SAS Companion for the OS/390 Environment

How Character Values Are Stored

Alphanumeric characters are stored in a computer using a character-encoding system known as a collating sequence, where one or two bytes represents a given character. The two single-byte character-encoding systems that are most widely used in data processing are ASCII and EBCDIC. IBM mainframe computers use the EBCDIC system. The EBCDIC system can be used to represent 256 different characters. Each character is assigned a unique hexadecimal value between 00 and FF.

EBCDIC Code: Commonly Used Characters shows the EBCDIC code for commonly used characters.

EBCDIC Code: Commonly Used Characters
Hex Character Hex Character Hex Character Hex Character

'40'x space '95' n 'C4' D 'E3' T

'4B' . '96' o 'C5' E 'E4' U

'4E' + '97' p 'C6' F 'E5' V

'60' - '98' q 'C7' G 'E6' W

'81' a '99' r 'C8' H 'E7' X

'82' b 'A2' s 'C9' I 'E8' Y

'83' c 'A3' t 'D0' } 'E9' Z

'84' d 'A4' u 'D1' J 'F0' 0

'85' e 'A5' v 'D2' K 'F1' 1

'86' f 'A6' w 'D3' L 'F2' 2

'87' g 'A7' x 'D4' M 'F3' 3

'88' h 'A8' y 'D5' N 'F4' 4

'89' i 'A9' z 'D6' O 'F5' 5

'91' j 'C0' { 'D7' P 'F6' 6

'92' k 'C1' A 'D8' Q 'F7' 7

'93' l 'C2' B 'D9' R 'F8' 8

'94' m 'C3' C 'E2' S 'F9' 9

***EBCDIC Code: Commonly Used Characters***
Hex	Character	Hex	Character	Hex	Character	Hex	Character
'40'x	space	'95'	n	'C4'	D	'E3'	T
'4B'	.	'96'	o	'C5'	E	'E4'	U
'4E'	+	'97'	p	'C6'	F	'E5'	V
'60'	-	'98'	q	'C7'	G	'E6'	W
'81'	a	'99'	r	'C8'	H	'E7'	X
'82'	b	'A2'	s	'C9'	I	'E8'	Y
'83'	c	'A3'	t	'D0'	}	'E9'	Z
'84'	d	'A4'	u	'D1'	J	'F0'	0
'85'	e	'A5'	v	'D2'	K	'F1'	1
'86'	f	'A6'	w	'D3'	L	'F2'	2
'87'	g	'A7'	x	'D4'	M	'F3'	3
'88'	h	'A8'	y	'D5'	N	'F4'	4
'89'	i	'A9'	z	'D6'	O	'F5'	5
'91'	j	'C0'	{	'D7'	P	'F6'	6
'92'	k	'C1'	A	'D8'	Q	'F7'	7
'93'	l	'C2'	B	'D9'	R	'F8'	8
'94'	m	'C3'	C	'E2'	S	'F9'	9

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