Excel Function: UNICODE

Purpose

The UNICODE function translates the first character in a text value into the number that it corresponds to in the unicode system.

Invocations of the UNICODE function take the form:

UNICODE(text)

Argument	Argument type	Description
text	Mandatory	A text value whose first character will be examined and its unicode number returned.

Function	Example	Purpose
UNICHAR	`UNICODE(UNICHAR(number))`	Returns the character corresponding to a unicode number.

Error value	Condition type	Condition
#VALUE!	Bad argument	A value of type currency, geography, or stock was supplied to the *text* argument.

Example	Formula	Result	Description
1	`=UNICODE("a")`	`97`	Applying the UNICODE function to a single character returns its unicode number.
2	`=UNICODE("ab")`	`97`	Applying the UNICODE function to text returns the unicode number of the first character.
3	`=UNICODE(DATE(2023,5,7))`	52	The date May 7, 2023 is stored as 45053. The unicode number of “4” was returned.
4	`=UNICODE(TIME(12,00,00))`	`48`	The time 12:00:00 is stored as 0.5. The unicode number of “0” was returned.
5	`=UNICODE(1)`	`49`	Applying the UNICODE function to a single digit number returns its unicode number.
6	`=UNICODE(12)`	`49`	Applying the UNICODE function to a number returns the unicode number of its first digit.

Example	‘Text’ argument	Result	Description
1	`MICROSOFT CORPORATION (XNAS:MSFT)`	`#VALUE!`	Supplying a stock value to the UNICODE function’s text argument causes an error.
2	`USD/EUR`	`#VALUE!`	Supplying a currency value to the UNICODE function’s text argument causes an error.
3	`Stamford`	`#VALUE!`	Supplying a geography value to the UNICODE function’s text argument causes an error.

These errors can be mitigated by converting values of type stock, currency and geography to text before passing them to the UNICODE function. I.e.:

UNICODE(VALUETOTEXT(text,0))