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control character

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control character

[kən′trōl ‚kar·ik·tər]
(computer science)
A character whose occurrence in a particular context initiates, modifies, or stops a control operation in a computer or associated equipment.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

control code

One or more characters used as a command to control a device or a communications session. Control codes may travel in a separate channel, typically in telecommunications systems, or ride with the data such as the return code that signals the end of a paragraph in a text document. There are countless codes used to control electronic devices. See escape code, return code, control channel and null.


ASCII Control Codes
In this ASCII chart, the leftmost column contains control codes for communications and printers except for ASCII 32 (blank space), which is data. See ASCII.
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References in periodicals archive
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have embedded control characters for multiplexer control.
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In async and bisync protocols, which are character-oriented, the line-handlers are always looking for recognizable control characters, usually seven or eight bits long.
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