vim: utf-8 value in statusline

This is a discussion on vim: utf-8 value in statusline within the Editors forums in Theory and Concepts category; Hi all, In vim's statusline the ascii/hex value of the /byte/ under the cursor is displayed by %b and %B. But in utf-8 encoded files, the byte value is somehow irrelevant and I'd rather see the representation of the /character/ under the cursor, eg as output by pressing 8g8 in normal mode. Is it possible to do so? Any hint welcome! Thanks, Manuel....