ASCII format displays the selected data item as a fixed length string of characters. Each character represents 8 bits of storage, starting from the least significant bit. Any residual bits are padded with zeros to create a full 8 bits. The ASCII format is useful if, for example, you are examining the copying of strings and character arrays by transfer in and out of registers.

Characters displayed in ASCII format have no introductory character to indicate the format. Any non-printable value is represented by a full stop (.).

If you edit an ASCII character string that contains a non-printable value, the string is presented for editing in hexadecimal format.

To enter an ASCII value, prefix it with a single quotation mark (') or double quotation mark ("). This quotation mark is not stored, it only indicates that what follows is a string of ASCII characters. Each character you enter is stored in the least significant 8 bits of the data item. Any previously entered characters shift by 8 bits to accommodate the new character. If you enter more characters than the data item can hold, the earliest characters are lost and the latest ones are stored.