[FIX][BUG] Conversion of String to Number don't check negatives ( I resubmitted fix to BFAV list )

[lewis at mail.msen.com]

I was not able to find Samuel Tardieu's fix in BFAV. Therefore I
"bounced" a copy to the BFAV list. Sam's message is now in BFAV
(immediately preceding this message), but it is out of sequence. I am
only posting this as an explanation in case anyone is confused about how
the messages got out of order.

Note: see also the discussion in this thread (currently under the
"Reviewed" tab):
  [BUG] Conversion of String to Number don't check negatives

This fix is already approved, but there may be a simpler solution.