Character Codes

Every character needs to be converted into a number before it can be saved.
Text is represented by assigning a numerical value to each letter, digit and symbol.
Character Encoding is the conversion of a symbol into a binary number

ASCII

The first widely adopted standard was the ASCII character set which uses the values 0 to 127 to represent the letters, numericals and commonly used punctuation marks and characters.
ASCII stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange.
For example lowercase letters a-z are represented by the values 97-122
ASCII codes 0-31 represent non printing characters.
ASCII uses a 7-bit encoding scheme that represents 128 different numbers.
ASCII only supports one alphabet
The characters 1-9 and 11-31 and 128-159 are not supported by Windows.

1-9		58	:	87	W	116	t
10		59	;	88	X	117	u
11-31		60	<	89	Y	118	v
32		61	=	90	Z	119	w
33	!	62	>	91	[	120	x
34	"	63	?	92	\	121	y
35	#	64	@	93	]	122	z
36	$	65	A	94	^	123	{
37	%	66	B	95	_	124	\|
38	&	67	C	96	`	125	}
39	'	68	D	97	a	126	~
40	(	69	E	98	b	127
41	)	70	F	99	c	128	€
42	*	71	G	100	d
43	+	72	H	101	e
44	,	73	I	102	f
45	-	74	J	103	g
46	.	75	K	104	h
47	/	76	L	105	i
48	0	77	M	106	j
49	1	78	N	107	k
50	2	79	O	108	l
51	3	80	P	109	m
52	4	81	Q	110	n
53	5	82	R	111	o
54	6	83	S	112	p
55	7	84	T	113	q
56	8	85	U	114	r
57	9	86	V	115	s

ANSI

ASCII was then extended to include additional numbers (129 - 255).
ANSI stands for American National Standards Institute.
ANSI is also known as extended ASCII.
ANSI uses a 8-bit encoding scheme that represents 218 numbers.
Also known as Windows-1252 and was the default font used in Windows 95.
This is compatible with ASCII.
ASC - Returns the ASCII / ANSI number for the first character in a text string.
CHR - Returns the character with the corresponding ASCII / ANSI number.

1-9		58	:	87	W	116	t	145	‘	174	®	203	Ë	232	è
10		59	;	88	X	117	u	146	’	175	¯	204	Ì	233	é
11-31		60	<	89	Y	118	v	147	“	176	°	205	Í	234	ê
32		61	=	90	Z	119	w	148	”	177	±	206	Î	235	ë
33	!	62	>	91	[	120	x	149	•	178	²	207	Ï	236	ì
34	"	63	?	92	\	121	y	150	–	179	³	208	Ð	237	í
35	#	64	@	93	]	122	z	151	—	180	´	209	Ñ	238	î
36	$	65	A	94	^	123	{	152	˜	181	µ	210	Ò	239	ï
37	%	66	B	95	_	124	\|	153	™	182	¶	211	Ó	240	ð
38	&	67	C	96	`	125	}	154	š	183	·	212	Ô	241	ñ
39	'	68	D	97	a	126	~	155	›	184	¸	213	Õ	242	ò
40	(	69	E	98	b	127		156	œ	185	¹	214	Ö	243	ó
41	)	70	F	99	c	128	€	157		186	º	215	×	244	ô
42	*	71	G	100	d	129		158	ž	187	»	216	Ø	245	õ
43	+	72	H	101	e	130	‚	159	Ÿ	188	¼	217	Ù	246	ö
44	,	73	I	102	f	131	ƒ	160		189	½	218	Ú	247	÷
45	-	74	J	103	g	132	„	161	¡	190	¾	219	Û	248	ø
46	.	75	K	104	h	133	…	162	¢	191	¿	220	Ü	249	ù
47	/	76	L	105	i	134	†	163	£	192	À	221	Ý	250	ú
48	0	77	M	106	j	135	‡	164	¤	193	Á	222	Þ	251	û
49	1	78	N	107	k	136	ˆ	165	¥	194	Â	223	ß	252	ü
50	2	79	O	108	l	137	‰	166	¦	195	Ã	224	à	253	ý
51	3	80	P	109	m	138	Š	167	§	196	Ä	225	á	254	þ
52	4	81	Q	110	n	139	‹	168	¨	197	Å	226	â	255	ÿ
53	5	82	R	111	o	140	Œ	169	©	198	Æ	227	ã
54	6	83	S	112	p	141		170	ª	199	Ç	228	ä
55	7	84	T	113	q	142	Ž	171	«	200	È	229	å
56	8	85	U	114	r	143		172	¬	201	É	230	æ
57	9	86	V	115	s	144		173		202	Ê	231	ç

UNICODE

ANSI was then extended to include additional numbers (256 - 65,535)
It was soon realised that the 255 ASCII values were not sufficient for the number of characters that computers needed to work with.
The UNICODE character set is a universal standard across all systems.
Only 39,000 of these codes are currently assigned
The UNICODE character set is a universal standard across all systems.
UNICODE uses a 8-bit encoding scheme and has different types.
The most popular type is UTF-8 which is compatible with ASCII.
Windows does support Unicode but it will depend on your regional settings.
UTF8
UTF16
ASCW - Returns the Unicode number for the first character in a text string.
CHRW - Returns the character with the corresponding Unicode number.

Hexadecimal

The first 255 characters of Unicode are the same as the first 255 characters of ANSI.

space	%20	:	%3A	T	%54	n	%6E
!	%21	;	%3B	U	%55	o	%6F
"	%22	<	%3C	V	%56	p	%70
#	%23	=	%3D	W	%57	q	%71
$	%24	>	%3E	X	%58	r	%72
%	%25	?	%3F	Y	%59	s	%73
&	%26	@	%40	Z	%5A	t	%74
'	%27	A	%41	[	%5B	u	%75
(	%28	B	%42	\	%5C	v	%76
)	%29	C	%43	]	%5D	w	%77
*	%2A	D	%44	^	%5E	x	%78
+	%2B	E	%45	_	%5F	y	%79
,	%2C	F	%46	`	%60	z	%80
-	%2D	G	%47	a	%61	{	%81
.	%2E	H	%48	b	%62	\|	%82
/	%2F	I	%49	c	%63	}	%83
0	%30	J	%4A	d	%64	~	%84
1	%31	K	%4B	e	%65
2	%32	L	%4C	f	%66
3	%33	M	%4D	g	%67
4	%34	N	%4E	h	%68
5	%35	O	%4F	i	%69
6	%36	P	%50	j	%6A
7	%37	Q	%51	k	%6B
8	%38	R	%52	l	%6C
9	%39	S	%53	m	%6D

ASCW Bug

This returns the bit pattern for unsigned 16-bit integers.
VBA uses signed 16-bit integers so after 32767 this function will return negative numbers.
Use the following function instead