public static int getIntVal( String c )
	{
		c = c.toUpperCase();
		if( c.length() > 3 ) // max col value= XFD in Excel 2007
		{
			return -1;
		}
		int i = c.length() - 1;
		int ret = 0;
		while( i >= 0 )
		{ // process least to most-sigificant dig
			int z = 0;
			char cc = c.charAt( i );
			while( (z < alpharr.length) && (cc != alpharr[z++]) )
			{
				;
			}
			z *= Math.pow( 26, c.length() - i - 1 ); // 1-based col for computing
			ret += z;
			i--;
		}
		// make 0-based
		ret--;
		return ret;
	}