def to_num(values):
for i in range(len(values)):<EOL><INDENT>try:<EOL><INDENT>values[i] = float(values[i])<EOL><DEDENT>except:<EOL><INDENT>if values[i] == '<STR_LIT>':<EOL><INDENT>values[i] = None<EOL><DEDENT>else:<EOL><INDENT>values[i] = values[i].strip()<EOL>pass<EOL><DEDENT><DEDENT><DEDENT>return values<EOL>
r'''Legacy function to turn a list of strings into either floats
    (if numeric), stripped strings (if not) or None if the string is empty.
    Accepts any numeric formatting the float function does.

    Parameters
    ----------
    values : list
        list of strings

    Returns
    -------
    values : list
        list of floats, strings, and None values [-]

    Examples
    --------
    >>> to_num(['1', '1.1', '1E5', '0xB4', ''])
    [1.0, 1.1, 100000.0, '0xB4', None]