How to Implement float_is_zero and float_compare in Odoo?

 Why Use Them?

In Odoo, financial and quantity calculations often involve floating-point numbers, which can suffer from precision issues (e.g., 0.00000001 ≠ 0). To ensure accurate comparisons, Odoo provides utility functions:

• float_is_zero(): Check if a float is effectively zero.
• float_compare(): Compare two float values considering precision.

These are defined in Odoo’s utility module: from odoo.tools.float_utils import float_is_zero, float_compare

✅ 1. float_is_zero()

Purpose:

Safely determine whether a float value is equal to zero, considering the precision of the unit of measure (UoM) or currency.

Syntax:

float_is_zero(value, precision_digits)

• value: The float to compare
• precision_digits: The number of decimal digits to consider (e.g., 2 for currency, 6 for quantities)

📌 Realistic Example:

Check if a product quantity is effectively zero:

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Useful in stock movements or manufacturing where precision matters.

✅ 2. float_compare()

Purpose:

Compare two float values with a defined precision.

Syntax:

float_compare(value1, value2, precision_digits)

• Returns 0 if equal, -1 if value1 < value2, 1 if value1 > value2

📌 Realistic Example:

Can be used to:

• Validate minimum order amounts
  
  
• Trigger logic on price or quantity thresholds
  
  

✅ Summary Table

Function	Purpose	Returns	Use Case
float_is_zero()	Check if float ≈ 0	True / False	Zero-check in quantities, balances
float_compare()	Compare two floats safely	0, -1, or 1	Price thresholds, conditional logic