Ascii control codes (control characters, C0 controls)

The following document lists the control codes (control characters) in Ascii and in newer character code
standards like Unicode, which generally try to be compatible with Ascii in the Ascii code range (positions 0
through 12)!
code pos. Unicode Description in C0 of ISO 646
dec. hex. abbr. name
0 0 "U# "U##
A control character used to accomplish media$fill or time$
fill! "ull characters may be inserted into or remo%ed from a
stream of data without affecting the information content of
that stream! &ut then the addition or remo%al of these
characters may affect the information layout and'or the
control of e(uipment!
ctl$A 1 1 )*+
)TA,T *-
+.A/0"1
A transmission control character used as the first character
of a heading of an information message!
ctl$& 2 2 )T2 )TA,T *- T.2T
A transmission control character which precedes a te3t and
which is used to terminate a heading!
ctl$4 5 5 .T2 ."/ *- T.2T A transmission control character which terminates a te3t!
ctl$/ 6 6 .*T
."/ *-
T,A")70))0*"
A transmission control character used to indicate the
conclusion of the transmission of one or more te3ts!!
ctl$. 8 8 ."9 ."9U0,:
A transmission control character used as a re(uest for a
response from a remote station; the response may include
station identification and'or station status! <hen a =<ho are
you= function is re(uired on the general switched
transmission network, the first use of ."9 after the
connection is established shall ha%e the meaning =<ho are
you= (station identification)! )ubse(uent use of ."9 may,
or may not, include the function =<ho are you=, as
determined by agreement!
ctl$- > > A4? A4?"*<#./1.
A transmission control character transmitted by a recei%er as
an affirmati%e response to the sender!
ctl$1 &.# &.##
A control character that is used when there is a need to call
for attention; it may control alarm or attention de%ices!
ctl$+ @ @ &) &A4?)AA4.
A format effector which mo%es the acti%e position one
character position backwards on the same line!
ctl$0 B B +T
+*,0C*"TA#
TA&U#AT0*"
A format effector which ad%ances the acti%e position to the
ne3t pre$determined character position on the same line!
ctl$D 10 A #- #0". -../
A format effector which ad%ances the acti%e position to the
same character position of the ne3t line!
ctl$? 11 & ET
E.,T04A#
TA&U#AT0*"
A format effector which ad%ances the acti%e position to the
same character position on the ne3t pre$determined line!
ctl$# 12 4 -- -*,7 -../
A format effector which ad%ances the acti%e position to the
same character position on a pre$determined line of the ne3t
form or page!
ctl$7 15 / 4,
4A,,0A1.
,.TU,"
A format effector which mo%es the acti%e position to the
first character position on the same line!
ctl$" 16 . )* )+0-T *UT
A control character which is used in conFunction with
)+0-T 0" and .)4AA. to e3tend the graphic character set
of the code! 0t may alter the meaning of octets 55 $ 12>
(dec!)! The effect of this character when using code
e3tension techni(ues is described in 0nternational )tandard
0)* 2022!
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code pos. Unicode Description in C0 of ISO 646
dec. hex. abbr. name
ctl$* 18 - )0 )+0-T 0" A control character which is used in conFunction with
)+0-T *UT and .)4AA. to e3tend the graphic character
set of the code! 0t may reinstate the standard meanings of the
octets which follow it! The effect of this character when
using code e3tension techni(ues is described in 0nternational
)tandard 0)* 2022!
ctl$A 1> 10 /#.
/ATA #0"?
.)4AA.
A transmission control character which will change the
meaning of a limited number of contiguously following
characters! 0ts is used e3clusi%ely to pro%ide supplementary
data transmission control functions! *nly graphic characters
and transmission control characters can be used in /#.
se(uences!
ctl$9 1 11 /41
/.E04.
4*"T,*# *".
A de%ice control character which is primarily intended for
turning on or starting an ancillary de%ice! 0f it is not re(uired
for this purpose, it may be used to restore a de%ice to the
basic mode of operation (see also /42 and /45), or for any
other de%ice control function not pro%ided by other /4s!
ctl$, 1@ 12 /42
/.E04.
4*"T,*# T<*
A de%ice control character which is primarily intended for
turning on or starting an ancillary de%ice! 0f it is not re(uired
for this purpose, it may be used to set a de%ice to a special
mode of operation (in which case /41 is used to restore
normal operation), or for any other de%ice control function
not pro%ided by other /4s!
ctl$) 1B 15 /45
/.E04.
4*"T,*# T+,..
A de%ice control character which is primarily intended for
turning off or stopping an ancillary de%ice! This function
may be a secondary le%el stop, for e3ample, wait, pause,
stand$by or halt (in which case /41 is used to restore
normal operation)! 0f it is not re(uired for this purpose, it
may be used for any other de%ice control function not
pro%ided by other /4s!
ctl$T 20 16 /46
/.E04.
4*"T,*# -*U,
A de%ice control character which is primarily intended for
turning off, stopping or interrupting an ancillary de%ice! 0f it
is not re(uired for this purpose, it may be used for any other
de%ice control function not pro%ided by other /4s!
ctl$U 21 18 "A?
".1AT0E.
A4?"*<#./1.
A transmission control character transmitted by a recei%er as
a negati%e response to the sender!
ctl$E 22 1> ):"
):"4+,*"*U)
0/#.
A transmission control character used by a synchronous
transmission system in the absence of any other character
(idle condition) to pro%ide a signal from which synchronism
may be achie%ed or retained between data terminal
e(uipment!
ctl$< 25 1 .T&
."/ *-
T,A")70))0*"
&#*4?
A transmission control character used to indicate the end of
a transmission block of data where data is di%ided into such
blocks for transmission purposes!
ctl$2 26 1@ 4A" 4A"4.#
A character, or the first character of a se(uence, indicating
that the data preceding it is in error! As a result, this data is
to be ignored! The specific meaning of this character must
be defined for each application and'or between sender and
recipient!
ctl$: 28 1B .7 ."/ *- 7./0U7
A control character that may be used to identify the physical
end of a medium, or the end of the used portion of a
medium, or the end of the wanted portion of data recorded
on a medium! The position of this character does not
necessarily correspond to the physical end of the medium!
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code pos. Unicode Description in C0 of ISO 646
dec. hex. abbr. name
ctl$C 2> 1A )U& )U&)T0TUT. A control character used in the place of a character that has
been found to be in%alid or in error! )U& is intended to be
introduced by automatic means!
ctl$I 2 1& .)4 .)4AA.
A control character which is used to pro%ide additional
control functions! 0t alters the meaning of a limited number
of contiguously following bit combinations! The use of this
character is specified in 0nternational )tandard 0)* 2022!
ctl$J 2@ 14 -) -0#. ).AA,AT*,
A control character used to separate and (ualify data
logically; its specific meaning has to be specified for each
application! 0f this character is used in hierarchical order, it
delimits a data item called a file!
ctl$K 2B 1/ 1)
1,*UA
).AA,AT*,
A control character used to separate and (ualify data
logically; its specific meaning has to be specified for each
application! 0f this character is used in hierarchical order, it
delimits a data item called a group!
ctl$L 50 1. ,)
,.4*,/
).AA,AT*,
A control character used to separate and (ualify data
logically; its specific meaning has to be specified for each
application! 0f this character is used in hierarchical order, it
delimits a data item called a record!
ctl$M 51 1- U) U"0T ).AA,AT*,
A control character used to separate and (ualify data
logically; its specific meaning has to be specified for each
application! 0f this character is used in hierarchical order, it
delimits a data item called a unit!
12 - /.# /.#.T. (not defined)
"otesG
N The first column shows the widely used =control$something= name used for control codes! 0t relates to the
fact that on a keyboard, it is often possible to generate a control code using the control (4trl, 4tl) key and
a normal key!
N The column C0 of ISO 646 (uotes the definition in that document, with typos fi3ed, and with references to
characters and code positions changed to use Unicode names and modern terms!
Historical table
The following table lists the original names of Ascii control codes as defined in 1B>5!
code pos. Ascii 1963
dec. hex. abbr. name
0 0 "U## "ull'0dle
1 1 )*7 )tart of message
2 2 .*A .nd of address
5 5 .*7 .nd of message
6 6 .*T .nd of transmission
8 8 <,U =<ho are you!!!O=
> > ,U =Are you!!!O=
&.## Audible signal
@ @ -. -ormat effector
B B +T')? +oriPontal tabulation' )kip (punched card)
0
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code pos. Ascii 1963
dec. hex. abbr. name
10 A #- #ine feed
11 & E Eertical tabulation
12 4 -- -orm feed
15 / 4, 4arriage return
16 . )* )hift out
18 - )0 )hift in
1> 10 /4 /e%ice control reser%ed for data link escape
1 11 /4
/e%ice control 1@ 12 /4
1B 15 /4
20 16 /4 ()T*A) /e%ice control (stop)
21 18 .,, .rror
22 1> ):"4 )ynchronous idle
25 1 #.7 #ogical end of media
26 1@ )
)eparator (information)
28 1B )
2> 1A )
2 1& )
2@ 14 )
2B 1/ )
50 1. )
51 1- )
12 - /.# /elete'idle
Ascii 1B>5 assigned code position 12> to the .)4 code! #ater .)4 was mo%ed to position 2, and position
12> was assigned to tilde (H)! )imilarly A4? was mo%ed from 126 to >, making room for %ertical line
(%ertical bar, Q)!
"oteG The space character (blank, Ascii code position 52) is not discussed here! 0t can be classified and
processed as a graphic character, or as a control character, or both, depending on conte3t!
)ourcesG
N American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASA standard X3.4!"63 (=Ascii 1B>5=); note that
it allocated A4? to code position 126 and .)4 to code position 12>
N C0 Set of ISO 646 in International #egister of Coded Character Sets $o %e &sed 'ith (scape Se)uences
N $he &nicode Standard!
/ate of creationG 2000$10$08! #ast modificationG 2006$06$20!
Dukka ?orpela
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