Contents
ascii()
A function returning the numeric code of a character
ascii() is a system function returning the numeric code of the first character of the argument.
ascii() was added in PostgreSQL 7.0.
Usage
ascii (text) →integer
This function returns the numeric code of the first character of the argument (subsequent characters are ignored). Despite the name, witjh UTF8 encoding it will also return the Unicode code point of the character.
Change history
- PostgreSQL 7.0
- added (commit a349733b)
Examples
Basic execution example for ascii():
postgres=# SELECT ascii('a');
ascii
-------
97
(1 row)
Unicode code points are also returned:
postgres=# SELECT ascii('ä'), ascii('あ');
ascii | ascii
-------+-------
228 | 12354
(1 row)
Anything beyond the first character in a string is ignored:
postgres=# SELECT ascii('abc');
ascii
-------
97
(1 row)
An empty string returns 0:
postgres=# SELECT ascii('');
ascii
-------
0
(1 row)
References
- PostgreSQL documentation: Other String Functions