IB Statements/asc

'''ASC function''' 

'''Syntax:'''  ASC(string-argument)
  
'''Discussion:'''  The ASC function returns the decimal value of the first byte of the string-argument using the 8-bit ASCII code. 

The string-argument may be a string constant, a single-element string variable, a string array element, a string expression, or a string function. 

'''Note:''' If the string-argument contains more than one character, only the first byte of the string-argument is evaluated for conversion. 

The resultant value for any non-null string is always a numeric value from 0 through 255. The value that results for any null string is always -1. 

The intermediate result of the ASC function is stored in an accumulator with a precision of 16.0. If this intermediate result is then moved into a receiving numeric variable, its precision is adjusted to the defined precision of that variable. 
 
'''Example:'''  VALUE = ASC("SIGNATURE")

In this example, the first byte of the string "SIGNATURE" (i.e., the letter "S") is converted to its decimal ASCII equivalent, namely 83. This value is stored in the variable VALUE.