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Box Characters with Alt-Codes.md

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Box Characters With Alt-Codes

<rant>
This document is for programmers. Those who are not using a GUI but still want a little visual formatting on the screen for their output.

That is not the rant part. That starts here. Having over the years spent too much time looking for rational charts of the DOS Box characters, I've finally broken down and created my own. As a programmer presumably speaking to other programmers, I will admit that ASCII below 128 is reasonably rational. The convenient hex values of numbers. The relation of uppercase to lowercase letters as well. The rest is what it is and of no particular problematic value.

Above? Different story. If you examine the alt codes for the characters shown below try and determine the rationale for their order. Come on, I dare you! Perhaps a special set of scrabble tiles thrown at midnight by the light of a single large red candle? Whatever, their order is dictated by principles beyond my understanding. And for that matter so are the available .pdf files and web charts.

Quick, what is the code for a top cross bar with descender? It is 194 which bares no relationship to either the left corner (218) or the cross bar (196) or for that matter the right corner (191). Having said that perhaps that is the secret to why no one bothers to display them in a useful fashion—it's simply to much of a pain in the ass.
</rant>

OK, enough of that. What follows below are a set of charts that enable anyone to quickly determine what character goes where. All of the combinations are shown for convenience. In addition, a small sample of other useful codes are listed as well.

Single Line Box Characters

┌218─196┬194┐191
│179 │179│179
├195─196┼194┤180
└192─196┴193┘191




Double Line Box Characters

╔201═205╦203╗187
║186 ║186║186
╠204═205╬206╣185
╚200═205╩202╝188

Mixed Line Box Characters—Single Horizontal

╓214─196╤209╖187
║186 ║186║186
╟191─196╫215╢185
╙211─196╨208╜189

Mixed Line Box Characters—Single Vertical

╒213═205╤209╕184
│179 │179│179
╞198═205╪216╡181
╘212═205╧207╛190

Other useful Alt-Codes and Characters

  1. 0169 © copyright
  2. 0174 ® registered
  3. 0153 ™ trademark
  4. 224 α alpha
  5. 225 ß beta