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Converting numbers to the word equivalent.

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4.91/5 (77 votes)
12 May 2013CPOL1 min read 130.6K   14   59
If your tutor asks you to convert numbers to words (i.e. 565 to a string "Five hundred and sixty-five") then you are not alone! Here is the simplest, most foolproof way to do it.
If your tutor asks you to convert numbers to words (i.e. 565 to a string "Five hundred and sixty-five") then you are not alone! This question gets asked here very frequently, so here is the simple, foolproof way to solve your problem. It shows the outline of how to do it, and it is then up to you to fill in the detail, comments etc. - otherwise every-bodies would look the same, and you might get caught for copying!
public static string ConvertToWords(int number)
    {
    switch (number)
        {
        case 0:
            return "Zero";
        case 1:
            return "One";
        ...
        case 568:
            return "Five hundred and sixty-eight";
        case 569:
            return "Five hundred and sixty-nine";
        }
    throw new ArgumentOutOfRangeException("Number greater than infinity!");
    }
 
I cannot remember who originally posted this coding gem, and I can't find it with a quick search, but if you know who did post it let me know and I will provide full credit.
 

The original version of this software was written by Smithers-Jones[^] in C++ and is available here[^] My thanks for the inspiration and the excellent work!
 
I am indebted to Luc Pattyn for pointing out the error in versions before V3.0 regarding the placement of a hyphen between the tens and unit digits. He correctly pointed out here[^] that numbers should not be written as "twenty one" but as "twenty-one".
 
[edit]V2.0: Credit for original version added - OriginalGriff[/edit]
[edit]V3.0: Corrected the hyphenation between the tens digit and the units digit - OriginalGriff[/edit]
[edit]V4.0: Link to the message of Luc Pattyn corrected - ProgramFOX[/edit]

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
CEO
Wales Wales
Born at an early age, he grew older. At the same time, his hair grew longer, and was tied up behind his head.
Has problems spelling the word "the".
Invented the portable cat-flap.
Currently, has not died yet. Or has he?

Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralWhoosh! That or perhaps some people want it to work for numb... Pin
Edbert P19-Aug-10 20:13
Edbert P19-Aug-10 20:13 
GeneralReason for my vote of 1 Voted 1 because it's not a good tip.... Pin
Simon Dufour19-Aug-10 11:38
Simon Dufour19-Aug-10 11:38 
General"hey griff, you are maybe thinking about this" That's the on... Pin
OriginalGriff19-Aug-10 6:32
mveOriginalGriff19-Aug-10 6:32 
Generalhey griff, you are maybe thinking about this (http://www.cod... Pin
Smithers-Jones19-Aug-10 5:32
Smithers-Jones19-Aug-10 5:32 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 By the way, what if I need to handle... Pin
emartinho19-Aug-10 5:18
emartinho19-Aug-10 5:18 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Finally! But can you help me with th... Pin
Yayozama19-Aug-10 4:11
Yayozama19-Aug-10 4:11 
GeneralReally awesome Pin
HimanshuJoshi19-Aug-10 3:46
HimanshuJoshi19-Aug-10 3:46 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 sir, i copied your code now my teach... Pin
Yusuf19-Aug-10 3:27
Yusuf19-Aug-10 3:27 
Reason for my vote of 5
sir, i copied your code now my teacher is saying I am genius , tkx. btw, my program can handle up to 569. How do I support 570?
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Lovely! And the first post which has... Pin
Ankur\m/19-Aug-10 3:24
professionalAnkur\m/19-Aug-10 3:24 
GeneralDoesn't everyone do it like this? :) Pin
Mike Hankey19-Aug-10 3:19
mveMike Hankey19-Aug-10 3:19 
GeneralYou misspelled sixty-eight and sixty-nine and forgot to use ... Pin
Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr.19-Aug-10 3:16
Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr.19-Aug-10 3:16 
GeneralYou can improve it a bit though - forgot about negative numb... Pin
Svetlin Panayotov19-Aug-10 3:15
Svetlin Panayotov19-Aug-10 3:15 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 So brilliant and simple! There's eve... Pin
Svetlin Panayotov19-Aug-10 3:13
Svetlin Panayotov19-Aug-10 3:13 
GeneralI'd like to see some unit tests, your method seems a bit err... Pin
Luc Pattyn19-Aug-10 2:54
sitebuilderLuc Pattyn19-Aug-10 2:54 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Good one! :D Pin
Nuri Ismail19-Aug-10 2:47
Nuri Ismail19-Aug-10 2:47 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Lost for words. Can you translate th... Pin
R. Giskard Reventlov19-Aug-10 2:42
R. Giskard Reventlov19-Aug-10 2:42 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Excellent! Pin
hammerstein0519-Aug-10 2:35
hammerstein0519-Aug-10 2:35 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Fantastic! :) Pin
LittleYellowBird19-Aug-10 2:20
LittleYellowBird19-Aug-10 2:20 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Funny Pin
linuxjr19-Aug-10 2:18
professionallinuxjr19-Aug-10 2:18 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Good one!!! Pin
Johnny J.19-Aug-10 2:09
professionalJohnny J.19-Aug-10 2:09 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Does it work just for the English la... Pin
CPallini19-Aug-10 2:04
mveCPallini19-Aug-10 2:04 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 funny Pin
Peter Mulholland19-Aug-10 2:01
Peter Mulholland19-Aug-10 2:01 
General"no good - swjam" Swjam - are you saying it does not work? A... Pin
OriginalGriff19-Aug-10 1:58
mveOriginalGriff19-Aug-10 1:58 
GeneralRe: "no good - swjam"Swjam - are you saying it does not work? A... Pin
swjam8-Aug-12 3:13
swjam8-Aug-12 3:13 
GeneralReason for my vote of 1 no good Pin
swjam19-Aug-10 1:55
swjam19-Aug-10 1:55 

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