How To Convert Decimal Integers to Hexadecimal Strings (192303)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows 5.0a
  • Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows 6.0
This article was previously published under Q192303

SUMMARY

The following Microsoft Knowledge Base article describes how to convert decimal integers to a hexadecimal string:

95717 How to Convert Decimal Numbers to Hexadecimal Numbers



However, the function in the article is limited in the size of the integer it can convert. In Visual FoxPro, the TRANSFORM() function can be used to convert decimal integers to hexadecimal strings. However, TRANSFORM() cannot handle negative decimal integers (for example, TRANSFORM(-2, "@0")).

This article demonstrates how to use the DecToHex function to convert any decimal integer (up to DWORD in size) to a hexadecimal string, regardless of the sign of the integer.

MORE INFORMATION

The following code demonstrates how to use the DecToHex() function to convert decimal integers to a string containing the equivalent hexadecimal number.

Sample Code

   *-- Code begins here.
   WAIT WINDOW "-" + STR(2146828218) + " = " + DecToHex(-2146828218)
   WAIT WINDOW STR(-43690) + " = " + DecToHex(-43690)
   WAIT WINDOW STR(43690) + " = " + DecToHex(43690)

   *-----------------------------------------------------------------
   *- Function:    DecToHex
   *- Summary:     Converts decimal integers to hex strings, whether
   *-              signed or unsigned.
   *- Parameters:  liDecNumber - decimal number to convert.
   *-----------------------------------------------------------------
   FUNCTION DecToHex
   PARAMETERS liDecNumber
   lsHexNumber = ""
   IF liDecNumber > 0 && It's not negative, so do a straight TRANSFORM.
      lsHexNumber = TRANSFORM(liDecNumber, "@0")
   ELSE

      *-- The number is negative, so we'll have to do a little more work,
      *-- since it's not as straight forward as converting and adding a
      *-- minus sign.

      *-- Find the length of the resulting hex string.
      lsHexNumber = TRANSFORM(ABS(liDecNumber), "@0")
      IF SUBSTR(lsHexNumber, 3, 1) = "0" && The number has filled the
                                         && eight places of DWORD.
         liLength = LEN(SUBSTR(lsHexNumber, NotAt("0", lsHexNumber, 2)))
      ELSE
         *-- Subtract to account for "0x".
         liLength = LEN(TRANSFORM(ABS(liDecNumber), "@0")) - 2
      ENDIF

      lsTempHex = 0xFFFFFFFF
      lsHexNumber = TRANSFORM(lsTempHex-ABS(liDecNumber) + 1, "@0")
   ENDIF
   RETURN lsHexNumber

   *-----------------------------------------------------------------
   *- Function:    NotAt
   *- Summary:     From within a passed string, finds the first
   *-              occurrence of a character that is not the character
   *-              specified.  In other words, this function works
   *-              opposite of the manner that AT() does.
   *- Parameters:  lsNotString -    What we don't want.  The function
   *-                               finds the first character that is
   *-                               not lsNotString.
   *-              lsSearchString - The string in which to search.
   *-              liOccurence -    Indicates that NotAt should find
   *-                               the liOccurence of a character
   *-                               that is not lsNotString.
   *-----------------------------------------------------------------
   FUNCTION NotAt()
   PARAMETERS lsNotString, lsSearchString, liOccurrence

   llFound       = .F.  && Flag indicates if we've found a character that
                        && is NOT lsNotString
   llEndOfString = .F.  && Flag to indicate that we've reached the end
                        && of the string.
   lnCounter     = 0    && Tracks position during the search.
   lnLength      = LEN(lsSearchString)
   liOccurCount  = 0    && Tracks how many occurrences have been found.

   *-- Loop until the desired character is found or the end of
   *-- the string is reached.
   DO WHILE NOT llFound AND NOT llEndofString
      lnCounter = lnCounter + 1
      lsCompare = SUBSTR(lsSearchString, lnCounter, 1)
      IF lsCompare <> lsNotString
         liOccurCount = liOccurCount + 1

         *-- Have we found the occurrence we want?
         IF liOccurCount = liOccurrence
            llFound = .T.
         ENDIF
      ENDIF
      IF lnCounter = lnLength
         llEndOfString = .T.
      ENDIF

   ENDDO
   RETURN lnCounter
   *-- Code ends here.

REFERENCES

For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

95717 How to Convert Decimal Numbers to Hexadecimal Numbers

155389 How To Convert Values to Hexadecimal Format with Xbase

(c) Microsoft Corporation 1998. All Rights Reserved. Contributions by Mike A. Stewart, Microsoft Corporation.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:6/29/2004
Keywords:kbcode kbhowto KB192303
©2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.