CHAPTER 4 4, COMPUTER CODES In the previous chapter, we have discussed about true or “pure” binary numbers. In this chapter, we will see how these binary numbers are coded to represent characters, in the computer memory. Thus, the goal of this chapter is to present the formats used in computer memory to record data, Although many coding schemes have been developed over the years, we will be discussing only the most commonly used computer codes. ‘Numeric data is not the only form of data that is to be handled by a computer. We often require to process alphanumeric data also, An alphanumeric data isa string of symbols where a symbol may be one of the letters ABC.uoZ or one of the digits 0,1,2,..9 or a special character, such as + - * / , . () = (space or blank) etc. An alphabetic data consists of only the letters A,B,C,...Z and the blank character. Similarly, numeric data consists of only numbers 0,1 However, any data must be represented internally by the bits 0 & 1. As such, binary coding schemes are used to represent data internally in the computer memory. In binary coding, every symbol that appears in the data is represented by a group of bits: The ‘group of bits used to represent a symbol is called a byte. To indicate the number of bits in a group, sometimes a byte is, referred to as “n-bit byte" where the group contains 1 bits. However, the term byte is commonly used to mean an 8-bit byte (a group of 8 bits) because most of the modem computers use 8 bits to represent a symbol. BCD CODE ‘The Binary Coded Decimal (BCD) code is one of the early memory codes. It is based on the idea of converting each digit of a decimal number into its binary ‘equivalent rather than converting the entire decimal value into a pure binary form, This facilitates the conversion Drocess to a great extent. ‘The BCD equivalent of each decimal digit is shown in Table 4.1. Since 8 and 9 require 4 bits, all decimal digits are represented in BCD by 4 bits. You have seen in Example 3.9 that 42,. is equal to 101010, in a pure binary form. Converting 42,.into BCD, however, produces the following result: 429 = 0100 0010 42 or 01000010 in BCD @ scanned with OKEN Scanner% Computer Fundamentals Note that each decimal digit is hipaa Converted to a 4 ‘it binmy number ad hence the Conversion proces is ery easy. Alo note that when 4b c ted, aogier 16 (2) coniguaton ae possible (refer to hexadecimal number system). But from Table 4. yovcan seta ony the rs 10 ofthese combinations are used 10 represent decimal digits. The remaining arrangements (1010, Table 4.1. BCD Equivalent of Decimal Digits aera eset tees ae CEC Decimal Digits BCD Equivalent eee eee ee eee 0000 001 010 oon 100 o101 110 oul 1000 1001 — FOU, 1100, 1101, 1110 and 1111) have decimal values fom 10 to 15. These arrangements are not used in BCD Coding. That is, 1010 does not represent 10,, in BCD. Instead, 10, = 0001 9009 ——oxntcoinnco Similarly, 15, =0001 9101 or cooio101n BCD rumbers because 4 bits are insufficient to represent i [ious characters used by a computer, Inead of ting 4 bits with only 16 possible characters, computer designe commonly use 6 bits to represent characters in BCD nae In the 6-bit BCD code, the four BCD numero any Positions are retained, but two addtional zone positions Added. With 6 bits, it is possible to represent 64 diferent characters, This 8a sutiigy decimal digits (10), alphabetic eters he characters (28). Table 42 itlsene, Mog, alphabetic and numeric character in es a In Chaps 3, We have son he hexadecimal number systems. ag Shorey binary, Because BCD is a 6-it cage" tt divided into two 3-bit groups. Each of inti it 8 34 Sy can be represented by 1 octal dig, yas system if used 28 shot notation for 2 computers that use BCD code for interny Tepe yp, characters. This results in a one-o-hyes 2 volume of memory dump. Table 4.2 ajey"tin ad equivalent of the alphabetic and numerie Chara ng in BCD. “oy Example 4.1. ‘Show the binary digit ihe word BASE in Be"! Solution : B = 110010 in BCD binary Notation A i inary notation s inary notation E 110101 in BCD binary notation So the binary digits 4110010 110001 o10010 110101 B A s E will record the word BASE in BCD, Example4.2. Using octal notation show th 8 ‘coding forthe word DIGIT. Solution : D = 64 in BCD octal notation 1 = 71 in BCD octal notation G = 67 in BCD octal notation = 71 in BCD etal notation T = 23 in BCD octal notation i : Sut BCD coding forthe word DIGHT in ot “ugg Plait @ scanned with OKEN ScannerComputer Codes 27 Table 4.2, Alphabetic And Numeric EBCDI Characters tn BCD Along, With ir Octal Equivale The major problem with BCD code is that only 64 (28) aifferent ch be represented in it. Thi sufficient for providing, decimal numbers (10), tow Character eco Gano Ietiers (26), capital letters (26), and a fairly large number of oth characters (22). Zone Digit Hence, the BCD code was extended from a 6-bit ee code to an B-bit code, The added 2 bits are used as A 61 | additional zone bits, expanding the zone to 4 bits. The B 1 ono Py resulting code is called the extended binary-coded decimal c 1 oon a interchange code (EBCDIC). In this code, it is possible to D, W 0100 a represent 256 (28) different characters instead of 64 (26). In E} Mono 65 addition to the various character requirements mentioned FI Mono 66 above, iis also allows a large variety of printable G \ nu oom 7 characters and several nonprintable control characters. The H \ 1 1000 0 control characters are used to control such activities as 1 1001 n printer vertical spacing, movement of cursor on the terminal sereen, etc. All of the 256 bit combinations have in 10 0001 4 not yet been assigned characters, so the code can still grow K 10 O10 aa. as new requirements develop. L 10 0011 43 M 10 0100 44 Because EBCDIC is an 8-bit code, it can be easily N 10 oll. divided into two 4-bit groups. Each of these 4-bit groups a 10 ono 46 ‘can be represented by 1 hexadecimal digit (refer to Chapter PR 10 olll a7 3). Thus, hexadecimal number system is used as shortcut Q 10 1000 50 notion for memory dump by computers that use EBCDIC R 10 for. 51 for internal representation of characters. This results in a : one-to-four reduction in the volume of memory dump. s on 0010 oy Table 4,3 shows the alphabetic and numeric characters in T OL ool 2B EBCDIC along with their hexadecimal equivalent. uv 01 0100 v o1 onn5 Developed by IBM, EBCDIC code is used in most Ww ol 10 26 IBM models and in many other computers. x 01 oll 7 i o1 1000 30 ZONED AND PACKED DECIMAL NUMBERS Zz 01 1001.31 From Table 4.3, it can be observed that in the 1 0 ool EBCDIC code, the digit values are the same as the numeric 2 0 = oo10 characters - 0 through 9 (0000-1001). But numeric values 3 0 = ool 03 need some special consideration because we must have a 4 0 0100 og ‘way of indicating whether the number is positive, negative, 5 00 101 05 or unsigned (implies positive), Thus, when a numeric value ete sepa of eign a 8 rightmost digit. A sign indicator of 8 00 1000 10 hexadecimal C is a plus sign, hexadecimal D is a minus : fo 101 Sign, and a hexadecimal F means the number is unsigned, 0 | oD Table 4.4 illustrates the representation of numeric values in oy ._|_§_—— 1 EBCDIC. Note that the only zone affected by the sign is the Zone of the rightmost digit. All other zones remain as F, the Zone value for numeric characters in EBCDIC. Because cach decimal digit has a zone with it, numbers coded in EBCDIC are called zoned decimal numbers, Numeric data @ scanned with OKEN Scanner7 Computer Cundanentals stecnnal nan Apa into the computer are wy 2H TT a Printers can print onty those numetie CIM voned decimal format cannot pesto a before he However, most wont on nied fan be performed, the at iahmetic Ope pushed possible, One such aeeptate format is the pale foumat. The following step are nso 10 convert 1 umber ton paces eal metic operation ¢ ted 40 format on which Saal pag a of te 7 This wet Step 1 “The vone hal rightmost byte rs the sign vo the extcme Fgh are everset mov the number Siep2: All remaining zones axe dropped U- on process of zoned Table 4.5 illustrates. the conver ato packed data dec It may be observed that packed data requires fewer number of bytes (group of 8 bits) as compared to zoned data, In the zoned format, there is only one digit per byte (cach digit along with the zone requires 8 bits). But there are to digits in each byte in the packed format (cach digit requires 4 bis). Ifthe packing process does not completely fill a byte it is filled with 2 zero, For example, the zoned data FRF4FSF6 will convert to packed dala 03456F. Observe that in this example, the zoned data requires 4 bytes and the packed data requires only 3 bytes. Example 43. Using binary notation, write the EBCDIC coding for the word BIT. How many bytes are required for this representation? Solution » B = 1100 0010 in EBCDIC binary notation 1 1100 1001 in EBCDIC binary notation T = 1110 0011 in EBCDIC binary notation So the EBCDIC coding for the word BIT in binary notation will be : 1090010 41001001 11100011 B di T 3 bytes will be required fortis representation because each etter requires 1 byte (or 8 bis) for its representation, fabledd. Alphabetic Characters tn pyr hele Hexader ng Me. A I Aig ath Vay) Mis, Chameter — PRCDIC Con You Digt A 00 (np B 1100 Ny c 100 i} D 100410 E 1100 O10 F 1100 NG G NO Ol Hu 11001000 1 11001001 J 010001. py K 101 10 ii Nol 001! M uot 010g N N01 = 0101._—S ps 0 NOL 0110 g Pp 101 Oly Q 101-1000" pg. R nol 1001. g s 1100010. T 10001” u m0 0100 v 110 O10l-S ES w 10 old x m0 Ol Y 1101000 BB Zz 1101001, 0 mi 000% =F 1 nn odo. FI 2 1 010s 3 mn oo BB 4 Mu 0100 A 5 a 0101 BS 6 m1 ono 7 mn oul FI 8 Mu 100 BB 9 uu 101 Pe ee @ scanned with OKEN ScannerNumeric Values In ERCDIC In Hexadecimal Notation Table 4.4 Numeric EBCDIC Sign Value Indicator 35 F3FAES—F for unsigned 4345 F3FICS_—C for positive 5 F3FADS__D for negative Table4.5. Zoned And Packed Decimal Numbers — Numeric Zoned Packed Value Format, Format 44s BRIS 345F +45 ICS 345C “HS BIRDS -345D 3456 FSAFSF6 —O34S6F Example 44. Write the EBCDIC coding for the word ZONE (use _ hexadecimal notation). How many bytes will be required for this representation ? Solution Z = E9 in EBCDIC hexadecimal notation © = D6 in EBCDIC hexadecimal notation N = DS in EBCDIC hexadecimal notation Es So the EBCDIC coding for the word ZONE in hexadecimal notation will be : E2 D6 DS GS ZONE Each hexadecimal digit requires 4 bits and there are altogether 8 hexadecimal digits. So in all 8 x 4 = 32 bits will be required. But 8 bits = 1 byte. So 32 bts = 4 bytes. Hence, 4 bytes will be required for this representation, ‘We may also write directly that since each letter requires 1 byte for its representation in EBCDIC and there are 4 letters in the word ZONE, so 4 bytes will be required Computer Codes 29 for this representation. Write the EBCDIC zoned-decimal Example 4.5 coding for the value +256 (u hexadecimal), How many bytes wil be required for this representation ? Solution : +4256 = F2FSC6 in EBCDIC Each hexadecimal digit requires 4 bits and there are altogether 6 hexadecimal digits. So in all 6x4 = 24 bits or 3 bytes (@ bits = 1 byte) will be required for this representation. We may also write directly that since each digit requires 1 byte for its representation in the EBCDIC zoned decimal coding and there are 3 digits in the given number, 803 bytes will be required for this representation. Example 46, Write -128 as-packed decimal number (use hexadecimal). How many bytes will be required for this representation? Solution : -128 = FIF2D8 in EBCDIC = 128D in packed format. Each hexadecimal digit requires 4 bits and there are altogether 4 hexadecimal digits. So in all 4x4 = 16 bits or 2 bytes (1 byte = 8 bits) will be required for this representation, ASCII Another computer code that is very widely used is the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCID). ASCII has been adopted by several American ‘computer manufacturers as their computers’ intemal code. ‘This code is popular in data communications, is used almost exclusively to represent data internally in ‘microcomputers, and is frequently found in the larger computers produced by some vendors. ASCII is of two types : ASCI-7 and ASCIL-8. ASCIL- is a 7 bit code that allows 128 (2%) different characters. The first 3 bits are used as zone bits and the last 4 bits indicate the digit. Microcomputers using 8-bit byte (group of 8 bits for one byte) use the 7-bit ASCII by leaving the leftmost first bit of each byte as a zero, Table @ scanned with OKEN Scanneracters in ASCI-T {shows the alphabenic andl meric ch2 ation ASCH. His a aracters rather ASCH te an extended version O! 6, (28) different oh Kbit cove that allow See «bro the rome I> and ASCTI-R are identical. ASCII also 7 also. show the notation ther than the differences, ASCTL-7 ses hexadecimal . memory dump. Tables 46 and 4 hexadecimal equivalent of the ASCH notations Write the binary coding for the word ROY in ASCII-7. How many bytes are required for this representation? Solution 1009010 in ASCHL-7 binary notation (001111 in ASCIL-7 binary notation (01 1001 in ASCII-7 binary notation. Hence the binary coding for the word BOY it 7 will be 90910 101111 1011001 B Onn ty, As each character in ASCIL-7 requires one byte for its representation and since there are 3 characters in the word BOY, so 3 bytes will be required for this representation Lxample 48. ‘Write the hexadecimal coding for the ‘word GIRL in ASCIL7. How many bytes are required for this representation? Solution G =47 in ASCIL-7 hexadecimal notation 49 in ASCII-7 hexadecimal notation R = 52 in ASCU-7 hexadecimal notation L = 4C in ASCU-7 hexadecimal notation Hence the hexadecimal coding for the word GIRL in ASCUL-7 will be : 42 49 32 4c GIRL AAs each character in ASCIL-7 equites one byte for its represemtation and since there are 4 characters in the word Tonle. Numeric ang araracters Along. With 7ySCH9 Equivalent Mot Character ASCH Core ; sg | “ing oon 0009 1 oll oor? 2 Ol m0 x 3. Ol ony 4 oll 0100 ag 5 On O11 3g 6 Ol 109g Waeatoll ory 8 oll 10003 9 Ol 10013 A100 00014) B 100 0010 c 100 oo gg D 100 0100 ag E 100 O11 4s F100 0104 G 100 om 47 H 100 1000 4g I 100 100149 J 100 1010 4a K 100 101 4B L100 100 ac M 100 101 4D N 100 M0 4E Oo 100 un 4 P 101 000050 Q 10 0001 SI R101 001082 s 101 oo 83 T 101 010054 U 101 0101 35 vo 101 oo 56 Ww 101 ol 7 x 101 100058 Y 101 1001 38 z 101 1010 SA Gece eke PEL een eeeeesteeeeee GIRL, so 4 bytes will be required { @ scanned with OKEN Scannerrepresentation. ‘Example 4.9. Write the binary coding for the word SKY in ASCILS, How many bytes are required fr this representation? Solution : $= 10110011 in ASCIL8 binary notation (0101011 in ASCIL-® binary notation Y= 10111001 in ASCH binary notation Hence the binary coding for the word SKY in ASCILS will be: O110011 10101011 10111001 $ K Y ‘As each character in ASCIL8 requires one byte for its representation and since there are 3 characters in the word SKY, so 3 bytes will be required for this representation. Example 4.10, Write the hexadecimal coding forthe word STAR in ASCIL8. How man; bytes are required for this representation? Solution B3 in ASCIL-8 hexadecimal notation 4 in ASCII-8 hexadecimal notation A=Al in ASCIL-8 hexadecimal notation B2 in ASCIL-8 hexadecimal notation Hence the hexadecimal coding for the word STAR in ASCI-8 will be : B3 B4 Al B2 STAR ‘As each character in ASCII-8 requires one byte for its representation and since there are 4 characters in the word STAR, so 4 bytes will be required for this representation. COLLATING SEQUENCE ‘The value of an alphanumeric or alphabetic data ‘element is usually the name of some object. Obviously one ‘would not like to perform any arithmetic on such data but ‘one may like to compare them in order to arrange them in some desired sequence. Now, if we compare the alphabetic Computer Codes 31 values A andl B, which one will be treated as greater by the computer? For an answer to such questions, itis necessary to have some assigned ordering among the characters used by the computer, This ordering is known as the collating sequence Collating sequence may vary from one computer system to another depending on the type of computer code used by a particular computer. To illustrate this, Tet us consider the computer codes already discussed in this chapter. Observe from Tables 4.2 and 4.3 that the zone values of the characters A through 9 decreases in BCD code from the equivalent of decimal 3 down to 0, while in EBCDIC, the zone values of the characters A through 9 increases from the equivalent of decimal 12 to 15. This means that a computer which uses BCD code for its internal representation of characters will teat alphabetic characters (A,B, ww Z) to be greater than numeric characters (0,1, 9). On the other hand, a computer which uses EBCDIC for its internal representation of characters will teat numeric characters 10 be greater than alphabetic characters. Similarly, observe from Tables 4.6 and 4.7 that a computer which uses ASCII for its internal representation of characters will place numbers ahead of letters during a sort (ascending) because the number characters have a zone valué that i less than the zone value for eters. However, whatever may be the type of computer code used, in most (not all - in BCD 0>9) collating sequences the following rules are observed : Letters are considered in alphabetic order (AcBeC«..<2) 2, Digits are considered in numeric order (Ocle2«..<9). Suppose a computer uses EBCDIC as its internal representation of characters, In which order will this computer sort the following strings : 2B, AL, 1A? Example 4.11 Solution : In EBCDIC, numeric characters are treated t0 be ‘greater than alphabetic characters, Hence the mumeric characters will be placed after the alphabetic characters. So the computer will eat the given string as : AlcIA23 Hence the sorted sequence will be: Al, 1A, 23. @ scanned with OKEN Scanner32 Toble 4.7, Numeric And Character ASCII-R Code Alphabetic: Characters. In ASCIL® Notation Along With ‘Their Hexadecimal Equivalent | Zone Digit | eee | 00101 00050. | 1 101 0001 51 | 2 0101 0010 52 | 3 o101 oon x) 4 101 0100 54 5 0101 0101 55 6 onor 01056 7 0101 oll 37 8 O11 100058 2 O10 100159 A 1010 0001 Al B 1010 0010 a2 c 1010 oo a3 D 1010 0100 ag E 1010 O11 As F 1010 0110 AG G 1010 our a7 H 1010 1000 Ag. I 1010 1001 Ag I 1010 1010 AA K 1010 1011 AB L 1010 1100 AC M 1010 101 aD N 1010 M10 AE oO 1010 1 AF P ton 0000 Bo Q 1011 001s R101 0010 Ba S101 0011 B3 piece 0100 Bg Uo 0101 Bs Vv yo11 0110 BG Woon our B7 X 10 1000 Bg Yip. p., 1011 1001 Bg Z 1011 1010 BA F = | Example 4.12 Suppose a computer, its internal ‘epee Ao, characters. In which getig COMPUEE Ort the Foyt 23, AL, 1A? wing Solution In ASC, numeric characters ae seagy than alphabetic characters. Hence the numer’ t b will be place before the alphabetic chrage computer will treat the given string as, Bctaeay Hence the sorted sequence will be: 25, A QUESTIONS 1. Define the term “byte’. What is the lite, between a bit and a byte ? 2. Write the 4-bit BCD code for the folloy numbers : (a) 25, (b) 64,5 (c) 128,, (4) 1024, 3. Using binary notation, show the BCD covi the following words : (a) BIT () By (© CODE. 4. Using octal notation, show the BCD coding the following words : (a) COMPUTER INPUT (c) VIDEO. 5. Why was BCD code extended to EBCDIC? §. How many different characters are possible the following codes: BCD, EBCDIC, ASCIL and ASCI-8? 7, Suppose a new computer code is designed tt uses 9 bits. How many different characters @ Possible in this code ? 8. Why are octal and hexadecimal shorts Rotations used Identify the shortcut notatct used for each of these computer codes: BCL EBCDIC, ASCII-7, and ASCIL-8, 9% ‘Why do we have a packed decimal format ? Hot does fer from a zoned decimal format? @ scanned with OKEN Scanner10. Using binary notation, write the EBCDIC eaxtin for the following words : (a) SUN (b) MOON, (©) AT. How many bytes are required for cach of these representations ? 11, Using hexadecimal notation, write the EBCDIC coding for the following words : (a) PROGRAM. (b) OUTPUT (c) BYTE. How many bytes are required for each of these representations ? 12,Using hexadecimal notation, write the zoned- decimal coding for the following numbers : (@) 1256 (b) +439 (©) -63, How many bytes will be required for each of these representations ? 13, Using hexadecimal notation, write the packed- decimal coding for the following numbers : (@) 12915 (b) +9876 (c) 872. How many bytes will be required for each of these representations ? 14, List out the similarities and differences between ‘7-bit and 8-bit ASCII. 15. Using binary notation, write the ASCII-7 and ASCIL-8 codes for the foilowing words : (a) DRY (b) WET (c) DAMP. Computer Codes 33 How many bytes are required for each of these representations ? 16, Using hexadecimal notation, writs the ASCH-7 dl ASCILK codes for the following, words : (a) PRINT (by TYPE (©) RUB. How many bytes are required for each of these representations ? ating 17.Explain the meaning of the term sequence”. 18.A. computer uses EBCDIC as its internal representation of characters. In which order will this computer sort the following strings : ABC, 123,245, ADD? 19. A computer uses ASCII, In which order will this computer sort the following strings: BED, 512, ADD, 128, BAD? 20. Give the full form of the following abbreviations BCD, EBCDIC, ASCII. @ scanned with OKEN Scanner