Hi,
I need to create a script that converts a number to a roman numeral. I haven’t a clue as to how to even begin. Are there any snippets out there to start out with?
Thanks in advance
I’m sure there’s a better way to do this. This will only work up to a point but for numbers 1 through 4000 or so it should be OK:
set adRunListPath to (titleFolder & ":Display Ad:")
set adList to list folder adRunListPath
set dropDownList to every item of adList --whose file type is {"TEXT"}
choose from list dropDownList with prompt "Choose the Export for this section."
set chosenItem to result
if chosenItem is false then
error number -128
else
set filepath to (adRunListPath & chosenItem)
set aList to read file filepath as text using delimiter return
end if
Jon
If there is a better way I would not know Jon…your script is nice and short.
I found a couple other examples on the net elsewhere but they were long in length and hard to understand.
I really appreciate your help.
Jon’s method knocks the socks off the beautiful algorithm I was going to offer. 
.which makes me uncharitable enough to point out that there’s no need to treat the input number textually, and thus no need for a ‘try’ block: 
property Roman_hundreds : {"", "C", "CC", "CCC", "CD", "D", "DC", "DCC", "DCCC", "CM"}
property Roman_tens : {"", "X", "XX", "XXX", "XL", "L", "LX", "LXX", "LXXX", "XC"}
property Roman_ones : {"", "I", "II", "III", "IV", "V", "VI", "VII", "VIII", "IX"}
on convert_to_Roman(n)
set the_one to n div 1 mod 10
set the_ten to n div 10 mod 10
set the_hundred to n div 100 mod 10
set the_thousand to ""
repeat (n div 1000) times
set the_thousand to the_thousand & "M"
end repeat
return (the_thousand & (Roman_hundreds's item (the_hundred + 1)) & (Roman_tens's item (the_ten + 1)) & (Roman_ones's item (the_one + 1)))
end convert_to_Roman
Man you guys produce some tight code.
Put’s my meager stuff to shame.
Thanks again for the responses.
Well, if you’re going to do it that way, why even assign variables? Also, let’s speed it up by appending the thousands to a list instead of concatenating the string:
property Roman_hundreds : {"", "C", "CC", "CCC", "CD", "D", "DC", "DCC", "DCCC", "CM"}
property Roman_tens : {"", "X", "XX", "XXX", "XL", "L", "LX", "LXX", "LXXX", "XC"}
property Roman_ones : {"", "I", "II", "III", "IV", "V", "VI", "VII", "VIII", "IX"}
set the_year to my convert_to_Roman(2004)
on convert_to_Roman(n)
set the_thousand to {}
repeat (n div 1000) times
set end of the_thousand to "M"
end repeat
return ("" & the_thousand & (Roman_hundreds's item ((n div 100 mod 10) + 1)) & (Roman_tens's item ((n div 10 mod 10) + 1)) & (Roman_ones's item ((n div 1 mod 10) + 1)))
end convert_to_Roman
Jon
If you want to do it without pre-calculating the Roman lists, try this:
set the_year to my convert_to_Roman(2004)
-->"MMIV"
on convert_to_Roman(n)
set m to {}
repeat n div 1000 times
set end of m to "M"
end repeat
return "" & m & my digit_to_Roman(n mod 1000 div 100, "C", "D", "M") & my digit_to_Roman(n mod 100 div 10, "X", "L", "C") & my digit_to_Roman(n mod 10, "I", "V", "X")
end convert_to_Roman
on digit_to_Roman(n, r1, r5, r10)
if n = 0 then return ""
if n = 9 then return r1 & r10
if n is greater than or equal to 5 then return r5 & digit_to_Roman(n - 5, r1, r5, r10)
return item n of {r1, r1 & r1, r1 & r1 & r1, r1 & r5}
end digit_to_Roman
Jon
Beter and better. 
Still brief and a good performer.
My own effort, if you’re interested, had its own strengths and weaknesses.
on RomanNum(n, upper) -- takes string or number; upper is 'true' for upper case, 'false' for lower case
set n to n as number
if n < 1 or n > 3999 or n is not n div 1 then
error "Hunc numerum facere non possum!"
end if
set numerals to {"I", "V", "X", "L", "C", "D", "M", "i", "v", "x", "l", "c", "d", "m"}
set Roman to {}
set i to (count numerals) div 2 + 1
if upper then set i to 1
repeat until n = 0
set dec to n mod 10
set ixcm to item i of numerals
repeat dec mod 5 mod 4 times
set beginning of Roman to ixcm
end repeat
if dec > 3 then set beginning of Roman to item (i + (dec + 1) div 5) of numerals
if dec mod 5 is 4 then set beginning of Roman to ixcm
set i to i + 2
set n to n div 10
end repeat
set astid to AppleScript's text item delimiters
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to ""
set Roman to Roman as string
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to astid
return Roman
end RomanNum
RomanNum(1999, true) -- 'true' for upper case
--> "MCMXCIX"
RomanNum(37, false) -- 'false' for lower case
--> "xxxvii"
Does anyone know if there are any Roman numerals beyond M?
thanks for the brain tickle
inspired i had a look at this