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![Wu Ray](https://uploads.teamtreehouse.com/production/profile-photos/6143382/micro_IMG_0641.jpg)
Wu Ray
2,359 PointsWhy we still have to str(<value> from flask input) to return value?
Hello guys, I don't understand. if we make an adding value application in our app.route like: app.route('/add/<int:num1>/<int:num2>'),
isn't this mean we make the flask input ( as default string) to return to us as an int value? so we can do: return "{}+{}={}".format(num1, num2, num1+num2).
why if we want to: return num1+num2 will cause error?
Are not they have turned into int value already? thanks for helping~
3 Answers
![Chris Freeman](https://uploads.teamtreehouse.com/production/profile-photos/1153532/micro_image.jpg)
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,425 PointsI hope I'm understanding your question correctly.
The return value can not simply be a number. A string or properly formed response object is expected. See docs About Responses (scroll down)
About Responses
The return value from a view function is automatically converted into a response object for you. If the return value is a string it’s converted into a response object with the string as response body, an 200 OK error code and a text/html mimetype. The logic that Flask applies to converting return values into response objects is as follows:
- If a response object of the correct type is returned it’s directly returned from the view.
- If it’s a string, a response object is created with that data and the default parameters.
- If a tuple is returned the items in the tuple can provide extra information. Such tuples have to be in the form (response, status, headers) where at least one item has to be in the tuple. The status value will override the status code and headers can be a list or dictionary of additional header values.
- If none of that works, Flask will assume the return value is a valid WSGI application and convert that into a response object.
Post back if I misunderstood.
![Wu Ray](https://uploads.teamtreehouse.com/production/profile-photos/6143382/micro_IMG_0641.jpg)
Wu Ray
2,359 PointsThanks Chris for posting this document for my reference. so for everything we throw into flask, it will return value which is "A string or properly formed response object is expected"?
when my python and html are communicating, we only can use string? if we want to change the type, we only do that after variables are sent to python or flask?
![Chris Freeman](https://uploads.teamtreehouse.com/production/profile-photos/1153532/micro_image.jpg)
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,425 PointsOne strength of flask is it can create the proper response object to send back to the browser for you. This includes any HTML content along with Responce Codes (200, 400, ...)..
In the end, all communication between the browser and the app is text-based. Once the text objects are received at either end, then it can be converted as needed for local proposes.
![Wu Ray](https://uploads.teamtreehouse.com/production/profile-photos/6143382/micro_IMG_0641.jpg)
Wu Ray
2,359 PointsThanks Chris, you really help me a lot!