VAL converts a string to a decimal number. For example,
VAL("10") will return 10. The function parses the string from the left and
returns the longest number it can read, stopping at the first non-suitable
charater it finds.
Incidentally, this function is the opposite of STR , which converts a number to a string.
string can contain negative numbers or hex numbers when preceeded by a $ or %
VAL does only INTEGER interpretation
20xa211 20