ASCII Table

DecHexCharDescriptionDecHexCharDecHexCharDecHexChar
00NUL(null)32206440@9660`
11SOH(start of heading)3321!6541A9761a
22STX(start of text)3422"6642B9862b
33ETX(end of text)3523#6743C9963c
44EOT(end of transmission)3624$6844D10064d
55ENQ(enquiry)3725%6945E10165e
66ACK(acknowledge)3826&7046F10266f
77BEL(bell)3927'7147G10367g
88BS(backspace)4028(7248H10468h
99TAB(horizontal tab)4129)7349I10569i
10ALF(NL line feed, new line)422A*744AJ1066Aj
11BVT(vertical tab)432B+754BK1076Bk
12CFF(NP form feed, new page)442C,764CL1086Cl
13DCR(carriage return)452D-774DM1096Dm
14ESO(shift out)462E.784EN1106En
15FSI(shift in)472F/794FO1116Fo
1610DLE(data link escape)483008050P11270p
1711DC1(device control 1)493118151Q11371q
1812DC2(device control 2)503228252R11472r
1913DC3(device control 3)513338353S11573s
2014DC4(device control 4)523448454T11674t
2115NAK(negative acknowledge)533558555U11775u
2216SYN(synchronous idle)543668656V11876v
2317ETB(end of trans. block)553778757W11977w
2418CAN(cancel)563888858X12078x
2519EM(end of medium)573998959Y12179y
261ASUB(substitute)583A:905AZ1227Az
271BESC(escape)593B;915B[1237B{
281CFS(file separator)603C<925C\1247C|
291DGS(group separator)613D=935D]1257D}
301ERS(record separator)623E>945E^1267E~
311FUS(unit separator)633F?955F_1277FDEL

Format control

BS

Backspace. Indicates movement of the printing mechanism or display cursor backwards in one position.

HT

Horizontal Tabulation. Indicates movement of the printing mechanism or display cursor forward to the next preassigned 'tab' or stopping position.

LF

Line Feed. Indicates movement of the printing mechanism or display cursor to the start of the next line (ie one line down).

VT

Vertical Tabulation. Indicates movement of the printing mechanism or display cursor to the next of a series of preassigned printing lines.

FF

Form Feed. Indicates movement of the printing mechanism or display cursor to the starting position of the next page, form, or screen.

CR

Carriage Return. Indicates movement of the printing mechanism or display cursor to the starting position (left) of the current line.

Transmission control

SOH

Start of Heading. Used to indicate the start of a heading which may contain address or routing information.

STX

Start of Text. used to indicate the start of the text and so also indicates the end of the heading.

ETX

End of Text. Used to terminate the text which was started with STX. End of Transmission indicates the end of a transmission which may have included one or more 'texts' with their headings.

ENQ

Enquiry. A request for a response from a remote station. It may be used as a "who are you?" request for a station to identify itself.

ACK

Acknowledge. A character transmitted by a receiving device as an affirmation response to a sender. It is used as a positive response to polling messages.

NAK

Negative Acknowledgement. A character transmitted by a receiving device as a negative response to a sender. It is used as a negative response to polling messages.

SYN

Synchronous/Idle. Used by a synchronous transmission system to achieve synchronisation. When no data is being sent a synchronous transmission system may send SYN characters continuously.

ETB

End of Transmission Block. Indicates the end of a block of data for communication purposes. It is used for blocking data where the block structure is not necessarily related to the processing format.

Information separator

FS

File Separator.

GS

Group Separator.

RS

Record Separtator.

US

Unit Separator.

Information separators to be used in an optional manner except that their heirarchy shall be FS (the most inclusive) to US (the least inclusive).

Miscellaneous

NUL

Null. No character. Used for filling in time or filling space on tape when there is no data.

BEL

Bell. Used when there is need to call human attention. It may control alarm or attention devices.

SO

Shift Out. Indicates that the code combinations which follow shall be interpreted as _outside_ the standard character set until an SI character is reached.

SI

Shift In. Indicates that the code combinations which follow shall be interpreted according to the standard character set.

DLE

Data Link Escape. A character which shall change the meaning of one or more contiguously following characters. It can provide supplementary controls or permits the sending of data characters having any bit combination.

DC1, DC2, DC3, DC4

Device Controls. Characters for the control of ancillary devices or special terminal features.

CAN

Cancel. Indicates that the data which preceeds it in a message or block should be disregarded (usually because an error has been detected).

EM

End of Medium. Indicates the physical end of a card, tape or other medium, or the end of the required or used portion of the medium.

SUB

Substitute. Substituted for a character that is found to be erroneous or invalid.

ESC

Escape. A character intended to provide code extension in that it gives a specified number of contiguously following characters an alternate meaning.

SP

Space. A nonprinting character used to separate words, or to move the printing mechanism or display cursor forward by one position.

DEL

Delete. Used to obliterate unwanted characters (for example, on paper tape by punching a hole in _every_ bit position).

Contributor: Joakim Ögren

Source:
ASCII table at The Pin-Out directory
Data & Computer Communications from Stallings

Copyright © The Hardware Book Team 1996-2001.
May be copied and redistributed, partially or in whole, as apropriate.
Document last modified: 2001-06-07