Incorrect ordinal suffix when using Number::ordinal() with float values

[harry-fakir]

Laravel Version

11.34.1

PHP Version

8.3.1

Database Driver & Version

No response

Description

Description

The Number::ordinal() helper method produces unpredictable ordinal suffixes when provided with float values, despite accepting both integers and floats as input.

Current Behavior

When passing a float value, the method:

1. Rounds the float to the nearest whole number
2. Incorrectly applies the ordinal suffix based on the original unrounded value

Example

php
use Illuminate\Support\Number;
echo Number::ordinal(83.9); // outputs "84rd" (incorrect)
echo Number::ordinal(53.9); // outputs "54rd" (incorrect)

Expected Behavior

The method should either:

• Use the correct suffix when a float is passed through. This would need to be documented how the rounding is applied (i.e. round, floor, ciel)
• OR explicitly reject float values since the underlying PHP NumberFormatter::ordinal() only accepts integers

Technical Details

• The Laravel helper accepts both float and int values
• However, it relies on PHP's NumberFormatter::ordinal() which only accepts integers
• This mismatch appears to be causing the incorrect suffix generation

Additional Notes

This could lead to unexpected output in applications that deal with statistical or ranking data where float values are common inputs.

Steps To Reproduce

php
use Illuminate\Support\Number;
echo Number::ordinal(83.9); // outputs "84rd" (incorrect)
echo Number::ordinal(53.9); // outputs "54rd" (incorrect)

[peterjthomson]

The current approach implicitly casts floats by accepting them and rounding by discarding. This results in inconsistent behavior: the ordinal suffix is determined using the last digit of the original (unrounded) value, while the displayed number follows standard rounding.

Unfortunately, fixing this requires a judgement call. Given an input of 83.9, some possible solutions are:

1. Round to the closest integer – This follows common business practices. If we pass 83.9 to an ordinal helper, it's reasonable to expect 84th as the result. This appears to be the intended behavior in the framework, but a bug in the way PHP functions are used causes it to return "84rd".
   // Expected: 84th
2. Round down (flooring) – This follows academic statistical practices for percentiles. If 83.9 represents a percentile, it would be correct to say the 83rd percentile has been reached.
   // Expected: 83rd
3. Apply the ordinal to the last digit without rounding – This would mean no rounding at all, leading to an ordinal based strictly on the last digit of the float.
   // Expected: 83.9th
4. Another option is to only accept integers and reject floats. However, that would be a breaking change and negatively impact developer experience. It might still be the most honest solution, though.
   // Expected: Type error