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When you print the letter "A," the host computer sends a code corresponding to "A" (hexadecimal 41 is an example of this) to the machine. This code is referred to as the character code. The machine stores an internal representation of each character, and selects from among these character patterns the pattern corresponding to the received code. In this case, the machine searches for the pattern for "A," and prints it.

• The process by which letters are printed

The machine uses a fixed rule to decide which letter or symbol corresponds to the character code sent from the host computer. For example, the letter "A" is printed for the hexadecimal code "41." The rule which determines the correspondence between character codes and printed letters is called the "symbol set."

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