ASCII

From QB64 Wiki

ASCII and Extended Codes

ASCII Control 0 to 31 \| ASCII Keyboard Character Codes 32 to 127
Code	Character `[key]`	Code	Character	Code	Character	Code	Character
0	(NUL)	32	[`Spacebar`]	64	`@`	96	`
1	☺ (SOH)	33	!	65	A	97	a
2	☻ (STX)	34	"	66	B	98	b
3	♥ (ETX)	35	#	67	C	99	c
4	♦ (EOT)	36	$	68	D	100	d
5	♣ (ENQ)	37	%	69	E	101	e
6	♠ (ACK)	38	&	70	F	102	f
7	• (BEL) `BEEP`	39	'	71	G	103	g
8	◘ [`BackSpace`] **	40	(	72	H	104	h
9	○ (HT) [`TAB`] **	41	)	73	I	105	i
10	◙ (LineFeed) **	42	*	74	J	106	j
11	♂ (VT) **	43	+	75	K	107	k
12	♀ (FormFeed) **	44	,	76	L	108	l
13	♪ (CR) [`Enter`] **	45	-	77	M	109	m
14	♫ (SO)	46	.	78	N	110	n
15	☼ (SI)	47	/	79	O	111	o
16	► (DLE)	48	0	80	P	112	p
17	◄ (DC1)	49	1	81	Q	113	q
18	↕ (DC2)	50	2	82	R	114	r
19	‼ (DC3)	51	3	83	S	115	s
20	¶ (DC4)	52	4	84	T	116	t
21	§ (NAK)	53	5	85	U	117	u
22	▬ (SYN)	54	6	86	V	118	v
23	↨ (ETB)	55	7	87	W	119	w
24	↑ (CAN)	56	8	88	X	120	x
25	↓ (EM)	57	9	89	Y	121	y
26	→ (SUB) `EOF`	58	:	90	Z	122	z
27	← (ESC) [`Esc`]	59	;	91	[	123	{
28	∟ (FS) **	60	<	92	\	124	\|
29	↔ (GS) **	61	=	93	]	125	}
30	▲ (RS) **	62	>	94	^	126	~
31	▼ (US) **	63	?	95	_	127	⌂ (DEL) *
IBM, International, graphical, mathematical and other characters
Code	Character	Code	Character	Code	Character	Code	Character
128	Ç	160	á	192	└	224	α
129	ü	161	í	193	┴	225	ß
130	é	162	ó	194	┬	226	Γ
131	â	163	ú	195	├	227	π
132	ä	164	ñ	196	─	228	Σ
133	à	165	Ñ	197	┼	229	σ
134	å	166	ª	198	╞	230	µ
135	ç	167	º	199	╟	231	τ
136	ê	168	¿	200	╚	232	Φ
137	ë	169	⌐	201	╔	233	Θ
138	è	170	¬	202	╩	234	Ω
139	ï	171	½	203	╦	235	δ
140	î	172	¼	204	╠	236	∞
141	ì	173	¡	205	═	237	φ
142	Ä	174	«	206	╬	238	ε
143	Å	175	»	207	╧	239	∩
144	É	176	░	208	╨	240	≡
145	æ	177	▒	209	╤	241	±
146	Æ	178	▓	210	╥	242	≥
147	ô	179	│	211	╙</tt>	243	≤
148	ö	180	┤	212	╘	244	⌠
149	ò	181	╡	213	╒	245	⌡
150	û	182	╢	214	╓	246	÷
151	ù	183	╖	215	╫	247	≈
152	ÿ	184	╕	216	╪	248	°
153	Ö	185	╣	217	┘	249	∙
154	Ü	186	║	218	┌	250	·
155	¢	187	╗	219	█	251	√
156	£	188	╝	220	▄	252	ⁿ
157	¥	189	╜	221	▌	253	²
158	₧	190	╛	222	▐	254	■
159	ƒ	191	┐	223	▀	255	NBSP ***

* DEL was used to erase paper tape data by punching out all of the 7 holes.

** Control characters 8 to 13 and 28 to 31 can move text formatting when PRINTed

*** NBSP is a Non-breaking Space used to indent text. Some browsers may handle this character differently

More information about ASCII Control Characters

For Unicode Characters see Unicode

ASCII in Text and Printing

Characters can be entered in by holding down Alt key and entering the code number on the Number pad.
Characters 0 and 255 can also be used to print spaces(32). Useful for making filenames harder to delete too.
Character 7 will create a BEEP sound when printed in full screen or an error sound in Windows using a SCREEN 0 window.
Control characters 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 29, 30 and 31 can affect the screen or file PRINT placements.

Character 8 can backspace one space when printed.
Character 9 can TAB space text when printed.
Character 10 moves the cursor or "line feeds" the printer head down one row
Character 12 acts like CLS when printed. "Form feeds" the page out of printers.
Character 13 is the cursor or "carriage return" to the start of a new line.

Characters 13 and 10 can be combined to create the CrLf carriage return used in files or printing. crlf$ = CHR$(13) + CHR$(10).
Character 26 can be used to designate the end of a file. See EOF.
All other characters are one byte and take up one space(byte) in a STRING value or variable.
Characters 176 to 223 can be used to create screen borders or boundaries in an ASCII game. See: SCREEN
Character 253(small 2) can be found as the first character byte of a BSAVEd image file opened in BINARY mode.

ASCII Character Usage

PRINTs characters to the screen or a file as well as creating borders, accented letters or character symbols.
BINARY files often store values below 256 in the one byte character. To read the value get the code with ASC.
Can be used to crudely encrypt a file so others cannot read it. See CHR$ example 2.

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Two Byte Codes

Two Byte ASCII Keyboard Return Values

INKEY$ returns both bytes when two byte keys or key combinations are pressed. The second byte = RIGHT$(CHR$(code), 1)
If the character returned is a two byte code, ASC will return 0. Warning: ASC cannot read empty INKEY$ string values!
String values returned can be compared in an IF or SELECT CASE routine by using the actual string definitions such as:

IF INKEY$ = CHR$(0) + CHR$(80) THEN row = row + 1 or IF INKEY$ = CHR$(0) + "P" THEN row = row + 1

List of Two Byte Character Codes Key CHR$(0) + "?"

CHR$(0) + CHR$(16-50) [Alt] + letter CHR$(0) + CHR$(59) [F1] ";" CHR$(0) + CHR$(60) [F2] "<" CHR$(0) + CHR$(61) [F3] "=" CHR$(0) + CHR$(62) [F4] ">" CHR$(0) + CHR$(63) [F5] "?" CHR$(0) + CHR$(64) [F6] "@" CHR$(0) + CHR$(65) [F7] "A" CHR$(0) + CHR$(66) [F8] "B" CHR$(0) + CHR$(67) [F9] "C" CHR$(0) + CHR$(68) [F10] "D" CHR$(0) + CHR$(71) [Home] "G" CHR$(0) + CHR$(72) [↑] Arrow "H" CHR$(0) + CHR$(73) [Page Up] "I" CHR$(0) + CHR$(75) [←] Arrow "K" CHR$(0) + CHR$(77) [→] Arrow "M" CHR$(0) + CHR$(79) [End] "O" CHR$(0) + CHR$(80) [↓] Arrow "P" CHR$(0) + CHR$(81) [Page Down] "Q" CHR$(0) + CHR$(82) [Insert] "R" CHR$(0) + CHR$(83) [Delete] "S" CHR$(0) + CHR$(84-93) [Shift] + F1-10 CHR$(0) + CHR$(94-103) [Ctrl] + F1-10 CHR$(0) + CHR$(104-113) [Alt] + F1-10 CHR$(0) + CHR$(114-119) [Ctrl] + keypad CHR$(0) + CHR$(120-129) [Alt] + number CHR$(0) + CHR$(133) [F11] "à" CHR$(0) + CHR$(134) [F12] "å" CHR$(0) + CHR$(135) [Shift] + [F11] "ç" CHR$(0) + CHR$(136) [Shift] + [F12] "ê" CHR$(0) + CHR$(137) [Ctrl] + [F11] "ë" CHR$(0) + CHR$(138) [Ctrl] + [F12] "è" CHR$(0) + CHR$(139) [Alt] + [F11] "ï" CHR$(0) + CHR$(140) [Alt] + [F12] "î"

See Scancodes for other keyboard function keys.

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Example

Example: Routine displays all keypress codes including Ctrl, Alt and Shift combinations. Ctrl + letter = control codes 1 to 26.

SCREEN 13 tmp$ = " CHR$(###),\\,\ \ " tmp2$ = " CHR$(0) + CHR$(###) \ \" COLOR 14: LOCATE 3, 3: PRINT "The code can tell what key is pressed" COLOR 12: LOCATE 5, 14: PRINT CHR$(3); SPACE$(3); COLOR 13: PRINT CHR$(5); SPACE$(3); COLOR 12: PRINT CHR$(4); SPACE$(3); COLOR 13: PRINT CHR$(6) COLOR 10: LOCATE 7, 4: PRINT " Hit a key to find the ASCII Code" COLOR 5: LOCATE 13, 1: PRINT " Codes below 33 are called control keys" LOCATE 14, 1: PRINT " CHR$(0) + are 2 byte Extended key codes" COLOR 13: LOCATE 16, 1: PRINT " Extended: Press Alt + numberpad: Enter" LOCATE 18, 1: PRINT " Try some Ctrl, Alt, or Shift Combo's" COLOR 5: LOCATE 20, 1: PRINT " INKEY$ is used to detect the key entry" COLOR 2: LOCATE 22, 15: PRINT CHR$(1); " "; CHR$(2) COLOR 4: LOCATE 24, 10: PRINT "To Quit hit the TAB key"; COLOR 9 DO DO: SLEEP: A$ = INKEY$: LOOP UNTIL A$ <> "" 'legal ASC read keys IF ASC(A$) > 0 THEN ' normal key codes code% = ASC(A$) SELECT CASE code% CASE 7: Key$ = "Beep" CASE 8: Key$ = "Backspace" CASE 9: Key$ = "Tab Key" CASE 10: Key$ = "Line Feed" CASE 12: Key$ = "Form Feed" CASE 13: Key$ = "Enter" CASE 27: Key$ = "Escape" CASE 32: Key$ = "Space Bar" CASE 48 TO 57: Key$ = "Number" CASE 65 TO 90: Key$ = "Uppercase" CASE 97 TO 122: Key$ = "Lowercase" CASE ELSE: Key$ = "" END SELECT SELECT CASE code% 'check for unprintable control combo characters CASE 10 TO 13: Kcode% = 32 CASE ELSE: Kcode% = code% END SELECT COLOR 9: LOCATE 10, 5: PRINT USING tmp$; code%; CHR$(Kcode%); Key$; END IF IF ASC(A$) = 0 THEN 'two byte key codes code% = ASC(RIGHT$(A$, 1)) 'QBasic code 'code% = ASC(A$, 2) 'QB64 code alternative SELECT CASE code% CASE 16 TO 50: Key$ = "Alt+ letter" CASE 72: Key$ = CHR$(24) + " Arrow" CASE 75: Key$ = CHR$(27) + " Arrow" CASE 77: Key$ = CHR$(26) + " Arrow" CASE 80: Key$ = CHR$(25) + " Arrow" CASE 83: Key$ = "Delete" CASE 59: Key$ = "F1" CASE 60: Key$ = "F2" CASE 61: Key$ = "F3" CASE 62: Key$ = "F4" CASE 63: Key$ = "F5" CASE 64: Key$ = "F6" CASE 65: Key$ = "F7" CASE 66: Key$ = "F8" CASE 67: Key$ = "F9" CASE 68: Key$ = "F10" CASE 71: Key$ = "Home" CASE 73: Key$ = "Page " + CHR$(24) CASE 79: Key$ = "End" CASE 81: Key$ = "Page " + CHR$(25) CASE 82: Key$ = "Insert" CASE 83: Key$ = "Delete" CASE 84 TO 93: Key$ = "Shift+ F" CASE 94 TO 103: Key$ = "Ctrl+ F" CASE 104 TO 113: Key$ = "Alt+ F" CASE 114 TO 119: Key$ = "Ctrl + pad" CASE 120 TO 129: Key$ = "Alt+ number" CASE 132: Key$ = "Ctrl + pad" CASE 133: Key$ = "F11" CASE 134: Key$ = "F12" CASE 135: Key$ = "Shift+ F11" CASE 136: Key$ = "Shift+ F12" CASE 137: Key$ = "Ctrl+ F11" CASE 138: Key$ = "Ctrl+ F12" CASE 139: Key$ = "Alt+ F11" CASE 140: Key$ = "Alt+ F12" CASE ELSE: Key$ = "" END SELECT LOCATE 10, 5: PRINT USING tmp2$; code%; Key$ END IF LOOP UNTIL A$ = CHR$(9) SOUND 400, 4 SLEEP 3 SYSTEM

Explanation: The routine checks for a keypress and SLEEP guarantees that ASC will never read an empty string from INKEY$. When the keypress is determined to be two bytes (ASC(A$) = 0) the second SELECT CASE routine is used. You can even display non-keyboard extended characters. Just press Alt + numberpad code, release and press enter.

Note: Ctrl + letter keys will list the contol keys as normal codes. EX: Ctrl + G will BEEP (CHR$(7)).

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