Phone Letters to Numbers

[Gösta H. Lovgren-2]

I'm sure this little routine has been posted here before but I couldn't find any. Maybe someone will find it of use.

'

#Compile Exe  
#Include "WIN32API.INC"
 
 
Sub Phone_Letters_to_Numbers(P$) 
  Local ctr&, x$
  p$ = UCase$(p$)'JIC any lower case
  For ctr =1 To Len(p$)'check whole length
     x$ = Mid$(p$, ctr, 1)'check each character
     Select Case x$ 'Is it a letter?
       Case "A", "B", "C"
         x$ = "2"
       Case "D", "E", "F"
         x$ = "3"
       Case "G", "H", "I"
         x$ = "4"
       Case "J", "K", "L"
         x$ = "5"
       Case "M", "N", "O"
         x$ = "6"
       Case "P", "Q", "R", "S"
         x$ = "7"
       Case "T", "U", "V"
         x$ = "8"
       Case "W", "X", "Y", "Z"
         x$ = "9"
     End Select 
     Mid$(p$, ctr, 1) = x$'Now put character back
  Next ctr
End Sub
 
 
 
Function PBMain
 Local p$, Phone$                   
 Phone$ = "1-800-Call Me Now"          
 p$ = Phone$ 'hold it to check later
 Call Phone_Letters_to_Numbers(Phone$) 
 ? p$ & $CrLf & Phone$
End Function
'

============================================
Charm is a glow within a woman
that casts a most becoming light on others.
John Mason Brown
============================================

[Mike Doty]

'Without the string manipulations

$s = CHR$(50,50,50,51,51,51,52,52,52,53,53,53,54,54,54,55,55,55,55,56,56,56,57,57,57,57)
SUB Test(p AS STRING)
  LOCAL ctr AS LONG, x AS LONG
  FOR ctr = 1 TO LEN(p)
    x = ASC(p,ctr)
    IF x > 96 AND x< 123 THEN x = x - 32 'convert to upper case
    IF x > 64 AND x < 91 THEN ASC(p,ctr) = ASC($s,x-64)
  NEXT
END SUB
 
FUNCTION PBMAIN
  LOCAL p$, Phone$
  Phone$ = "1-800-Call Me Now"
  p$ = Phone$ 'hold it to check later
  test phone
  ? p & $CRLF & Phone
END FUNCTION

'

[Gösta H. Lovgren-2]

Neat code, Mike. Avonding the use of string manipulation, which we all know is inherently faster. Very fast indeed. (see example)

Maybe someone can come up with a pointer example that's even faster again.

'

#Compile Exe  
#Include "WIN32API.INC"
$s = Chr$(50,50,50,51,51,51,52,52,52,53,53,53,54,54,54,55,55,55,55,56,56,56,57,57,57,57)
Sub Test(p As String)
  Local ctr As Long, x As Long
  For ctr = 1 To Len(p)
    x = Asc(p,ctr)
    If x > 96 And x< 123 Then x = x - 32 'convert to upper case
    If x > 64 And x < 91 Then Asc(p,ctr) = Asc($s,x-64)
  Next
End Sub
 
Sub Phone_Letters_to_Numbers(P$) 
  Local ctr&, x$
  p$ = UCase$(p$)'JIC any lower case
  For ctr =1 To Len(p$)'check whole length
     x$ = Mid$(p$, ctr, 1)'check each character
     Select Case x$ 'Is it a letter?
       Case "A", "B", "C"
         x$ = "2"
       Case "D", "E", "F"
         x$ = "3"
       Case "G", "H", "I"
         x$ = "4"
       Case "J", "K", "L"
         x$ = "5"
       Case "M", "N", "O"
         x$ = "6"
       Case "P", "Q", "R", "S"
         x$ = "7"
       Case "T", "U", "V"
         x$ = "8"
       Case "W", "X", "Y", "Z"
         x$ = "9"
     End Select 
     Mid$(p$, ctr, 1) = x$'Now put character back
  Next ctr
End Sub
 
Function PBMain
 Local u$, p$, p1$, p2$, Phone$, tmr#, tmr1#, tmr2#
 
 tmr# = Timer                   
 Phone$ = "1-800-Call Me Now"          
 p$ = Phone$ 'hold it to check later
 Call Phone_Letters_to_Numbers(Phone$)
  tmr1 = Timer - tmr#  'time to do               
  p1$ = Phone$  'hold for later
 
 tmr# = Timer                   
 Phone$ = "1-800-Call Me Now"          
 p$ = Phone$ 'hold it to check later
 Call Test(phone$)
  tmr2 = Timer - tmr# 'time to do test
  p2$ = Phone$
 
  u$ = p1$ & Using$("      Using Strings took .######## seconds", tmr1) & _
        $CrLf & _
        p2$ & Using$(" Not using Strings took .######## seconds", tmr2) 
 
  ?u$,, "'1-800-Call Me Now' conversion to numbers"          
 
 
End Function
'

======================================
"But at my back I always hear
Time's winged chariot hurrying near."
Andrew Marvell (1621-1678)
======================================

[Mike Doty]

'Test using GetTickCount using multiple iterations

#COMPILE EXE
#INCLUDE "WIN32API.INC"
$s = CHR$(50,50,50,51,51,51,52,52,52,53,53,53,54,54,54,55,55,55,55,56,56,56,57,57,57,57)
SUB Test(p AS STRING)
  LOCAL ctr AS LONG, x AS LONG
  FOR ctr = 1 TO LEN(p)
    x = ASC(p,ctr)
    IF x > 96 AND x< 123 THEN x = x - 32 'convert to upper case
    IF x > 64 AND x < 91 THEN ASC(p,ctr) = ASC($s,x-64)
  NEXT
END SUB
SUB Phone_Letters_to_Numbers(P$)
LOCAL ctr&, x$
p$ = UCASE$(p$)'JIC any lower case
FOR ctr =1 TO LEN(p$)'check whole length
x$ = MID$(p$, ctr, 1)'check each character
SELECT CASE x$ 'Is it a letter?
CASE "A", "B", "C"
x$ = "2"
CASE "D", "E", "F"
x$ = "3"
CASE "G", "H", "I"
x$ = "4"
CASE "J", "K", "L"
x$ = "5"
CASE "M", "N", "O"
x$ = "6"
CASE "P", "Q", "R", "S"
x$ = "7"
CASE "T", "U", "V"
x$ = "8"
CASE "W", "X", "Y", "Z"
x$ = "9"
END SELECT
MID$(p$, ctr, 1) = x$'Now put character back
NEXT ctr
END SUB
FUNCTION PBMAIN
LOCAL u$, p$, p1$, p2$, Phone$, tmr#, tmr1#, tmr2#
LOCAL x AS LONG
tmr# = GetTickCount
' ? str$(tmr)
FOR x = 1 TO 99999
Phone$ = "1-800-Call Me Now"
p$ = Phone$ 'hold it to check later
CALL Phone_Letters_to_Numbers(Phone$)
p1$ = Phone$ 'hold for later
NEXT
tmr1 = GetTickCount - tmr# 'time to do
 
tmr# = GetTickCount
' ? str$(tmr)
FOR x = 1 TO 99999
Phone$ = "1-800-Call Me Now"
p$ = Phone$ 'hold it to check later
CALL Test(phone$)
 
p2$ = Phone$
NEXT
tmr2 = GetTickCount - tmr# 'time to do test
u$ = p1$ & USING$(" Using Strings took .######## ticks", tmr1) & _
$CRLF & _
p2$ & USING$(" Not using Strings took .######## ticks", tmr2)
?u$,, "'1-800-Call Me Now' conversion to numbers"
 
END FUNCTION

'

[Gösta H. Lovgren-2]

WOW! Not using strings is almost 40 times faster. But it takes almost infinitely longer (couple seconds) to count the ticks to find out it's faster. {rue}

Now if somebody would post a string pointer example, it would probably be hundreds of times faster and only take an hour to test the time/tick advantage.

Ain't programming fun?

=====================================
"The use of COBOL cripples the mind;
its teaching should therefore
be regarded as a criminal offense."
Edsgar Dijkstra
=====================================

[George Bleck]

 
SUB Phone_Letters_To_Numbers( BYREF strSource AS STRING )
 DIM lngIndex AS LONG
 DIM pstrSource AS BYTE PTR
 DIM pstrTable AS BYTE PTR
 DIM strTable AS STRING
 DIM bytValue AS BYTE
 pstrSource = STRPTR( StrSource )
 strTable = "22233344455566677778889999"
 pstrTable = STRPTR( strTable )
 FOR lngIndex = 0 TO LEN( strSource ) - 1
  bytValue = @pstrSource [ lngIndex ]
  IF bytValue > 64 AND bytValue < 91 THEN
   @pstrSource [ lngIndex ] = @pstrTable [ bytValue - 65 ]
  ELSEIF bytValue > 96 AND bytValue < 123 THEN
   @pstrSource [ lngIndex ] = @pstrTable [ bytValue - 97 ]
  END IF
 NEXT lngIndex
END SUB

Now just waiting for the Wayne Diamond Assembly version

[Michael Mattias]

FUNCTION PBMAIN() AS LONG
    CALL TestPhoneDigits
END FUNCTION

$KEYPAD = "   ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPRSTUVWYZ"   ' no X or Q on keypad
' starts with three spaces
$DIGITS  = "0123456789"

FUNCTION LetterToDigit ( D AS STRING) AS STRING
 LOCAL iPos AS LONG
 LOCAL X AS STRING
 
 X    = UCASE$(D)
 iPos = INSTR ($DIGITS, X)  ' is it a digit, as in [b]1-800[/b]-HELPME-RHONDA
 IF ISTRUE iPos THEN        ' yes, it is a digit
     FUNCTION = x
 ELSE
      iPos = INSTR ($KEYPAD, X)      ' is it a supported letter?
      IF iPos THEN                   ' yes it is a supported letter
          FUNCTION = FORMAT$(iPos\3+ IIF&(ipos MOD 3, 1, 0))  ' A(pos4) ==>"2"; Z (pos 27)==> "9"
      ELSE
         FUNCTION = D  ' must be a non-digit non-supported letter; just return what we got
      END IF
 END IF

END FUNCTION

FUNCTION TestPhoneDigits () AS LONG
    
    LOCAL Z AS LONG, L AS STRING, D AS STRING, S AS STRING, C AS STRING
    
    LOCAL TT AS STRING
    
      TT = "Uppper-case Letter Test"
      FOR Z = 1 TO 26
          C = CHR$ (64 + Z)
          D = LettertoDigit ( C)
          S = S & USING$ ("&=&", C, D) & $CRLF
      NEXT
      MSGBOX S,,TT
      
      TT = "DIGIT TEST"
      S = ""
      FOR Z = &h30  TO  &h39
          C = CHR$(Z)
          D = LettertoDigit ( C)
          S = S & USING$ ("&=&", C, D) & $CRLF
      NEXT
      MSGBOX S,,TT
      
      
      TT = "Lower-case letter test"
      S = ""
      FOR Z = 1 TO 26
          C = CHR$ (96 + Z)
          D = LettertoDigit ( C)
          S = S & USING$ ("&=&", C, D) & $CRLF
      NEXT
      MSGBOX S,,TT
      

END FUNCTION

[Marco Pontello]

Probably the most simple way to do it using just PB statements. Just one statement and 2 strings:

StSrc$ = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"
StDst$ = "2223334445556667777888999922233344455566677778889999"

REPLACE ANY StSrc$ WITH StDst$ IN Phone$

Bye!

[Michael Mattias]

>REPLACE ANY ..

Outstanding!

[Gösta H. Lovgren-2]

Probably the most simple way to do it using just PB statements. Just one statement and 2 strings:

WOW! WOW!! WOW!!!

============================================
"A pound of pluck is worth a ton of luck."
Garfield
============================================

[George Bleck]

Many artists, many brushes...same exact painting

[Gösta H. Lovgren-2]

All are fast (untimeable really) but Marco wins hands down (elegance).

George, there appears to be an error in your code. It returns a different number.

MCM, I didn't include your code in the test (too much code to play with) but I'm sure it's even faster. Maybe even picks up the phone on the other end, or direct connects somehow bypassing the phone company or something else as esoteric.

'

#Compile Exe  
#Include "WIN32API.INC"
$s = Chr$(50,50,50,51,51,51,52,52,52,53,53,53,54,54,54,55,55,55,55,56,56,56,57,57,57,57)

'George Bleck                                
   'Phone_Letters_to_Numbers
Sub George_Bleck( ByRef strSource As String )
 Dim lngIndex As Long
 Dim pstrSource As Byte Ptr
 Dim pstrTable As Byte Ptr
 Dim strTable As String
 Dim bytValue As Byte
 pstrSource = StrPtr( StrSource )
 strTable = "22233344455566677778889999"
 pstrTable = StrPtr( strTable )
 For lngIndex = 0 To Len( strSource ) - 1
  bytValue = @pstrSource [ lngIndex ]
  If bytValue > 64 And bytValue < 91 Then
   @pstrSource [ lngIndex ] = @pstrTable [ bytValue - 64 ]
  ElseIf bytValue > 96 And bytValue < 123 Then
   @pstrSource [ lngIndex ] = @pstrTable [ bytValue - 95 ]
  End If
 Next lngIndex
End Sub
'Mike Doty
Sub Test(p As String)
  Local ctr As Long, x As Long
  For ctr = 1 To Len(p)
    x = Asc(p,ctr)
    If x > 96 And x< 123 Then x = x - 32 'convert to upper case
    If x > 64 And x < 91 Then Asc(p,ctr) = Asc($s,x-64)
  Next
End Sub
'Gösta 
Sub Phone_Letters_to_Numbers(P$) 
  Local ctr&, x$
  p$ = UCase$(p$)'JIC any lower case
  For ctr =1 To Len(p$)'check whole length
     x$ = Mid$(p$, ctr, 1)'check each character
     Select Case x$ 'Is it a letter?
       Case "A", "B", "C"
         x$ = "2"
       Case "D", "E", "F"
         x$ = "3"
       Case "G", "H", "I"
         x$ = "4"
       Case "J", "K", "L"
         x$ = "5"
       Case "M", "N", "O"
         x$ = "6"
       Case "P", "Q", "R", "S"
         x$ = "7"
       Case "T", "U", "V"
         x$ = "8"
       Case "W", "X", "Y", "Z"
         x$ = "9"
     End Select 
     Mid$(p$, ctr, 1) = x$'Now put character back
  Next ctr
End Sub
'Marco Pontello
Sub Marco(Phone$)
 Local StSrc$, StDst$
 StSrc$ = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw xyz"
 StDst$ = "2223334445556667777888999922233344455566677778889 999"
  Replace Any StSrc$ With StDst$ In Phone$  
End Sub
' 
Function PBMain
 Local u$, p$, p1$, p2$, p3$, p4$, Phone$ 
 Local tmr#, tmr1#, tmr2#, tmr3#, tmr4#
 
 tmr# = Timer                   
 Phone$ = "1-800-Call Me Now"          
 p$ = Phone$ 'hold it to check later
 Call Phone_Letters_to_Numbers(Phone$)
  tmr1 = Timer - tmr#  'time to do               
  p1$ = Phone$  'hold for later
 
 tmr# = Timer                   
 Phone$ = "1-800-Call Me Now"          
 Call Test(phone$)
  tmr2 = Timer - tmr# 'time to do test
  p2$ = Phone$
 tmr# = Timer                   
 Phone$ = "1-800-Call Me Now"          
 Call George_Bleck(phone$)
  tmr3 = Timer - tmr# 'time to do test
  p3$ = Phone$
 tmr# = Timer                   
 Phone$ = "1-800-Call Me Now"          
 Call Marco(phone$)
  tmr4 = Timer - tmr# 'time to do test
  p4$ = Phone$
 
  u$ = p1$ & Using$("     GHL Using Strings took .######## seconds", tmr1) & $CrLf & _
       p2$ & Using$("  MD Not using Strings took .######## seconds", tmr2) & $CrLf & _
       p3$ & Using$("     GB Using Pointers took .######## seconds", tmr3) & $CrLf & _
       p4$ & Using$(" Marco just being cool took .######## seconds", tmr4) & $CrLf 
        
  ?u$,, "'1-800-Call Me Now' conversion to numbers"          
 
 
End Function
'

=======================================================================================================================
"Grove giveth and Gates taketh away."
Bob Metcalfe (inventor of Ethernet) on the trend of hardware speedups not being able to keep up with software demands
=======================================================================================================================

[George Bleck]

Bah, darn typos... did it without testing sorry. Corrected two lines in my posting...works as expected now.
And the winner is...

#COMPILE EXE
#INCLUDE "WIN32API.INC"
$s = CHR$( 50, 50, 50, 51, 51, 51, 52, 52, 52, 53, 53, 53, 54, 54, 54, 55, 55, 55, 55, 56, 56, 56, 57, 57, 57, 57 )
'George Bleck
'Phone_Letters_to_Numbers
SUB George_Bleck( BYREF strSource AS STRING )
 DIM lngIndex AS LONG
 DIM pstrSource AS BYTE PTR
 DIM pstrTable AS BYTE PTR
 DIM strTable AS STRING
 DIM bytValue AS BYTE
 pstrSource = STRPTR( StrSource )
 strTable = "22233344455566677778889999"
 pstrTable = STRPTR( strTable )
 FOR lngIndex = 0 TO LEN( strSource ) - 1
  bytValue = @pstrSource [ lngIndex ]
  IF bytValue > 64 AND bytValue < 91 THEN
   @pstrSource [ lngIndex ] = @pstrTable [ bytValue - 65 ]
  ELSEIF bytValue > 96 AND bytValue < 123 THEN
   @pstrSource [ lngIndex ] = @pstrTable [ bytValue - 97 ]
  END IF
 NEXT lngIndex
END SUB
'Mike Doty
SUB Test( p AS STRING )
 LOCAL ctr AS LONG, x AS LONG
 FOR ctr = 1 TO LEN( p )
  x = ASC( p, ctr )
  IF x > 96 AND x < 123 THEN x = x - 32  'convert to upper case
  IF x > 64 AND x < 91 THEN ASC( p, ctr ) = ASC( $s, x - 64 )
 NEXT
END SUB
'Gösta
SUB Phone_Letters_to_Numbers( P$ )
 LOCAL ctr&, x$
 p$ = UCASE$( p$ )  'JIC any lower case
 FOR ctr = 1 TO LEN( p$ )  'check whole length
  x$ = MID$( p$, ctr, 1 )  'check each character
  SELECT CASE x$  'Is it a letter?
   CASE "A", "B", "C"
    x$ = "2"
   CASE "D", "E", "F"
    x$ = "3"
   CASE "G", "H", "I"
    x$ = "4"
   CASE "J", "K", "L"
    x$ = "5"
   CASE "M", "N", "O"
    x$ = "6"
   CASE "P", "Q", "R", "S"
    x$ = "7"
   CASE "T", "U", "V"
    x$ = "8"
   CASE "W", "X", "Y", "Z"
    x$ = "9"
  END SELECT
  MID$( p$, ctr, 1 ) = x$  'Now put character back
 NEXT ctr
END SUB
'Marco Pontello
SUB Marco( Phone$ )
 LOCAL StSrc$, StDst$
 StSrc$ = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw xyz"
 StDst$ = "2223334445556667777888999922233344455566677778889 999"
 REPLACE ANY StSrc$ WITH StDst$ IN Phone$
END SUB
FUNCTION PBMAIN
 LOCAL u$, p$, p1$, p2$, p3$, p4$, Phone$
 LOCAL tmr#, tmr1#, tmr2#, tmr3#, tmr4#
 iterations& = 500000
 ' Test 1
 Phone$ = "1-800-Call Me Now"
 tmr# = TIMER
 FOR t& = 1 TO iterations& : CALL Phone_Letters_to_Numbers( Phone$ ) : NEXT t%
 tmr1# = TIMER - tmr#  'time to do
 p1$ = Phone$  'hold for later
 ' Test 2
 Phone$ = "1-800-Call Me Now":
 tmr# = TIMER
 FOR t& = 1 TO iterations& : CALL Test( phone$ ) : NEXT T&
 tmr2# = TIMER - tmr#  'time to do test
 p2$ = Phone$
 'Test 3
 Phone$ = "1-800-Call Me Now"
 tmr# = TIMER
 FOR t& = 1 TO iterations& : CALL George_Bleck( phone$ ) : NEXT T&
 tmr3# = TIMER - tmr#  'time to do test
 p3$ = Phone$
 'Test 4
 Phone$ = "1-800-Call Me Now"
 tmr# = TIMER
 FOR t& = 1 TO iterations& : CALL Marco( phone$ ) : NEXT T&
 tmr4# = TIMER - tmr#  'time to do test
 p4$ = Phone$
 u$ = p1$ & USING$( "     GHL Using Strings took .######## seconds", tmr1# ) & $CRLF & _
   p2$ & USING$( "  MD Not using Strings took .######## seconds", tmr2# ) & $CRLF & _
   p3$ & USING$( "     GB Using Pointers took .######## seconds", tmr3# ) & $CRLF & _
   p4$ & USING$( " Marco just being cool took .######## seconds", tmr4# ) & $CRLF
 ?u$,, "'1-800-Call Me Now' conversion to numbers"
END FUNCTION

[John Gleason]

It's several times faster but 100x less elegant than Marco's quewool one-liner, but what the heck, here's my 2 centavos.

#COMPILE EXE
#DIM ALL

FUNCTION PBMAIN () AS LONG
    LOCAL phonStr, phoneIn AS STRING, pPtr AS BYTE PTR, ii AS LONG
    phoneIn = "1{800}Call the Hotline !"
    
    pPtr = STRPTR(phoneIn)

    phonStr = _     'this is a lookup table which is basically asm fast.
"................................ !""#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<+>?@22233344455566677778889999[\]^_`22233344455566677778889999{|}~" & _
"................................................................................................................................."
    DIM phon(255) AS BYTE AT STRPTR(phonStr)

    FOR ii = 1 TO LEN(phoneIn)
       @pPtr = phon(@pPtr)
       INCR pPtr
    NEXT

    ? phoneIn
END FUNCTION

[Michael Mattias]

MCM, I didn't include your code in the test (too much code to play with) but I'm sure it's even faster.

Don't even bother testing it: it's not what I would have written were I going for "fast."

I was going for "simple." But the even simpler "REPLACE ANY" idea never even occurred to me.

[Gösta H. Lovgren-2]

Just in case anyone gets ticked off

Using Mike's GetTickCount 99999 times each:

'

#Compile Exe  
#Include "WIN32API.INC"
#Include "C:\Power Basic\Includes\clipboard.inc"
$s = Chr$(50,50,50,51,51,51,52,52,52,53,53,53,54,54,54,55,55,55,55,56,56,56,57,57,57,57)

'George Bleck                                
   'Phone_Letters_to_Numbers
Sub George_Bleck( ByRef strSource As String )
 DIM lngIndex AS LONG
 Dim pstrSource As Byte Ptr
 Dim pstrTable As Byte Ptr
 Dim strTable As String
 Dim bytValue As Byte
 pstrSource = StrPtr( StrSource )
 strTable = "22233344455566677778889999"
 pstrTable = StrPtr( strTable )
 For lngIndex = 0 To Len( strSource ) - 1
  bytValue = @pstrSource [ lngIndex ]
  If bytValue > 64 And bytValue < 91 Then
   @pstrSource [ lngIndex ] = @pstrTable [ bytValue - 65 ]
  ElseIf bytValue > 96 And bytValue < 123 Then
   @pstrSource [ lngIndex ] = @pstrTable [ bytValue - 97 ]
  End If
 Next lngIndex
 End Sub
'Mike Doty
Sub Test(p As String)
  Local ctr As Long, x As Long
  For ctr = 1 To Len(p)
    x = Asc(p,ctr)
    If x > 96 And x< 123 Then x = x - 32 'convert to upper case
    If x > 64 And x < 91 Then Asc(p,ctr) = Asc($s,x-64)
  Next
End Sub
'Gösta 
Sub Phone_Letters_to_Numbers(P$) 
  Local ctr&, x$
  p$ = UCase$(p$)'JIC any lower case
  For ctr =1 To Len(p$)'check whole length
     x$ = Mid$(p$, ctr, 1)'check each character
     Select Case x$ 'Is it a letter?
       Case "A", "B", "C"
         x$ = "2"
       Case "D", "E", "F"
         x$ = "3"
       Case "G", "H", "I"
         x$ = "4"
       Case "J", "K", "L"
         x$ = "5"
       Case "M", "N", "O"
         x$ = "6"
       Case "P", "Q", "R", "S"
         x$ = "7"
       Case "T", "U", "V"
         x$ = "8"
       Case "W", "X", "Y", "Z"
         x$ = "9"
     End Select 
     Mid$(p$, ctr, 1) = x$'Now put character back
  Next ctr
End Sub
'Marco Pontello
Sub Marco(Phone$)
 Local StSrc$, StDst$
 StSrc$ = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw xyz"
 StDst$ = "2223334445556667777888999922233344455566677778889 999"
  Replace Any StSrc$ With StDst$ In Phone$  
End Sub
' 
'John Gleason
Sub JohnG(Phone$)
   Local phonStr, phoneIn As String, pPtr As Byte Ptr, ii As Long
    phoneIn = Phone$ '"1{800}Call the Hotline !"
    
    pPtr = StrPtr(phoneIn)
    phonStr = _     'this is a lookup table which is basically asm fast.
"................................ !""#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<+>?@22233344455566677778889999[\]^_`22233344455566677778889999{|}~" & _
"................................................................................................................................."
    Dim phon(255) As Byte At StrPtr(phonStr)
    For ii = 1 To Len(phoneIn)
       @pPtr = phon(@pPtr)
       Incr pPtr
    Next
    Phone$ = phoneIn 
End Sub
'
Sub JohnG2(Phone$)
   Static pPtr As Byte Ptr, ii As Long
   Static phonStr As String, oneTime As Long
    pPtr = StrPtr(phone$)
    If onetime = 0 Then
       oneTime = 1
       phonStr = _     'this is a lookup table which is basically asm fast.
       "................................ !""#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<+>?@22233344455566677778889999[\]^_`22233344455566677778889999{|}~" & _
       "................................................................................................................................."
       Dim phon(255) As Static Byte At StrPtr(phonStr)
    End If
    For ii = 1 To Len(phone$)
       @pPtr = phon(@pPtr)
       Incr pPtr
    Next
End Sub
'
Sub John_MCM(Phone$)
   Static pPtr As Byte Ptr, ii As Long
   Static phonStr As String, oneTime As Long
   Static pTable As Byte Ptr 
    pPtr = StrPtr(phone$)
    If onetime = 0 Then
       oneTime = 1
       phonStr = _     'this is a lookup table which is basically asm fast.
       "................................ !""#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<+>?@22233344455566677778889999[\]^_`22233344455566677778889999{|}~" & _
       "................................................................................................................................."
'       Dim phon(255) As Static Byte At StrPtr(phonStr)
       Ptable = StrPtr (phonstr)
    End If
For ii = 1 To Len(phone$)
       @pPtr [EMAIL="=@pTable"]=@pTable[/EMAIL][@pPtr]
       Incr pPtr
Next
'    For ii = 1 To Len(phone$)
'       @pPtr = phon(@pPtr)
'       Incr pPtr
'    Next
End Sub
'
Macro Start 
  tmr# = GetTickCount         
  For x = 1 To 99999
    phone$ = p$
End Macro
' 
Function PBMain
 Local u$, p$, p1$, p2$, p3$, p4$, p5$, p6$, Phone$
 Local p7$, tmr7# 
 Local tmr#, tmr1#, tmr2#, tmr3#, tmr4#, tmr5#, tmr6#
 Local x&
 
 Phone$ = "1-800-Call Me Now"          
 p$ = Phone$ 'hold it to check later
 Start                   
 Call Phone_Letters_to_Numbers(Phone$)
 Next x
  tmr1 = GetTickCount - tmr# 'Timer - tmr#  'time to do               
  p1$ = Phone$  'hold for later
 
 Start                   
 Call Test(phone$)
 Next x
  tmr2 = GetTickCount - tmr#  'Timer - tmr# 'time to do test
  p2$ = Phone$
 
 
 Start                   
 Call George_Bleck(phone$)
 Next x
  tmr3 = GetTickCount - tmr#  'Timer - tmr# 'time to do test
  p3$ = Phone$
 
 
 Start                   
 Call Marco(phone$)
 Next x
  tmr4 = GetTickCount - tmr#  'Timer - tmr# 'time to do test
  p4$ = Phone$
 Start                   
 Call JohnG(phone$)
 Next x
  tmr5 = GetTickCount - tmr# 'time to do test
  p5$ = Phone$
 Start                   
 Call JohnG2(phone$)
 Next x
  tmr6 = GetTickCount - tmr# 'time to do test
  p6$ = Phone$
 start
  Call John_MCM(Phone$)
  Next x
  tmr7 = GetTickCount - tmr# 'time to do test
  p7$ = Phone$
  
  Local u1$, t$
  u1$ = " took #,### ticks"
  u$ = p1$ & Using$(u1$ & " GHL Using Strings", tmr1) & $CrLf & _
       p2$ & Using$(u1$ & " MD Not using Strings", tmr2) & $CrLf & _
       p3$ & Using$(u1$ & " GB Using Pointers", tmr3) & $CrLf & _
       p4$ & Using$(u1$ & " Marco just being cool", tmr4) & $CrLf & _
       p5$ & Using$(u1$ & " John G's shot", tmr5) & $CrLf & _
       p6$ & Using$(u1$ & " John G's second shot", tmr6) & $CrLf & _
       p7$ & Using$(u1$ & " John G with MCM shot", tmr7) & $CrLf 
        
   t$ =   "  [qote]" & $CrLf & _
          "'1-800-Call Me Now' conversion to numbers"  & $CrLf  & $CrLf & _
          u$  & $CrLf & "[/qote]"
   Set_Clipboard
  ?u$,, "'1-800-Call Me Now' conversion to numbers"          
End Function
'

============================
"I've had a wonderful time,
and this wasn't it."
Groucho Marx (1895-1977)
============================

[John Gleason]

Gösta, try the below code. I made a few mods mainly to make the translation table "SUB friendly". That is to say, the table gets created and erased just once per program run.

SUB JohnG(Phone$)
   STATIC pPtr AS BYTE PTR, ii AS LONG
   STATIC phonStr AS STRING, oneTime AS LONG

    pPtr = STRPTR(phone$)
    IF onetime = 0 THEN
       oneTime = 1
       phonStr = _     'this is a lookup table which is basically asm fast.
       "................................ !""#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<+>?@22233344455566677778889999[\]^_`22233344455566677778889999{|}~" & _
       "................................................................................................................................."
       DIM phon(255) AS STATIC BYTE AT STRPTR(phonStr)
    END IF

    FOR ii = 1 TO LEN(phone$)
       @pPtr = phon(@pPtr)
       INCR pPtr
    NEXT
END SUB

[George Bleck]

Now where were we when they were decoding the Human genome

[Gösta H. Lovgren-2]

And the New Winner is:

Rather than reposting the code each time I'll just replace it above (see post #16) .

Here are the results:

'1-800-Call Me Now' conversion to numbers
1-800-2255 63 669 took 3,031 ticks GHL Using Strings
1-800-2255 63 669 took 63 ticks MD Not using Strings
1-800-2255 63 669 took 47 ticks GB Using Pointers
1-800-2255 63 669 took 312 ticks Marco just being cool
1-800-2255 63 669 took 78 ticks John G's shot
1-800-2255 63 669 took 16 ticks John G's second shot

=========================================
The company of just and righteous men
is better than wealth and a rich estate.
Euripides, Aegeus
=========================================

[Michael Mattias]

FOR ii = 1 TO LEN(phone$)
       @pPtr = phon(@pPtr)
       INCR pPtr
    NEXT

===>
Look Ma, no arrays required ...

LOCAL pTable AS BYTE PTR 
Ptable = STRPTR (phonstr)

FOR ii = 1 TO LEN(phone$)
       @pPtr =@pTable[@pPtr]
       INCR pPtr
NEXT

(another demo of same thing at EBCDIC - ASCII April 17, 2001