Convert a hexadecimal string to an integer efficiently in C?

Question

In C, what is the most efficient way to convert a string of hex digits into a binary unsigned int or unsigned long?

For example, if I have

Answer 1

This currently only works with lower case but its super easy to make it work with both.

cout << "\nEnter a hexadecimal number: ";
cin >> hexNumber;
orighex = hexNumber;

strlength = hexNumber.length();

for (i=0;i="0") && (hexa<="9"))
    {
        //cout << "This is a numerical value.\n";
    }
    else
    {
        //cout << "This is a alpabetical value.\n";
        if (hexa=="a"){hexa="10";}
        else if (hexa=="b"){hexa="11";}
        else if (hexa=="c"){hexa="12";}
        else if (hexa=="d"){hexa="13";}
        else if (hexa=="e"){hexa="14";}
        else if (hexa=="f"){hexa="15";}
        else{cout << "INVALID ENTRY! ANSWER WONT BE CORRECT\n";}
    }
    //convert from string to integer

    hx = atoi(hexa.c_str());
    finalhex = finalhex + (hx*pow(16.0,strlength-i-1));
}
cout << "The hexadecimal number: " << orighex << " is " << finalhex << " in decimal.\n";