JavaScript: Column number that relates to a column title

Last update on March 01 2025 11:02:23 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

JavaScript Math: Exercise-98 with Solution

Excel Column Number from Title

Write a JavaScript program to get the column number (integer value) related to a column title as it appears in an Excel sheet.

For example:
A -> 1
B -> 2
C -> 3
...
Z -> 26
AA -> 27
AB -> 28
...

Visual Presentation:

$JavaScript Math: Column number that relates to a column title.$

Test Data:
("C") -> 3
("AD") -> 30
("ZX") -> 700

Sample Solution-1:

JavaScript Code:

/**
 * Function to convert an Excel column title to its corresponding column number.
 * @param {string} text - The Excel column title.
 * @returns {number} - The column number.
 */
function test(text) {
    text = text.toUpperCase(); // Convert the text to uppercase
    var cl_no = 0; // Initialize the column number
    var len = text.length; // Get the length of the text
    for (var i = 0; i < len; i++) { // Iterate through each character in the text
        cl_no += (Math.pow(26, (len - i - 1)) * (text.charCodeAt(i) - 64)); // Calculate the column number
    }
    return cl_no; // Return the column number
}
// Test cases
text = "C";
console.log("Original text: " + text);
console.log("Excel column title related with the said column number: " + test(text));

text = "AD";
console.log("Original text: " + text);
console.log("Excel column title related with the said column number: " + test(text));

text = "ZX";
console.log("Original text: " + text);
console.log("Excel column title related with the said column number: " + test(text));

Output:

Original text: C
Excel column title related with the said column number: 3
Original text: AD
Excel column title related with the said column number: 30
Original text: ZX
Excel column title related with the said column number: 700

Flowchart:

$JavaScript: Column number that relates to a column title.$

Live Demo:

Sample Solution-2:

JavaScript Code:

/**
 * Function to convert an Excel column title to its corresponding column number.
 * @param {string} text - The Excel column title.
 * @returns {number} - The column number.
 */
function test(text) {
    col_num = 0; // Initialize the column number
    for (el of text) { // Loop through each character in the text
        col_num = col_num * 26 + el.toLowerCase().charCodeAt(0) - "a".charCodeAt(0) + 1; // Calculate the column number
    }
    return col_num; // Return the column number
}
// Test cases
text = "C";
console.log("Original text: " + text);
console.log("Excel column title related with the said column number: " + test(text));

text = "AD";
console.log("Original text: " + text);
console.log("Excel column title related with the said column number: " + test(text));

text = "ZX";
console.log("Original text: " + text);
console.log("Excel column title related with the said column number: " + test(text));

Output:

Original text: C
Excel column title related with the said column number: 3
Original text: AD
Excel column title related with the said column number: 30
Original text: ZX
Excel column title related with the said column number: 700

Flowchart:

$JavaScript: Column number that relates to a column title.$

Live Demo:

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

Write a JavaScript function that converts an Excel column title to its corresponding number by processing each letter's value.
Write a JavaScript function that iterates through the characters of a column title and computes the numeric value using base-26 arithmetic.
Write a JavaScript function that validates the input title and handles both uppercase and lowercase letters.
Write a JavaScript function that returns the Excel column number and manages edge cases such as invalid characters.

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