computer term. The code converts a character into a binary number used by most microcomputers and information services (on-line data bases) so that different makes of microcomputers may be able to communicate with each other. ASCII is used on most microcomputers, computer terminals, and printers. ASCII codes also include control characters that information services use. Many computer books and some software programs (e.g., Borland International's Sidekick) have a table of ASCII characters. The use of ASCII also allows for data files generated by one type of program (i.e., data base management system) to be used in another type of program (i.e., spreadsheet). An example of an ASCII application follows. Data may be downloaded from an information service (e.g., Dow Jones News/Retrieval) in ASCII and then loaded into a word processing program and edited and printed out or even sent to another computer using a telecommunications program. ASCII is quite helpful in electronic mail because with MCI, for example, the accountant can upload an ASCII file as electronic mail to his clients.
a standard code for representing characters as numbers that is used on most microcomputers, computer terminals, and printers. In addition to printable characters, the ASCII code includes control characters to indicate carriage return, backspace, etc. Table 3 shows all the ASCII character codes as decimal numbers. For two popular extensions of ASCII, see IBM PC (character set chart) and ANSI character set (Table 2). For alternatives to ASCII,see EBCDIC and Unicode
