Converting Words into Numbers

Gabe has used macros before to convert numbers (such as 355) into words (three-hundred and fifty-five). He would find it very helpful if he had a macro that could do the opposite and convert the words he selects back into numbers. He isn't sure how to create such a macro, however.

A macro to handle this type of conversion is more involved than what one might expect, but it can be made a bit easier by limiting the macro so that it handles only whole numbers. The following two macros (one a subroutine and the other a function called from the subroutine) will convert any selected text up to 999,999,999.

Sub TextToNumbers()
    Dim NText() As Variant
    Dim NB() As Variant
    Dim aRange As Range
    Dim k As Long
    Dim L As Long
    Dim LL As Long
    Dim LLL As Long
    Dim s As String
    Dim j As Long
    Dim m As Long
    Dim mm As Long
    Dim mmm As Long
    Dim gA() As Long
    Dim gB() As Long
    Dim wCount As Long
    Dim ThousandsComma As Boolean

    ThousandsComma = True  ' --- gives thousands commas ----

    NText = Array("AND", "-", "ONE", "TWO", "THREE", "FOUR", "FIVE", _
      "SIX", "SEVEN", "EIGHT", "NINE", "TEN", "ELEVEN", "TWELVE", "THIRTEEN", _
      "FOURTEEN", "FIFTEEN", "SIXTEEN", "SEVENTEEN", "EIGHTEEN", "NINETEEN", _
      "TWENTY", "THIRTY", "FORTY", "FIFTY", "SIXTY", "SEVENTY", "EIGHTY", _
      "NINETY", "HUNDRED", "THOUSAND", "MILLION", "$%$%")

    NB = Array(0, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, _
      11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, _
      20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, _
      100, 1000, 1000000, 0)

    ' ------ Check selected text for validity ---------------
    Set aRange = Selection.Range
    If Right(aRange.Text, 1) = Chr(13) Then
        aRange.MoveEnd Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=-1
    End If
    s = aRange.Text
    If Right(s, 1) = "." Then aRange.MoveEnd Unit:=wdCharacter, Count:=-1
    If aRange.Paragraphs.Count > 1 Then
        MsgBox "Selection cannot span paragraphs"
        Exit Sub
    End If
    If Trim(aRange.Text) = "" Then
        MsgBox "Selection does not include a word"
        Exit Sub
    End If
    ' ------------------------------

    wCount = aRange.Words.Count
    ReDim gA(wCount + 1)
    ReDim gB(wCount + 1)

    For k = 1 To wCount   ' aRange.Words.Count
        s = UCase(Trim(aRange.Words(k)))
        If s = Chr(13) Or s = "" Then
            gB(k) = 1
            gA(k) = 0
            GoTo FF2
        End If
        For m = 0 To UBound(NText) - 1
            If s = NText(m) Then GoTo FF1
        Next m
        MsgBox "The word " & """" & aRange.Words(k) & """" & " is non numeric"
        Exit Sub
FF1:
        gA(k) = NB(m)
        If m > UBound(NText) - 5 Then
            gB(k) = 2
        Else
            gB(k) = 1
        End If
FF2:
    Next k
   ' Arrays gA & gB hold word values and the operator on that word

    wCount = removeZeros(gA(), gB(), wCount)

    ' ----- combine multiple numbers and remove zero entries -----
    For k = 1 To wCount - 1
        If gB(k) = 1 And gB(k + 1) = 1 Then
            gA(k + 1) = gA(k + 1) + gA(k)
            gA(k) = 0
        End If
    Next k
    wCount = removeZeros(gA(), gB(), wCount)

    m = 1
    Do
        m = m + 1
    Loop Until m > wCount Or gA(m) = 1000000
    If m <= wCount Then ' 1000000 is at gA(m)
        ' check that there are no 1000s
        j = 1
        Do
            j = j + 1
        Loop Until j >= m Or gA(j) = 1000
        If j < m Then
            MsgBox "Cannot process thousands of millions"
            Exit Sub
        End If

        j = 1
        Do
            j = j + 1
        Loop Until j >= m Or gA(j) = 100
        If j < m Then
            gA(j) = gA(j) * gA(j - 1)
            gA(j - 1) = 0
            gB(j) = 1
        End If
        LL = 0
        For j = 1 To m - 1
            L = L + gA(j)
            gA(j) = 0
            gB(j) = 0
        Next j
        gA(m) = L * gA(m)
        gB(m) = 1
    Else
        m = 0
    End If ' 1000000 processed

    mm = j + 1
    If mm <= wCount Then
        Do
            mm = mm + 1
        Loop Until mm > wCount Or gA(mm) = 1000
    End If
    If mm <= wCount Then ' 1000 is at ga(mm)
        j = m + 1
        Do
            j = j + 1
        Loop Until j >= mm Or gA(j) = 100
        If j < mm Then ' have 100 preceeding 1000
            gA(j) = gA(j) * gA(j - 1)
            gA(j - 1) = 0
            gB(j) = 1
        End If
        LL = 0
        For j = m + 1 To mm - 1
            LL = LL + gA(j)
            gA(j) = 0
            gB(j) = 1
        Next j
        gA(mm) = LL * gA(mm)
        gB(mm) = 1
    Else
        mm = m
    End If ' 1000 is at mmth entry

    mmm = mm + 1
    If mmm <= wCount Then
        Do
            mmm = mmm + 1
        Loop Until mmm > wCount Or gA(mmm) = 100
    End If
    If mmm <= wCount Then ' 100 is at gA(mmm)
        gA(mmm) = gA(mmm - 1) * gA(mmm)
        gA(mmm - 1) = 0
        gB(mmm) = 1
    Else
        mm = m
    End If ' 100 is at mmmth entry

    LLL = 0
    For k = 1 To wCount
        LLL = LLL + gA(k)
    Next k

    If ThousandsComma Then
        s = Format(LLL, "Standard")
        s = Left(s, Len(s) - 3)
    Else
        s = Str(LLL)
    End If
    aRange.Text = Trim(s)
    aRange.Select
End Sub

Function removeZeros(gA() As Long, gB() As Long, ByVal wCount As Long) As Long
    Dim q As Long
    Dim z As Long

    For q = wCount To 1 Step -1
        If gA(q) = 0 Then
            z = q
            Do While z < wCount
                gA(z) = gA(z + 1)
                gB(z) = gB(z + 1)
                z = z + 1
            Loop
            wCount = wCount - 1
        End If
    Next q
    removeZeros = wCount
End Function

To use the macro, select the words you want to convert and then run TextToNumbers. The macro is destructive; it converts the actual words to their numeric equivalent. (If you want to maintain the original words, copy them before running the macro.)

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