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Asc

Syntax:

ASC(text)
  • text: The text string from which you want to remove double-byte (full-width) characters.

Description:

The ASC function in Excel is used to convert full-width (double-byte) characters in a text string to half-width ( single-byte) characters. This function is primarily designed for use with languages that support double-byte character sets (DBCS), such as Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. In DBCS languages, characters can be represented as either full-width (taking up more space) or half-width. For example, full-width characters like ＡＢＣ will be converted to their single-byte counterparts ABC.

Examples:

  1. =ASC("Ｈｅｌｌｏ")
    • Returns: Hello
      (Ｈｅｌｌｏ is a string with full-width characters.)
  2. =ASC("１２３４５")
    • Returns: 12345
      (The full-width numbers １２３４５ are converted to half-width.)
  3. =ASC("！＃＄％")
    • Returns: !#$%
      (Full-width punctuation is converted to its single-byte equivalents.)

Notes:

  • The ASC function does not affect half-width characters; they remain unchanged.
  • This function works specifically with DBCS languages, and its effects might not be apparent in locales that primarily use single-byte character sets.
  • The ASC function is useful when cleaning up text meant for systems or applications that only support single-byte characters.
  • If no double-byte characters exist in the input string, the original text is returned unchanged.
  • For converting single-byte characters to their full-width versions, you can use the JIS function in Excel.