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Text function
ASC
Converts full-width double-byte characters to half-width single-byte characters.
Rarely usedDifficulty 1300 · ProficientUsage rank #295 of 520
When to use it
Converts full-width (double-byte) letters and digits to half-width. Normalizes Japanese and Chinese input before matching.
The shape of it
- Syntax
=ASC(text)
Worked examples
Letters
=ASC("ＥＸＣＥＬ") → EXCEL
Full-width letters to standard.
Digits
=ASC("１２３") → 123
Full-width digits become normal digits, as text.
To a number
=VALUE(ASC(A2)) → 123
Then convert to a number.
Worth knowing
- Run it on imported Asian-language data before VLOOKUP.
- DBCS goes the other way.
- Latin-only text is unchanged.
Where it goes wrong
- Does nothing visible on systems without a DBCS language.
- Katakana is converted too, which may not be wanted.
Related
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