Heavy Up Half-Line

Join it to matching strokes. ╹ fills the upper half of a character cell with a heavy vertical stroke. Use it where a text diagram needs that half-height segment; its role is construction.

The broader box-drawing set grew out of character-cell graphics standards in use before 1990, when terminals had to simulate graphics with text. These pieces built forms, data-entry screens, transaction systems, and interface borders. Early Videotex recommendations, for screen-based information services, also used light and heavy line weights; a 1988 recommendation records that distinction.

The half-line set includes light and heavy strokes pointing in four directions. Full verticals, horizontals, corners, and junctions extend the same grid; their strokes are designed to meet at cell edges. Text and terminal interfaces still use this cell-based approach to draw borders.

Why does box drawing look broken?

A font or terminal mapping can break the alignment. Correct character data may still look too short, shifted, or disconnected. Proportional fonts and unequal cell widths can spoil the grid.

In a terminal, a wrong character-set or terminfo mapping can display unrelated characters where line graphics should be. Use a monospaced font with equal-width cells, and check the terminal’s character-set and terminfo settings.