ASC (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)

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Introduction

ASC (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) file format is a 3D text format developed by Autodesk for easier exchange of 3D data between various 3D modeling software. ASC files save 3D graphics (containing geometric points and shape information) in ASCII text format and can be opened in any text editor, but to view the 3D graphics, the file must be opened in 3D Studio Max, AutoCAD or other CAD software that supports the ASC format.

File Format

The ASCII code table contains 128 characters, which can be divided into several categories:

Control characters: The first 32 characters (from 0 to 31) of the ASCII code table are called control characters. These characters are usually used to control the text stream that has been transmitted, such as carriage return (CR, ASCII value 13), line feed (LF, ASCII value 10), tab (TAB, ASCII value 9), etc. These control characters do not have specific graphical displays, but will have different effects on text display depending on different applications.

Displayable characters: The remaining 96 characters (from 32 to 127) of the ASCII code table are all displayable characters. This includes numbers (0-9, ASCII values 48-57), uppercase letters (A-Z, ASCII values 65-90), lowercase letters (a-z, ASCII values 97-122), and some punctuation marks and operation symbols.

Pros

1. Standardization: ASCII code provides a unified binary representation for characters, which facilitates character exchange between different computer systems. This feature makes ASCII code the cornerstone of communication between computers, especially in early computer systems.

2. Simple encoding: ASCII code uses 7-bit or 8-bit binary numbers to represent characters, and the encoding method is relatively simple. This simple encoding method makes ASCII code easy to understand and implement, and also reduces the complexity of the system.

3. Wide support: Due to the long history and wide acceptance of ASCII code, almost all computer systems support ASCII code. This makes ASCII code widely used in text processing, network communication, data storage and other fields.

Cons

1. Limited character set: ASCII code can only represent 128 characters, including basic Latin letters, numbers, punctuation marks and some control characters. This makes ASCII code unable to cover multiple language symbols, limiting its international application.

2. No support for special symbols: With the development of computer technology and the diversification of applications, many special symbols and graphic characters have gradually emerged. However, ASCII code cannot represent these special symbols and graphic characters, which limits its application in some fields.

Application Scenario

ASC file is a universal file format that can be used for data exchange and sharing between different software and platforms. It provides a simple and readable way to represent the geometric information of 3D models, suitable for transferring data between different design, modeling and rendering tools. Since ASC files store data in text form, simple data processing and modification can be performed using a text editor. This allows users to manually edit ASC files, such as adjusting vertex coordinates or modifying texture coordinates to meet specific needs.