Fastest function to generate Excel column letters in C#

Question

What is the fastest c# function that takes and int and returns a string containing a letter or letters for use in an Excel function? For example, 1 returns \"A\", 26 return

Answer 1

My solution:

static class ExcelHeaderHelper
{
    public static string[] GetHeaderLetters(uint max)
    {
        var result = new List<string>();
        int i = 0;
        var columnPrefix = new Queue<string>();
        string prefix = null;
        int prevRoundNo = 0;
        uint maxPrefix = max / 26;

        while (i < max)
        {
            int roundNo = i / 26;
            if (prevRoundNo < roundNo)
            {
                prefix = columnPrefix.Dequeue();
                prevRoundNo = roundNo;
            }
            string item = prefix + ((char)(65 + (i % 26))).ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
            if (i <= maxPrefix)
            {
                columnPrefix.Enqueue(item);
            }
            result.Add(item);
            i++;
        }
        return result.ToArray();
    }
}

Answer 2

I currently use this, with Excel 2007

public static string ExcelColumnFromNumber(int column)
        {
            string columnString = "";
            decimal columnNumber = column;
            while (columnNumber > 0)
            {
                decimal currentLetterNumber = (columnNumber - 1) % 26;
                char currentLetter = (char)(currentLetterNumber + 65);
                columnString = currentLetter + columnString;
                columnNumber = (columnNumber - (currentLetterNumber + 1)) / 26;
            }
            return columnString;
        }

and

public static int NumberFromExcelColumn(string column)
        {
            int retVal = 0;
            string col = column.ToUpper();
            for (int iChar = col.Length - 1; iChar >= 0; iChar--)
            {
                char colPiece = col[iChar];
                int colNum = colPiece - 64;
                retVal = retVal + colNum * (int)Math.Pow(26, col.Length - (iChar + 1));
            }
            return retVal;
        }

As mentioned in other posts, the results can be cached.

Answer 3

Here's my version: This does not have any limitation as such 2-letter or 3-letter. Simply pass-in the required number (starting with 0) Will return the Excel Column Header like Alphabet sequence for passed-in number:

private string GenerateSequence(int num)
{
    string str = "";
    char achar;
    int mod;
    while (true)
    {
        mod = (num % 26) + 65;
        num = (int)(num / 26);
        achar = (char)mod;
        str = achar + str;
        if (num > 0) num--;
        else if (num == 0) break;
    }
    return str;
}

I did not tested this for performance, if someone can do that will great for others. (Sorry for being lazy) :)

Cheers!