Re: Shorter ID Codes

Is there a pre-written function to do this in Perl?

Yes there is. Someone asked a similar question a week ago and I suggested that they use Math::BaseCalc.

You just have to choose the characters you want to use, for instance 0..9 and A..Z give you 36 digit values, and so you could convert your base-10 ids into base-36. You could go to base-64 but then you'd have to say "uppercase g, lowercase r" which would be a net loss.

The process is reversable, just convert from base 36 back to base 10.

- another intruder with the mooring of the heat of the Perl

Comment on Re: Shorter ID Codes

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Re^2: Shorter ID Codes by Fletch (Bishop) on Oct 28, 2004 at 19:02 UTC
Of course if you use A..Z then you may introduce confusion between 0 => O and I => 1. Update: Good point below, although you could mitigate that by reading it back using a phonetic alphabet (papa delta bravo tango), but again that'd take longer.	[reply]
Re^3: Shorter ID Codes by Your Mother (Archbishop) on Oct 28, 2004 at 19:11 UTC
I'm going to echo this and add that purely numbered IDs are much easier to hear. There is tremendous aural confusion around B & D & P & T etc, even among speakers with the same accent. You might find that while 4242 4242 4242 4242 takes longer to read it's a false economy to switch it out with something like PDBT.	[reply]