control information can precede data in a frame. The content of the heading is not defined by the protocol but is defined for each specific device. The heading, if present, is preceded by an SOH (start of heading) character and followed by an STX (start of text). Text data normally follows the heading, begun by the STX, and terminated by ETX (end of text) or ETB (end transmission block).

Normal data frames do not allow certain characters to appear in the data. These are the block ending characters: ETB, ETX and ENQ and the ITB and