Converting Alpha left justified to numeric

["Eric A. Wolf" <eric_a_wolf@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

To the list,

I need to convert an alpha field into numeric - I used to do it with a loop but 
was wondering if there was an easier way.

Scenario - the field is 15 Alpha and the number is left justified with leading 
zeros removed (0000001 is 1 + 6 blanks).  I want to convert it to a numeric 
field to be 0000001.

Any suggestions or do I stay with the loop - reading from right to left looking 
for the first non-blank character and moving it into another array starting 
with the 7th position and counting backward?

TIA...
Eric A. Wolf