Examples of decimal and hexadecimal codes

Most computers, printers, and peripheral devices understand specific types of codes known as ASCII codes. ASCII (pronounced “ask-key”) stands for the American Standard Code for Information

Interchange. This standard code provides a common ground for computers and related devices to “talk” to each other, and transfer

data in a way that each can understand. And though there is an ASCII code for each letter, number, and symbol that we use(please

see Appendices C and E) you will probably not need to know them

for your day-to-day applications. However, you will want to use ASCII codes to activate the special functions of your printer, so let’s take a closer look at how they work.

Each ASCII code is available in a number of different forms for

programmers and software writers, as well as for those of us whose

main applications are word processing and spreadsheets. For ex- - ample, the code for each different function can be entered in both

its decimal and hexadecimal forms, as shown in Table 2-l below.

Table 2-1. Examples of decimal and hexadecimal codes.

FUNCTION		DECIMAL CODE	HEXADECIMAL	CODE
Select	the Draft-
Quality	Mode	27 53	1B 35	I

Decimal codes

The decimal code is a common representation of ASCII codes, and is used mainly for writing programs in BASIC. Decimal codes

are so named because their values are expressed using the

decimal-or “base IO”-numbering system. Although you may not

need them very often, we have included the decimal codes for each

of the printer’s functions, and you can find them in Appendix A of this manual.

If you are writing in BASIC, you will notice that we also provide _ the complete BASIC command used to “capture” each decimal code using the character string function, or CHR$. (For an in-depth look

at programming in BASIC, please turn to Section 6.)

Hexadecimal codes

The name for the hexadecimal code comes from its expression

using the hexadecimal-or “base 16”-numbering system. Hexa- decimal codes are used mainly by assembly language programmers, but they can come in handy when you’re “installing” any one of the printer’s functions into your word processing program. For example, if you use any other form of ASCII code as you install the “activate

superscript” function into WordStar, your software will respond by

displaying on your screen the equivalent of the code in its hexa- decimal form. Then, comparing the hexadecimal va!ue on the screen