Convert.ToInt16 (Char) converts Unicode character to the equivalent 16-bit signed integer.
Module Example Public Sub Main() Dim chars() As Char = { "a"c, "z"c, ChrW(7), ChrW(2010),ChrW(Short.MaxValue), ChrW(&hFFFE) } Dim result As Short For Each ch As Char in chars Try result = Convert.ToInt16(ch) Console.WriteLine("'{0}' converts to {1}.", ch, result) Catch e As OverflowException Console.WriteLine("Unable to convert u+{0} to an Int16.",AscW(ch).ToString("X4")) End Try Next End Sub End Module