsuite.com'
    xmlns:platformCore='urn:core_2020_1.platform.webservices.netsuite.com'
    xmlns:platformMsgs='urn:messages_2020_1.platform.webservices.netsuite.com'>
    <soapenv:Header>
        <tokenPassport xsi:type="platformCore:TokenPassport">
            <account xsi:type="xsd:string">{‌{‌realm}}</account>
            <consumerKey xsi:type="xsd:string">{‌{‌consumerKey}}</consumerKey>
            <token xsi:type="xsd:string">{‌{‌tokenId}}</token>
            <nonce xsi:type="xsd:string">{‌{‌nonce}}</nonce>
            <timestamp xsi:type="xsd:long">{‌{‌timestamp}}</timestamp>
            <signature algorithm="HMAC_SHA256" xsi:type="platformCore:TokenPassportSignature">{‌{‌signature}}</signature>
        </tokenPassport>
    </soapenv:Header>
    <soapenv:Body>
        <get xsi:type='platformMsgs:GetRequest'>
            <baseRef xsi:type='platformCore:RecordRef' internalId='1824' type='inventoryItem'/>
        </get>
    </soapenv:Body>
</soapenv:Envelope>

Note: This request uses Token Based Authentication and the values used are account-specific.