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**VAL(**//character//**)**

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| **VAL** | Returns a character code value. |
| //character// | A one character string containing an ANSI or Unicode character. |

The **VAL** procedure returns the numeric code of a //character//. If the compiler can determine type of parameter (literal string or variable), it returns

a result of BYTE (for ANSI strings) or a USHORT (for Unicode strings). If the type of parameter can't be determined the compiler generates code to push its value to the string stack and returns a result of SIGNED type. To force a specific encoding of the character parameter you can use the **TOANSI **or **TOUNICODE** functions .

**Return Data Type:     **BYTE, USHORT or SIGNED (See above)

**Example:**

VAL('A')          !RETURNS 65

VAL('z')          !RETURNS 122

VAL('Ж')          !RETURNS 1046

VAL('Σ')          !RETURNS 933

CharCode = VAL(StrChar)      !Get the character code value of the character

**See Also:**

[[chr  return character from ascii .htm|CHR]]

[[tounicode.htm|TOUNICODE]]

[[toansi.htm|TOANSI]]