Converting character to a unique number

[MarionD]

Hello,

I need to convert strings (in my case countries) into unique code number.

I tried the function CharToInt, but it gives me identical numbers for different countries (for example 65 for australia, azerbaidjan, austria, argentina etc.).

Can someone explain me why ? Is there a solution to convert a string into a unique code ? 

Thank you

[MarqueeCrew]

@pcatterson,

Good point about the soundex.  This was a btw idea, but good to point it out.  There is a flexibility in a soundex construction of countries so that speling errors can be ignored.  The md5hash constructs a unique key for each variation of a country.  Something in-between is key.  In my "accepted" solution, I do recommend standardizing the country names.

[MarionD]

That's great! Thank you very much for your time and the help :)