---
title: "Number to Word"
id: 72619
type: "computer_media"
slug: "number-to-word"
url: "http://localhost/computer_media/number-to-word/"
markdown_url: "http://localhost/computer_media/number-to-word.md"
published_at: "2026-10-26T23:19:35+00:00"
modified_at: "2026-10-26T23:19:35+00:00"
author: "David Anderson"
featured_image:
  url: "http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/fonewo-1.png"
excerpt: "Lists every letter combination a seven-digit telephone number can spell on a standard keypad, all 2,187 of them, scrolling continuously with a key to pause."
post_tag:
  - name: "Downloadable"
    slug: "downloadable"
    taxonomy: "post_tag"
    url: "http://localhost/tag/downloadable/"
  - name: "TS 2068"
    slug: "ts2068"
    taxonomy: "post_tag"
    url: "http://localhost/tag/ts2068/"
model:
  - name: "Timex/Sinclair 2068"
    slug: "ts-2068"
    taxonomy: "model"
    url: "http://localhost/model/ts-2068/"
indiv:
  - name: "John Bell"
    slug: "bell-john"
    taxonomy: "indiv"
    url: "http://localhost/indiv/bell-john/"
genre:
  - name: "Home"
    slug: "home"
    taxonomy: "genre"
    url: "http://localhost/type/home/"
media_type: "Program"
programmers:
  - name: "John Bell"
    slug: "bell-john"
    taxonomy: "indiv"
    url: "http://localhost/indiv/bell-john/"
download_url: "https://archive.org/download/timex-sinclair-software-archive/Number%20to%20Word%20%281985%29%28Bell%2C%20John%29%28TS2068%29%28US%29%28Program%29.zip"
tsrun_member: "Number to Word (1985)(Bell, John)(TS2068)(US)(Program)/Number to Word (1985)(Bell, John)(TS2068)(US)(Program).tap"
mediadate: "1985"
images:
  - url: "http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/fonewo-1.png"
  - url: "http://localhost/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/fonewo-3.png"
article_media:
  - id: 8565
    title: "Number to Word"
    type: "article"
    url: "http://localhost/article/number-to-word/"
related_content:
  - id: 72433
    title: "Word Plays"
    type: "computer_media"
    url: "http://localhost/computer_media/word-plays/"
media_type_tags: "Home"
license: false
---

# Number to Word

Turns a seven-digit telephone number into every combination of letters it can spell on a telephone keypad. You type the number, confirm it, and the program prints all 37 = 2,187 seven-character combinations across the screen, four to a line. It scrolls without stopping; holding down a key pauses the listing. The digits 0 and 1, which have no letters, print as themselves.

“Number to Word” is by John Bell and was published as a TS 2068 type-in in T-S Horizons #14 (May/June 1985). The REM calls this the “2068 VERSION”. This copy comes from a Larken disk of magazine type-ins. The same letter tables and nested-loop routine also appear in the Word Plays program in this archive, as its phone-number option.

## Program Analysis

### How It Works

- Lines 30–80: `A$` is a 3×10 table. Row *n* holds the *n*th letter for each key 0–9 (“01ADGJMPTW”, “01BEHKNRUX”, “01CFILOSVY”), so Q and Z are left out, as on the keypads of the time.
- Lines 100–150: input and confirmation of the number.
- Lines 180–380: seven nested `FOR` loops, one per digit, each choosing row 1, 2 or 3; the choices are kept in array `N`.
- Lines 260–300: build the word in `C$` from `A$(N(H),VAL B$(H)+1)` and print it.

### Notable Techniques

- `POKE 23692,255` before each print keeps the scroll counter from stopping at “scroll?”.
- `IF INKEY$<>"" THEN PAUSE 660` gives a simple hold-to-pause.
- `POKE 23658,8` turns on caps lock for the input.

### Potential Issues

- Only numbers longer than seven characters are rejected. A shorter entry, or one with a non-digit, appears to stop the program with an error once the conversion starts.
- The length check jumps back to line 50, which re-dimensions `N`; this is harmless.

This program came from a Larken disk and was converted to run from tape: the LKDOS save and load lines and the LOGICALL load were removed, and it is saved without variables. It was tested in ZEsarUX with the number 555-0123.

## Source Code

```
    1 REM NUMBER TO WORD                   2068 VERSION
    2 REM ********************
   10 REM SET UP
   20 POKE 23658,8
   30 DIM A$(3,10)
   40 DIM C$(7)
   50 DIM N(7)
   60 LET A$(1,1 TO 10)="01ADGJMPTW"
   70 LET A$(2,1 TO 10)="01BEHKNRUX"
   80 LET A$(3,1 TO 10)="01CFILOSVY"
   90 REM DATA ENTRY
  100 INPUT "7 DIGIT NUMBER? ";B$
  110 IF LEN B$>7 THEN GO TO 50
  120 PRINT AT 21,0;B$
  130 INPUT "IS THE NUMBER CORRECT? ";D$
  140 IF D$="y" OR D$="Y" THEN GO TO 160
  150 GO TO 100
  160 CLS 
  170 REM PROCESSING
  180 FOR A=1 TO 3: LET N(1)=A
  190 FOR B=1 TO 3: LET N(2)=B
  200 FOR C=1 TO 3: LET N(3)=C
  210 FOR D=1 TO 3: LET N(4)=D
  220 FOR E=1 TO 3: LET N(5)=E
  230 FOR F=1 TO 3: LET N(6)=F
  240 FOR G=1 TO 3: LET N(7)=G
  250 REM CONVERSION
  260 FOR H=1 TO 7
  270 LET C$(H)=A$(N(H),VAL B$(H)+1)
  280 NEXT H
  290 POKE 23692,255
  300 PRINT C$;" ";
  310 IF INKEY$<>"" THEN PAUSE 660
  320 REM CONTINUE PROCESSING
  330 NEXT G
  335 NEXT F
  340 NEXT E
  350 NEXT D
  360 NEXT C
  370 NEXT B
  380 NEXT A
  400 PRINT "PROGRAM COMPLETE"
 8999 STOP 
 9000 SAVE "FONEWORDS": STOP 
 9010 VERIFY "FONEWORDS"
 9992 SAVE "FONEWO.B1" LINE 1
 9998 REM  was LKDOS-only
```