As I understand it, there is rightfully little interest in the developer community to write a new parser function for every single template need to come along.
Therefore, when it comes to a template like {{val}}, which now generates rounding errors about 5–10% of the time because of the math- based parser functions it must use, it would be nice if the template- authoring community could have a character-counting parser function that is not only suitable for {{val}}, but which could be a general - purpose parser function that could be used for a great variety of purposes.
A description of what {{val}} tries to do at its fundamental level is described here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Manual_of_Style_(dates_and_numbe...
Is there a developer whom I can have the author of {{val}} e-mail to see if you two can arrive at a relatively easy-to-make parser function that A) meets the basic needs of {{val}}, and B) has sufficient utility to be useful for other character-counting needs?