---
title: 'PostgreSQL ASCII() Function'
page_title: 'PostgreSQL ASCII: Get ASCII code or Unicode Code Point of a Character'
page_description: 'This tutorial shows you how to use the PostgreSQL ASCII() function to get the ASCII code or Unicode code point of a character.'
prev_url: 'https://www.postgresqltutorial.com/postgresql-string-functions/postgresql-ascii/'
ogImage: '/postgresqltutorial/PostgreSQL-ASCII-function-example.png'
updatedOn: '2024-01-29T01:37:56+00:00'
enableTableOfContents: true
previousLink:
  title: 'PostgreSQL String Functions'
  slug: 'postgresql-string-functions/'
nextLink:
  title: 'PostgreSQL CHR() Function'
  slug: 'postgresql-string-functions/postgresql-chr'
---

The PostgreSQL `ASCII()` function returns an [ASCII](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII) code value of a character. In the case of UTF\-8, the `ASCII()` function returns the Unicode code point of the character.

## Syntax

The following illustrates the syntax of ASCII function:

```sql
ASCII(char)
```

## Arguments

The `ASCII()` function requires one argument:

**1\) `char`**

The `char` argument is a [character](../postgresql-tutorial/postgresql-char-varchar-text) that you want to get the ASCII code.

If you pass a string to the `ASCII()` function, it will return the ASCII code of the first character.

## Return value

The `ASCII()` function returns an integer that represents the ASCII code value of the input character. In the case of a UTF\-8 character, it returns an integer which is corresponding to the Unicode code point.

## Examples

The following example uses the `ASCII()` function to get the ASCII code values of the character `A` and `a`:

```
SELECT
    ASCII( 'A' ),
    ASCII( 'a' );
```

The output is:

![PostgreSQL ASCII function example](/postgresqltutorial/PostgreSQL-ASCII-function-example.png)
If you pass a sequence of characters to the `ASCII()` function, you will get the ASCII code of the first character as shown in the following example:

```sql
SELECT
    ASCII( 'ABC' );
```

The function returns the ASCII code of the letter A which is 65 as follows:

![PostgreSQL ASCII function - string example](/postgresqltutorial/PostgreSQL-ASCII-function-string-example.png)
The following example illustrates how to use the `ASCII()` function to get the Unicode code point of a UTF\-8 character:

```text
 SELECT
    ASCII( 'Ω' );
```

![PostgreSQL ASCII function - unicode example](/postgresqltutorial/PostgreSQL-ASCII-function-unicode-example.png)

## Remarks

To get the ASCII code value or Unicode code point of an integer, you use the [`CHR()`](postgresql-chr) function.

In this tutorial, you have learned how to use the PostgreSQL `ASCII()` function to get the ASCII code or Unicode code point of a character.