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I'm planning to use the symbols from the Box Drawing group of characters to draw paths and mazes and such.

However, due to font substitution, even in monospace they may not be monospaced because they may have been subbed with a font of a different width.

This is mostly a problem when it comes to empty space. Normally I'd just use a space, and it'd be fine, but it's not lining up correctly.

Is there a specific character intended for "empty space" with the Box Drawing symbols, or would my only real option be to use a symbol like ╳ but with "color:transparent" to hide it? My main concern with that is that it would suddenly show up if you try to copy-paste the map...

Any suggestions on this?

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  • Why font substitution happens? – Vnovak Jun 9 '14 at 16:27
  • @Vnovak Because... actually, I just checked again. The font I'm using (it's a Google font) seems to have the "thin-line" box drawing, but not the "thick-line" ones. – Niet the Dark Absol Jun 9 '14 at 16:35
  • So, you decided to use another font and it breaks up your maze, isn't it? – Vnovak Jun 9 '14 at 16:40
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No, the Unicode Block Elements range does not seem to include an "empty block" character, so you'll just have to use a normal space instead.

The only reliable solution I can recommend is to specify a monospace font that you know to include all the characters you're using in your box / line drawing, and that you know to have consistent metrics for them.

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