SQL Server Char Function and Reference Guide

By: Joe Gavin | Comments | Related: > TSQL

Problem

The SQL Server CHAR String Function converts any of 256 the integer ASCII codes to a character value. It would be impossible to remember them all, so I put this document together to show the integer values along with their corresponding string values, plus some examples for an easy reference.

Solution

The following is a reference with some examples. The syntax is simply CHAR (integer) where integer is the integer value between 0 and 255.

The SQL was tested with SQL Server 2016 / US English.

Control Characters

ASCII codes 0 through 31 are non-printable, or control characters.

Integer Value	Character	Integer Value	Character	Integer Value	Character
0	null	12	form feed	24	cancel
1	start of header	13	carriage return	25	end of medium
2	start of text	14	shift out	26	substitute
3	end of text	15	shift in	27	escape
4	end of transmission	16	data link escape	28	file separator
5	enquiry	17	device control 1	29	group separator
6	acknowledge	18	device control 2	30	record separator
7	bell	19	device control 3	31	unit separator
8	backspace	20	device control 4
9	horizontal tab	21	negative acknowledge
10	line feed	22	synchronize
11	vertical tab	23	end of trans. block

Here are some commonly used control characters along with the output of them used in PRINT statements.

PRINT 'a' + CHAR(9)  + 'b' -- horizontal tab 
PRINT 'a' + CHAR(10) + 'b' -- line feed 
PRINT 'a' + CHAR(11) + 'b' -- vertical tab 
PRINT 'a' + CHAR(13) + 'b' -- carriage return

SQL Server T-SQL Code	Result
PRINT 'a' + CHAR(9) + 'b'	a b
PRINT 'a' + CHAR(10) + 'b'	a b
PRINT 'a' + CHAR(11) + 'b'	a b
PRINT 'a' + CHAR(13) + 'b'	a b

Printable Characters

ASCII codes 32 through 127 are regular, printable characters.

Int Value	Character	Int Value	Character
32	Space	80	Uppercase P
33	Exclamation mark	81	Uppercase Q
34	Double quotes (or speech marks)	82	Uppercase R
35	Number	83	Uppercase S
36	Dollar	84	Uppercase T
37	Per cent sign	85	Uppercase U
38	Ampersand	86	Uppercase V
39	Single quote	87	Uppercase W
40	Open parenthesis (or open bracket)	88	Uppercase X
41	Close parenthesis (or close bracket)	89	Uppercase Y
42	Asterisk	90	Uppercase Z
43	Plus	91	Opening bracket
44	Comma	92	Backslash
45	Hyphen	93	Closing bracket
46	Period, dot or full stop	94	Caret - circumflex
47	Slash or divide	95	Underscore
48	Zero	96	Grave accent
49	One	97	Lowercase a
50	Two	98	Lowercase b
51	Three	99	Lowercase c
52	Four	100	Lowercase d
53	Five	101	Lowercase e
54	Six	102	Lowercase f
55	Seven	103	Lowercase g
56	Eight	104	Lowercase h
57	Nine	105	Lowercase i
58	Colon	106	Lowercase j
59	Semicolon	107	Lowercase k
60	Less than (or open angled bracket)	108	Lowercase l
61	Equals	109	Lowercase m
62	Greater than (or close angled bracket)	110	Lowercase n
63	Question mark	111	Lowercase o
64	At symbol	112	Lowercase p
65	Uppercase A	113	Lowercase q
66	Uppercase B	114	Lowercase r
67	Uppercase C	115	Lowercase s
68	Uppercase D	116	Lowercase t
69	Uppercase E	117	Lowercase u
70	Uppercase F	118	Lowercase v
71	Uppercase G	119	Lowercase w
72	Uppercase H	120	Lowercase x
73	Uppercase I	121	Lowercase y
74	Uppercase J	122	Lowercase z
75	Uppercase K	123	Opening brace
76	Uppercase L	124	Vertical bar
77	Uppercase M	125	Closing brace
78	Uppercase N	126	Equivalency sign - tilde
79	Uppercase O	127	Delete

Here are the printable characters along with the output of them used in PRINT statements.

PRINT 'a' + CHAR(32) + 'b'
PRINT CHAR(33)
PRINT CHAR(34)
PRINT CHAR(35)
PRINT CHAR(36)
PRINT CHAR(37)
PRINT CHAR(38)
PRINT CHAR(39)
PRINT CHAR(40)
PRINT CHAR(41)
PRINT CHAR(42)
PRINT CHAR(32)
PRINT CHAR(43)
PRINT CHAR(44)
PRINT CHAR(45)
PRINT CHAR(46)
PRINT CHAR(47)
PRINT CHAR(48)
PRINT CHAR(49)
PRINT CHAR(50)
PRINT CHAR(51)
PRINT CHAR(52)
PRINT CHAR(53)
PRINT CHAR(54)
PRINT CHAR(55)
PRINT CHAR(56)
PRINT CHAR(57)
PRINT CHAR(58)
PRINT CHAR(59)
PRINT CHAR(60)
PRINT CHAR(61)
PRINT CHAR(62)
PRINT CHAR(63)
PRINT CHAR(64)
PRINT CHAR(65)
PRINT CHAR(66)
PRINT CHAR(67)
PRINT CHAR(68)
PRINT CHAR(69)
PRINT CHAR(70)
PRINT CHAR(71)
PRINT CHAR(72)
PRINT CHAR(73)
PRINT CHAR(74)
PRINT CHAR(75)
PRINT CHAR(76)
PRINT CHAR(77)
PRINT CHAR(78)
PRINT CHAR(79)
PRINT CHAR(80)
PRINT CHAR(81)
PRINT CHAR(82)
PRINT CHAR(83)
PRINT CHAR(84)
PRINT CHAR(85)
PRINT CHAR(86)
PRINT CHAR(87)
PRINT CHAR(88)
PRINT CHAR(89)
PRINT CHAR(90)
PRINT CHAR(91)
PRINT CHAR(92)
PRINT CHAR(93)
PRINT CHAR(94)
PRINT CHAR(95)
PRINT CHAR(96)
PRINT CHAR(97)
PRINT CHAR(98)
PRINT CHAR(99)
PRINT CHAR(100)
PRINT CHAR(101)
PRINT CHAR(102)
PRINT CHAR(103)
PRINT CHAR(104)
PRINT CHAR(105)
PRINT CHAR(106)
PRINT CHAR(107)
PRINT CHAR(108)
PRINT CHAR(109)
PRINT CHAR(110)
PRINT CHAR(111)
PRINT CHAR(112)
PRINT CHAR(113)
PRINT CHAR(114)
PRINT CHAR(115)
PRINT CHAR(116)
PRINT CHAR(117)
PRINT CHAR(118)
PRINT CHAR(119)
PRINT CHAR(120)
PRINT CHAR(121)
PRINT CHAR(122)
PRINT CHAR(123)
PRINT CHAR(124)
PRINT CHAR(125)
PRINT CHAR(126)
PRINT CHAR(127)

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

Extended Characters

And finally, ASCII codes 128 through 255 are extended characters which give you an additional 128 characters.

Integer Value	Character	Integer Value	Character
128	Euro sign	192	Latin capital letter A with grave
129		193	Latin capital letter A with acute
130	Single low-9 quotation mark	194	Latin capital letter A with circumflex
131	Latin small letter f with hook	195	Latin capital letter A with tilde
132	Double low-9 quotation mark	196	Latin capital letter A with diaeresis
133	Horizontal ellipsis	197	Latin capital letter A with ring above
134	Dagger	198	Latin capital letter AE
135	Double dagger	199	Latin capital letter C with cedilla
136	Modifier letter circumflex accent	200	Latin capital letter E with grave
137	Per mille sign	201	Latin capital letter E with acute
138	Latin capital letter S with caron	202	Latin capital letter E with circumflex
139	Single left-pointing angle quotation	203	Latin capital letter E with diaeresis
140	Latin capital ligature OE	204	Latin capital letter I with grave
141		205	Latin capital letter I with acute
142	Latin capital letter Z with caron	206	Latin capital letter I with circumflex
143		207	Latin capital letter I with diaeresis
144		208	Latin capital letter ETH
145	Left single quotation mark	209	Latin capital letter N with tilde
146	Right single quotation mark	210	Latin capital letter O with grave
147	Left double quotation mark	211	Latin capital letter O with acute
148	Right double quotation mark	212	Latin capital letter O with circumflex
149	Bullet	213	Latin capital letter O with tilde
150	En dash	214	Latin capital letter O with diaeresis
151	Em dash	215	Multiplication sign
152	Small tilde	216	Latin capital letter O with slash
153	Trade mark sign	217	Latin capital letter U with grave
154	Latin small letter S with caron	218	Latin capital letter U with acute
155	Single right-pointing angle quotation mark	219	Latin capital letter U with circumflex
156	Latin small ligature oe	220	Latin capital letter U with diaeresis
157		221	Latin capital letter Y with acute
158	Latin small letter z with caron	222	Latin capital letter THORN
159	Latin capital letter Y with diaeresis	223	Latin small letter sharp s - ess-zed
160	Non-breaking space	224	Latin small letter a with grave
161	Inverted exclamation mark	225	Latin small letter a with acute
162	Cent sign	226	Latin small letter a with circumflex
163	Pound sign	227	Latin small letter a with tilde
164	Currency sign	228	Latin small letter a with diaeresis
165	Yen sign	229	Latin small letter a with ring above
166	Pipe, Broken vertical bar	230	Latin small letter ae
167	Section sign	231	Latin small letter c with cedilla
168	Spacing diaeresis - umlaut	232	Latin small letter e with grave
169	Copyright sign	233	Latin small letter e with acute
170	Feminine ordinal indicator	234	Latin small letter e with circumflex
171	Left double angle quotes	235	Latin small letter e with diaeresis
172	Not sign	236	Latin small letter i with grave
173	Soft hyphen	237	Latin small letter i with acute
174	Registered trade mark sign	238	Latin small letter i with circumflex
175	Spacing macron - overline	239	Latin small letter i with diaeresis
176	Degree sign	240	Latin small letter eth
177	Plus-or-minus sign	241	Latin small letter n with tilde
178	Superscript two - squared	242	Latin small letter o with grave
179	Superscript three - cubed	243	Latin small letter o with acute
180	Acute accent - spacing acute	244	Latin small letter o with circumflex
181	Micro sign	245	Latin small letter o with tilde
182	Pilcrow sign - paragraph sign	246	Latin small letter o with diaeresis
183	Middle dot - Georgian comma	247	Division sign
184	Spacing cedilla	248	Latin small letter o with slash
185	Superscript one	249	Latin small letter u with grave
186	Masculine ordinal indicator	250	Latin small letter u with acute
187	Right double angle quotes	251	Latin small letter u with circumflex
188	Fraction one quarter	252	Latin small letter u with diaeresis
189	Fraction one half	253	Latin small letter y with acute
190	Fraction three quarters	254	Latin small letter thorn
191	Inverted question mark	255	Latin small letter y with diaeresis

PRINT CHAR(128)
PRINT CHAR(129)
PRINT CHAR(130)
PRINT CHAR(131)
PRINT CHAR(132)
PRINT CHAR(133)
PRINT CHAR(134)
PRINT CHAR(135)
PRINT CHAR(136)
PRINT CHAR(137)
PRINT CHAR(138)
PRINT CHAR(139)
PRINT CHAR(140)
PRINT CHAR(141)
PRINT CHAR(142)
PRINT CHAR(143)
PRINT CHAR(144)
PRINT CHAR(145)
PRINT CHAR(146)
PRINT CHAR(147)
PRINT CHAR(148)
PRINT CHAR(149)
PRINT CHAR(150)
PRINT CHAR(151)
PRINT CHAR(152)
PRINT CHAR(153)
PRINT CHAR(154)
PRINT CHAR(155)
PRINT CHAR(156)
PRINT CHAR(157)
PRINT CHAR(158)
PRINT CHAR(159)
PRINT CHAR(160)
PRINT CHAR(161)
PRINT CHAR(162)
PRINT CHAR(163)
PRINT CHAR(164)
PRINT CHAR(165)
PRINT CHAR(166)
PRINT CHAR(167)
PRINT CHAR(168)
PRINT CHAR(169)
PRINT CHAR(170)
PRINT CHAR(171)
PRINT CHAR(172)
PRINT CHAR(173)
PRINT CHAR(174)
PRINT CHAR(175)
PRINT CHAR(176)
PRINT CHAR(177)
PRINT CHAR(178)
PRINT CHAR(179)
PRINT CHAR(180)
PRINT CHAR(181)
PRINT CHAR(182)
PRINT CHAR(183)
PRINT CHAR(184)
PRINT CHAR(185)
PRINT CHAR(186)
PRINT CHAR(187)
PRINT CHAR(188)
PRINT CHAR(189)
PRINT CHAR(190)
PRINT CHAR(191)
PRINT CHAR(192)
PRINT CHAR(193)
PRINT CHAR(194)
PRINT CHAR(195)
PRINT CHAR(196)
PRINT CHAR(197)
PRINT CHAR(198)
PRINT CHAR(199)
PRINT CHAR(200)
PRINT CHAR(201)
PRINT CHAR(202)
PRINT CHAR(203)
PRINT CHAR(204)
PRINT CHAR(205)
PRINT CHAR(206)
PRINT CHAR(207)
PRINT CHAR(208)
PRINT CHAR(209)
PRINT CHAR(210)
PRINT CHAR(211)
PRINT CHAR(212)
PRINT CHAR(213)
PRINT CHAR(214)
PRINT CHAR(215)
PRINT CHAR(216)
PRINT CHAR(217)
PRINT CHAR(218)
PRINT CHAR(219)
PRINT CHAR(220)
PRINT CHAR(221)
PRINT CHAR(222)
PRINT CHAR(223)
PRINT CHAR(224)
PRINT CHAR(225)
PRINT CHAR(226)
PRINT CHAR(227)
PRINT CHAR(228)
PRINT CHAR(229)
PRINT CHAR(230)
PRINT CHAR(231)
PRINT CHAR(232)
PRINT CHAR(233)
PRINT CHAR(234)
PRINT CHAR(235)
PRINT CHAR(236)
PRINT CHAR(237)
PRINT CHAR(238)
PRINT CHAR(239)
PRINT CHAR(240)
PRINT CHAR(241)
PRINT CHAR(242)
PRINT CHAR(243)
PRINT CHAR(244)
PRINT CHAR(245)
PRINT CHAR(246)
PRINT CHAR(247)
PRINT CHAR(248)
PRINT CHAR(249)
PRINT CHAR(250)
PRINT CHAR(251)
PRINT CHAR(252)
PRINT CHAR(253)
PRINT CHAR(254)
PRINT CHAR(255)

SQL Server T-SQL Code	Result	SQL Server T-SQL Code	Result
PRINT CHAR(128)	€	PRINT CHAR(192)	À
PRINT CHAR(129)		PRINT CHAR(193)	Á
PRINT CHAR(130)	‚	PRINT CHAR(194)	Â
PRINT CHAR(131)	ƒ	PRINT CHAR(195)	Ã
PRINT CHAR(132)	„	PRINT CHAR(196)	Ä
PRINT CHAR(133)	…	PRINT CHAR(197)	Å
PRINT CHAR(134)	†	PRINT CHAR(198)	Æ
PRINT CHAR(135)	‡	PRINT CHAR(199)	Ç
PRINT CHAR(136)	ˆ	PRINT CHAR(200)	È
PRINT CHAR(137)	‰	PRINT CHAR(201)	É
PRINT CHAR(138)	Š	PRINT CHAR(202)	Ê
PRINT CHAR(139)	‹	PRINT CHAR(203)	Ë
PRINT CHAR(140)	Œ	PRINT CHAR(204)	Ì
PRINT CHAR(141)		PRINT CHAR(205)	Í
PRINT CHAR(142)		PRINT CHAR(206)	Î
PRINT CHAR(143)		PRINT CHAR(207)	Ï
PRINT CHAR(144)		PRINT CHAR(208)	Ð
PRINT CHAR(145)	‘	PRINT CHAR(209)	Ñ
PRINT CHAR(146)	’	PRINT CHAR(210)	Ò
PRINT CHAR(147)	“	PRINT CHAR(211)	Ó
PRINT CHAR(148)	”	PRINT CHAR(212)	Ô
PRINT CHAR(149)	•	PRINT CHAR(213)	Õ
PRINT CHAR(150)	–	PRINT CHAR(214)	Ö
PRINT CHAR(151)	—	PRINT CHAR(215)	×
PRINT CHAR(152)	˜	PRINT CHAR(216)	Ø
PRINT CHAR(153)	™	PRINT CHAR(217)	Ù
PRINT CHAR(154)	š	PRINT CHAR(218)	Ú
PRINT CHAR(155)	›	PRINT CHAR(219)	Û
PRINT CHAR(156)	œ	PRINT CHAR(220)	Ü
PRINT CHAR(157)		PRINT CHAR(221)	Ý
PRINT CHAR(158)		PRINT CHAR(222)	Þ
PRINT CHAR(159)	Ÿ	PRINT CHAR(223)	ß
PRINT CHAR(160)		PRINT CHAR(224)	à
PRINT CHAR(161)	¡	PRINT CHAR(225)	á
PRINT CHAR(162)	¢	PRINT CHAR(226)	â
PRINT CHAR(163)	£	PRINT CHAR(227)	ã
PRINT CHAR(164)	¤	PRINT CHAR(228)	ä
PRINT CHAR(165)	¥	PRINT CHAR(229)	å
PRINT CHAR(166)	¦	PRINT CHAR(230)	æ
PRINT CHAR(167)	§	PRINT CHAR(231)	ç
PRINT CHAR(168)	¨	PRINT CHAR(232)	è
PRINT CHAR(169)	©	PRINT CHAR(233)	é
PRINT CHAR(170)	ª	PRINT CHAR(234)	ê
PRINT CHAR(171)	«	PRINT CHAR(235)	ë
PRINT CHAR(172)	¬	PRINT CHAR(236)	ì
PRINT CHAR(173)		PRINT CHAR(237)	í
PRINT CHAR(174)	®	PRINT CHAR(238)	î
PRINT CHAR(175)	¯	PRINT CHAR(239)	ï
PRINT CHAR(176)	°	PRINT CHAR(240)	ð
PRINT CHAR(177)	±	PRINT CHAR(241)	ñ
PRINT CHAR(178)	²	PRINT CHAR(242)	ò
PRINT CHAR(179)	³	PRINT CHAR(243)	ó
PRINT CHAR(180)	´	PRINT CHAR(244)	ô
PRINT CHAR(181)	µ	PRINT CHAR(245)	õ
PRINT CHAR(182)	¶	PRINT CHAR(246)	ö
PRINT CHAR(183)	·	PRINT CHAR(247)	÷
PRINT CHAR(184)	¸	PRINT CHAR(248)	ø
PRINT CHAR(185)	¹	PRINT CHAR(249)	ù
PRINT CHAR(186)	º	PRINT CHAR(250)	ú
PRINT CHAR(187)	»	PRINT CHAR(251)	û
PRINT CHAR(188)	¼	PRINT CHAR(252)	ü
PRINT CHAR(189)	½	PRINT CHAR(253)	ý
PRINT CHAR(190)	¾	PRINT CHAR(254)	þ
PRINT CHAR(191)	¿	PRINT CHAR(255)	ÿ

Next Steps

Following are some links with more information on the CHAR function:

About the author

Joe Gavin is from the Greater Boston area. He started working with SQL Server and Sybase in 1998 in the financial services industry and has been a SQL Server Database Administrator for a dairy cooperative since 2011. He graduated from Northeastern University in Boston with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology (BSET) degree in Computer Technology. Joe has spoken at the Boston and Providence SQL Saturday events.

This author pledges the content of this article is based on professional experience and not AI generated.

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