HashCode

[Madi Muthukumaran]

I just have a long string and i want to make a integer of fixed length from that string, i thought of using hashcode() method to get the integer, but the hashcode will not be unique, can one tell me how can i convert the string to UNIQUE FIXED LENGTH INTEGER.
Thaning you
M. Muthu

[Joe Ess]

How about using java.util.zip.CRC32 to generate a checksum for the string?

[norman richards]

You can't guarantee uniqueness with a fixed length hash if your source is arbitrary length strengths. But, you can do a lot better than the Java hashcode. If you need maximal uniqueness, then look for hashing functions used in encryption. MD5 and SHA1 are popular examples. I think they are both well supported by the JCE. Look for the MessageDigest class.