What's the difference between UNICODE() and CODE()?

[Cubist]

I want to know the difference between the two functions UNICODE() and CODE(). Based on their Microsoft documentations,

UNICODE(): "This article describes the formula syntax and usage of the UNICODE function in Microsoft Excel."
CODE(): "Returns a numeric code for the first character in a text string. The returned code corresponds to the character set used by your computer."

Similarly CHAR() vs. UNICHAR(). I'm trying to understand the use case preferences between the two. Thanks.

 

[Cubist]

Upon my investigation,
UNICHAR() and CHAR() return the same for numbers 1-127.
UNICHAR() returns blanks while CHAR() returns additional characters for numbers 128-159.
UNICHAR() and CHAR() return the same for numbers 160-255.
UNICHAR() returns characters for number 256+ while CHAR() give #VALUE error.

Book1
	A	B	C
1	Number	UNICHAR	CHAR
2	1
3	2
4	3
5	4
6	5
7	6
8	7
9	8
10	9
11	10
12	11
13	12
14	13
15	14
16	15
17	16
18	17
19	18
20	19
21	20
22	21
23	22
24	23
25	24
26	25
27	26
28	27
29	28
30	29
31	30
32	31
33	32
34	33	!	!
35	34	"	"
36	35	#	#
37	36	$	$
38	37	%	%
39	38	&	&
40	39	'	'
41	40	(	(
42	41	)	)
43	42	*	*
44	43	+	+
45	44	,	,
46	45	-	-
47	46	.	.
48	47	/	/
49	48	0	0
50	49	1	1
51	50	2	2
52	51	3	3
53	52	4	4
54	53	5	5
55	54	6	6
56	55	7	7
57	56	8	8
58	57	9	9
59	58	:	:
60	59	;	;
61	60	<	<
62	61	=	=
63	62	>	>
64	63	?	?
65	64	@	@
66	65	A	A
67	66	B	B
68	67	C	C
69	68	D	D
70	69	E	E
71	70	F	F
72	71	G	G
73	72	H	H
74	73	I	I
75	74	J	J
76	75	K	K
77	76	L	L
78	77	M	M
79	78	N	N
80	79	O	O
81	80	P	P
82	81	Q	Q
83	82	R	R
84	83	S	S
85	84	T	T
86	85	U	U
87	86	V	V
88	87	W	W
89	88	X	X
90	89	Y	Y
91	90	Z	Z
92	91	[	[
93	92	\	\
94	93	]	]
95	94	^	^
96	95	_	_
97	96	`	`
98	97	a	a
99	98	b	b
100	99	c	c
101	100	d	d
102	101	e	e
103	102	f	f
104	103	g	g
105	104	h	h
106	105	i	i
107	106	j	j
108	107	k	k
109	108	l	l
110	109	m	m
111	110	n	n
112	111	o	o
113	112	p	p
114	113	q	q
115	114	r	r
116	115	s	s
117	116	t	t
118	117	u	u
119	118	v	v
120	119	w	w
121	120	x	x
122	121	y	y
123	122	z	z
124	123	{	{
125	124	|	|
126	125	}	}
127	126	~	~
128	127
129	128		€
130	129
131	130		‚
132	131		ƒ
133	132		„
134	133		…
135	134		†
136	135		‡
137	136		ˆ
138	137		‰
139	138		Š
140	139		‹
141	140		Œ
142	141
143	142		Ž
144	143
145	144
146	145		‘
147	146		’
148	147		“
149	148		”
150	149		•
151	150		–
152	151		—
153	152		˜
154	153		™
155	154		š
156	155		›
157	156		œ
158	157
159	158		ž
160	159		Ÿ
161	160
162	161	¡	¡
163	162	¢	¢
164	163	£	£
165	164	¤	¤
166	165	¥	¥
167	166	¦	¦
168	167	§	§
169	168	¨	¨
170	169	©	©
171	170	ª	ª
172	171	«	«
173	172	¬	¬
174	173
175	174	®	®
176	175	¯	¯
177	176	°	°
178	177	±	±
179	178	²	²
180	179	³	³
181	180	´	´
182	181	µ	µ
183	182	¶	¶
184	183	·	·
185	184	¸	¸
186	185	¹	¹
187	186	º	º
188	187	»	»
189	188	¼	¼
190	189	½	½
191	190	¾	¾
192	191	¿	¿
193	192	À	À
194	193	Á	Á
195	194	Â	Â
196	195	Ã	Ã
197	196	Ä	Ä
198	197	Å	Å
199	198	Æ	Æ
200	199	Ç	Ç
201	200	È	È
202	201	É	É
203	202	Ê	Ê
204	203	Ë	Ë
205	204	Ì	Ì
206	205	Í	Í
207	206	Î	Î
208	207	Ï	Ï
209	208	Ð	Ð
210	209	Ñ	Ñ
211	210	Ò	Ò
212	211	Ó	Ó
213	212	Ô	Ô
214	213	Õ	Õ
215	214	Ö	Ö
216	215	×	×
217	216	Ø	Ø
218	217	Ù	Ù
219	218	Ú	Ú
220	219	Û	Û
221	220	Ü	Ü
222	221	Ý	Ý
223	222	Þ	Þ
224	223	ß	ß
225	224	à	à
226	225	á	á
227	226	â	â
228	227	ã	ã
229	228	ä	ä
230	229	å	å
231	230	æ	æ
232	231	ç	ç
233	232	è	è
234	233	é	é
235	234	ê	ê
236	235	ë	ë
237	236	ì	ì
238	237	í	í
239	238	î	î
240	239	ï	ï
241	240	ð	ð
242	241	ñ	ñ
243	242	ò	ò
244	243	ó	ó
245	244	ô	ô
246	245	õ	õ
247	246	ö	ö
248	247	÷	÷
249	248	ø	ø
250	249	ù	ù
251	250	ú	ú
252	251	û	û
253	252	ü	ü
254	253	ý	ý
255	254	þ	þ
256	255	ÿ	ÿ
257	256	Ā	#VALUE!
258	257	ā	#VALUE!
259	258	Ă	#VALUE!
260	259	ă	#VALUE!
261	260	Ą	#VALUE!
262	261	ą	#VALUE!
263	262	Ć	#VALUE!
264	263	ć	#VALUE!
265	264	Ĉ	#VALUE!
266	265	ĉ	#VALUE!
267	266	Ċ	#VALUE!
268	267	ċ	#VALUE!
269	268	Č	#VALUE!
270	269	č	#VALUE!
271	270	Ď	#VALUE!
272	271	ď	#VALUE!
273	272	Đ	#VALUE!
274	273	đ	#VALUE!
275	274	Ē	#VALUE!
276	275	ē	#VALUE!
277	276	Ĕ	#VALUE!
278	277	ĕ	#VALUE!
279	278	Ė	#VALUE!
280	279	ė	#VALUE!
281	280	Ę	#VALUE!
282	281	ę	#VALUE!
283	282	Ě	#VALUE!
284	283	ě	#VALUE!
285	284	Ĝ	#VALUE!
286	285	ĝ	#VALUE!
287	286	Ğ	#VALUE!
288	287	ğ	#VALUE!
289	288	Ġ	#VALUE!
290	289	ġ	#VALUE!
291	290	Ģ	#VALUE!
292	291	ģ	#VALUE!
293	292	Ĥ	#VALUE!
294	293	ĥ	#VALUE!
295	294	Ħ	#VALUE!
296	295	ħ	#VALUE!
297	296	Ĩ	#VALUE!
298	297	ĩ	#VALUE!
299	298	Ī	#VALUE!
300	299	ī	#VALUE!
Sheet2

Cell Formulas
Range	Formula
A2:A501	A2	=SEQUENCE(500)
B2:B501	B2	=UNICHAR(A2#)
C2:C501	C2	=CHAR(A2#)
Dynamic array formulas.

 

[FormR]

Hi, UNICODE() and UNICHAR() deal with the UNICODE character set, CODE() and CHAR() deal with the ASCII character set.

An edited note, ASCII is a subset of the UNICODE set.

 

[Cubist]

Hi,
Is it fair to say that ASCII is a subset of Unicode and represents a limited range of characters primarily used in the English language. Whereas, Unicode is a more comprehensive encoding scheme that can represent characters from multiple languages and symbols.

 

[Cubist]

Hi, UNICODE() and UNICHAR() deal with the UNICODE character set, CODE() and CHAR() deal with the ASCII character set.

An edited note, ASCII is a subset of the UNICODE set.

If ASCII is the subset of UNICODE, I find that interesting UNICHAR(128-159) returned blanks, while CHAR(128-159) did not.

 

[FormR]

The first 128 characters use the same encoding, the rest of the ASCII character set uses a different encoding. UNICODE is prevalent these days.

 

[Cubist]

The first 128 characters use the same encoding, the rest of the ASCII character set uses a different encoding. UNICODE is prevalent these days.

That makes sense for the difference. Would you go as far as saying that UNICODE() is always preferred over CODE()?

 

[FormR]

I'd be lying if I said I always used it over CODE() after all CODE() does have 3 fewer letters

 

[Cubist]

Fair point but we have intellisense drop down. Thanks for your time.

 

[Joe4]

CODE() has always worked for my purposes and I have never had to use UNICODE(), but I am almost always working with the first 128 values.