changing string (numerical) to float in php
<p>Ive got data coming in from an xml feed the attribute that im using from this feed is written <code>Decimal="1.14"</code> and <code>Decimal="2.00"</code> what i want to do is use these attributes in a function and to be able to compare them.</p>

<p>like this </p>

<pre><code>if($provider1 &gt; $provider2){
        return $provider1;
    }
    else {
        return $provider2;
    }
</code></pre>

<p>How can i convert these numbers into a float to be used in the function  </p>
