From the HELP:
For numeric variable expansions, the syntax $( variablename ) will generate a number using the regional decimal separator, i.e. for many countries a decimal comma. Such an expansion should not be used for numbers inside the script since these must use decimal point. Instead the expansion $(# variablename ) should be used. (Note the hash sign). It always yields a valid decimal-point representation of the numeric value of variablename, possibly with exponential notation (for very large/small numbers). If variablename does not exist or does not contain a numeric value, it will be expanded to 0 instead.
Though this is what the HELP states and how it should function, I've encountered some issues with this.
