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Converting numbers to the word equivalent.

By , 12 May 2013
 
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)

About the Author

OriginalGriff
CEO
Wales Wales
Member
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?

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GeneralMy vote of 5 PinmemberTnTinMn4hrs 38mins ago 
QuestionIt reminds me... PinmemberBarrRobot7hrs 15mins ago 
GeneralMy vote of 5! PinprofessionalMatt T Heffron9hrs 31mins ago 
QuestionYou gotta be kidding... You voted this 5 stars? Pinmembermarsman_CA12hrs 34mins ago 
QuestionAn optimised answer PinmemberJuan Falgueras Cano12hrs 56mins ago 
GeneralMy vote of 4 PinmemberJuan Falgueras Cano12hrs 58mins ago 
SuggestionNice, but... PinprofessionalRavi Bhavnani16hrs 1 min ago 
QuestionFunny! PinmemberDidiKunz21hrs 57mins ago 
Questionmy vote of 5 PinprofessionalSimon_Whale22hrs 45mins ago 
GeneralMy vote of 4 PinprofessionalMarco Bertschi12 May '13 - 9:37 
GeneralMy vote of 1 PinmemberStephen Hardie12 May '13 - 8:19 
GeneralMy vote of 5 + There is a shorter way Pinmember ProgramFOX12 May '13 - 6:57 
QuestionMy vote of 5 PinmemberJackDingler14 Jan '13 - 7:15 
GeneralMy vote of 5 PinmemberSoMad10 Jul '12 - 17:01 
GeneralGood attempt but you'll have to write it for every number. t... PinmemberJavedsamrt29 Nov '11 - 21:35 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Yep, that solution efficiently gets ... PinmemberDoc Lobster6 Nov '11 - 22:00 
Generalis this some kind of joke??? Pinmemberdanny3339 Oct '11 - 4:47 
GeneralReason for my vote of 1 very bad solution u need to write ea... Pinmemberbashar Haydar6 Oct '10 - 20:35 
GeneralWhoosh! That or perhaps some people want it to work for numb... PinmemberEdbert P19 Aug '10 - 20:13 
GeneralReason for my vote of 1 Voted 1 because it's not a good tip.... PinmemberSimon Dufour19 Aug '10 - 11:38 
General"hey griff, you are maybe thinking about this" That's the on... PinmvpOriginalGriff19 Aug '10 - 6:32 
Generalhey griff, you are maybe thinking about this (http://www.cod... PinmemberSmithers-Jones19 Aug '10 - 5:32 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 By the way, what if I need to handle... Pinmemberemartinho19 Aug '10 - 5:18 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Finally! But can you help me with th... PinmemberYayozama19 Aug '10 - 4:11 
GeneralReally awesome PinmemberHimanshuJoshi19 Aug '10 - 3:46 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 sir, i copied your code now my teach... PinmemberYusuf19 Aug '10 - 3:27 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Lovely! And the first post which has... PinmemberAnkur\m/19 Aug '10 - 3:24 
GeneralDoesn't everyone do it like this? :) PinmemberMike Hankey19 Aug '10 - 3:19 
GeneralYou misspelled sixty-eight and sixty-nine and forgot to use ... PinmemberEnnis Ray Lynch, Jr.19 Aug '10 - 3:16 
GeneralYou can improve it a bit though - forgot about negative numb... PinmemberSvetlin Panayotov19 Aug '10 - 3:15 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 So brilliant and simple! There's eve... PinmemberSvetlin Panayotov19 Aug '10 - 3:13 
GeneralI'd like to see some unit tests, your method seems a bit err... PinmvpLuc Pattyn19 Aug '10 - 2:54 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Good one! :D PinmemberNuri Ismail19 Aug '10 - 2:47 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Lost for words. Can you translate th... Pinmemberdigital man19 Aug '10 - 2:42 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Excellent! Pinmemberhammerstein0519 Aug '10 - 2:35 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Fantastic! :) PinmemberAlison P19 Aug '10 - 2:20 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Funny Pinmemberlinuxjr19 Aug '10 - 2:18 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Good one!!! PinmemberJohnny J.19 Aug '10 - 2:09 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Does it work just for the English la... PinmvpCPallini19 Aug '10 - 2:04 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 funny PinmemberPeter Mulholland19 Aug '10 - 2:01 
General"no good - swjam" Swjam - are you saying it does not work? A... PinmvpOriginalGriff19 Aug '10 - 1:58 
GeneralReason for my vote of 1 no good Pinmemberswjam19 Aug '10 - 1:55 
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Because it's genius! PinmemberMark Wallace19 Aug '10 - 1:48 
GeneralThis looks good, but how do you handle negative numbers? :) PinmemberChris Meech19 Aug '10 - 1:46 
General5 Points for being Original, Funny, Sarcastic and Ironic in ... PinmemberDalek Dave19 Aug '10 - 1:42 
GeneralAWESOME! MY HERO! Pinmemberleppie19 Aug '10 - 1:39 

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