How to Compare Non-ASCII Characters in NetSuite Saved Searches?

To effectively compare non-ASCII characters within NetSuite saved search formulas, it is necessary to convert the character sets to an ASCII representation. While the ASCII function can be used, it is important to note that it returns the ASCII value of only the leftmost character of a string. An example of its usage for conditional logic is shown below:

ASCII('栃木県') ASCII({shipstate}) then 'Japanese State 1' else {shipstate} end

This formula checks if a specific Japanese state matches a predefined value and, if so, translates it to a readable name; otherwise, it outputs the original ship state.For converting an entire string containing non-ASCII characters to an ASCII representation suitable for comparison, the ASCIISTR function is more appropriate. Unlike ASCII, ASCIISTR is designed to handle full string conversion, making it suitable for scenarios requiring comprehensive string comparisons.Other functions like TEXT_DECODE are not available within the saved search formula dropdown in NetSuite and are therefore not supported for this purpose. Similarly, the N/encode module is a SuiteScript feature and cannot be utilized in saved search formulas for encoding or decoding operations.