ASCII 2
ASCII 2 is Start of Text — the control character STX.
Every representation
| Character | STX (not printable) |
| Name | Start of Text |
| Decimal | 2 |
| Hexadecimal | 0x02 |
| Octal | 0002 |
| Binary | 00000010 |
| HTML entity |  |
| Escape sequence | \x02 |
| Unicode | U+0002 |
| Keyboard | Ctrl+B |
| Group | Control character |
What it is for
Marked where the header ended and the message began. Still used as a frame delimiter in serial protocols for point-of-sale and industrial equipment.
Where the number comes from
Codes 0 to 31 were reserved for control: instructions to a teleprinter rather than characters to print. Code 2 is Ctrl+B because the Ctrl key was originally wired to clear the top two bits of whatever you typed, mapping the letter B at 66 down to 2.
Frequently asked questions
What is ASCII 2?
Start of Text (STX), a control character. In hexadecimal it is 0x02, in octal 0002, and in binary 00000010.
How do I type ASCII 2?
Press Ctrl+B in a terminal. In a string literal you can write it as \\x02 in most languages.
Is ASCII 2 printable?
No. Codes 0 to 31 and 127 are control characters — they were instructions to a teleprinter rather than marks on paper, and most terminals show nothing for them.
Nearby codes
- ASCII 0 — NUL
- ASCII 1 — SOH
- ASCII 3 — ETX
- ASCII 4 — EOT
- ASCII 5 — ENQ
- ASCII 6 — ACK
- ASCII 7 — BEL
- ASCII 8 — BS
- ASCII 9 — HT
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