From: Justus Ohlhaver <ohlhaver@...>
Date: 2008-11-13T00:22:05+09:00
Subject: Re: Convert text string i.e 'Peter' into integer ID

Ken Bloom wrote:
> On Wed, 12 Nov 2008 08:16:36 -0500, Justus Ohlhaver wrote:
> 
>> Hello,
>> 
>> is there any method to quickly convert a text string such as 'Peter'
>> into an integer? (And vice versa?)
>> 
>> I am not asking about just changing the format (to_i). I'm looking for a
>> method thus can do the computation.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> Justus
> 
> Does "Peter".hash do what you want?
> 
> --Ken

Yes, thanks it seems to do what I need, except for two possible 
limitations:

1.Accordinng to Sebastian (above) 'Hash values are not unique. Two 
different strings can have the same hash value'

2.It may not serve my original purpose, which is speeding up database 
queries.


Thanks again,
Justus

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