proprietary character sets, usually extensions to ISO 8859 character sets, which include box-drawing characters or other special symbols. Character code On many platforms, the character shape is determined programmatically from the character code. ZX Spectrum block characters: Amstrad CPC block characters: Amstrad CPC line characters: BBC Master line characters: Teletext block characters: DOS line draw characters are not ordered in any programmatic manner, and calculating a particular character shape needs to use a look-up table. Examples Sample diagrams made out of the standard box-drawing characters, using a monospaced font: ┌─┬┐ ╔═╦╗ ╓─╥╖ ╒═╤╕ │ ││ ║ ║║ ║ ║║ │ ││ ├─┼┤ ╠═╬╣ ╟─╫╢ ╞═╪╡ └─┴┘ ╚═╩╝ ╙─╨╜ ╘═╧╛ ┌───────────────────┐ │ ╔═══╗ Some Text │▒ │ ╚═╦═╝ in the box │▒ ╞═╤══╩══╤═══════════╡▒ │ ├──┬──┤ │▒ │ └──┴──┘ │▒ └───────────────────┘▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ See also Unicode symbols Dingbat Box Drawing (Unicode Block) Block Elements (Unicode Block) Geometric Shapes (Unicode Block) List of Unicode characters Text-based (computing) Text semigraphics ASCII art and ANSI art MouseText References Unicode Box drawing Character sets