convert "twenty one" to 21 words to numbers

[toehlke]

I'm wondering if anyone knows of a function to convert english words to numbers. Any language will work.
For example:
"five" = 5
"one million two hundred thousand four hundred" = 1,200,400

I've found plenty that convert numbers to words, but can't find any that convert words to numbers. Thanks.

[dcuadra]

That would be simple if you warranty that all words will be like:

"one million two hundred thousand four hundred"

and not like:

"one million twohundred thousandfour hundre"

or

"one million and two hundred thousand and four hundred"

ok? I haven't made that, but this draft code could be a good sample (but, of course, you will need to make a better validation code, 'coz i wrote this only to answer to your question and i don't mean to make a great effort to make this works in all the 100% cases). Enjoy:


/* Word To Number Convertor*/

import java.util.*;

public class WordToNumberConvertor{
Hashtable numberUnits, numberGroups;

public WordToNumberConvertor(){
numberUnits=new Hashtable();
numberGroups=new Hashtable();

numberUnits.put("one",new Integer(1));
numberUnits.put("two",new Integer(2));
numberUnits.put("four",new Integer(4));

numberGroups.put("hundred",new Integer(100));
numberGroups.put("thousand",new Integer(1000));
}

public int wordsToNumber(String wordsNumber){
String words[]=wordsNumber.split(" ");
int i, result, quantity=1;
boolean changedQuantity=false;

for(i=words.length-1, result=0;i>=0;i--){
if(!changedQuantity){
if(numberGroups.containsKey(words[i])){
quantity=((Integer)numberGroups.get(words[i])).intValue();
changedQuantity=true;
continue;
}
quantity=1;
}

result+=quantity*((Integer)numberUnits.get(words[i])).intValue();
changedQuantity=false;
}
return result;
}

public static void main(String args[]){
WordToNumberConvertor w2N=new WordToNumberConvertor();
String testNumber="two thousand one hundred four";

System.out.println(testNumber+" = "+w2N.wordsToNumber(testNumber));
}
}

[danielscl]

This code provided an excellent foundation on which to start. A few minor tweaks and it works like a charm.