# FAQ

> Short answers about linegauge — terminal width, emoji, CJK, ambiguous characters, Nerd Fonts, non-strings, CommonJS and overrides — each with where to read more.

Source: https://linegauge.interlace.tools/docs/faq

## How do I get the terminal's width?

From the terminal, not from linegauge: `process.stdout.columns` when `process.stdout.isTTY`,
and a width of your choosing otherwise. linegauge never reads `process`, so the same call gives
the same answer in a terminal, a pipe and a test. [Wrapping help text](/docs/recipes/wrapping-help)
shows the pattern.

## Why is an emoji two columns and not one per code point?

Because a terminal draws it in two. A family emoji is four people joined by three zero-width
joiners — seven code points, one grapheme cluster — and `width` counts clusters
([Measuring](/docs/guides/measuring)).

## My table's CJK column is off by one or two.

Measure with `width`, not `.length` or `padEnd`, which count code units: `古` is one code unit
and two columns. [Aligning columns](/docs/recipes/aligning-columns) pads by columns.

## Some characters are one column in my terminal and two in my colleague's.

Those are East Asian **ambiguous** characters — `±`, `×`, Greek, Cyrillic, box drawing — which
a CJK font draws wide. `width` counts them narrow unless you pass
`{ ambiguousIsNarrow: false }`. No terminal reports which it does, so it is the caller's
choice ([Measuring](/docs/guides/measuring#options)).

## My Nerd Font icons measure one column and draw two.

They are in the Private Use Area, which Unicode leaves to the font. Register a
[width plugin](/docs/guides/plugins) that says so, with a `why`, and every measurement
after that agrees with your font.

## What does `width(undefined)` do?

Returns `0`, as string-width does, rather than throwing. A width call is usually reached with
whatever a template produced.

## Can I use it from CommonJS?

Yes, on Node 20.19+ and 22.13+: the package is ESM with a `default` condition, so
`require('linegauge')` loads it through `require(esm)`, and `.default` is `width`. Every entry
point is checked to load that way.

## Can I replace a string-width I do not import myself?

Yes, with an npm `overrides` entry, because the root default export is string-width's call.
The other three are subpaths, which an override cannot point at
([Incremental migration](/docs/recipes/incremental-migration)).

## Where is truncation from the left, or in the middle?

`truncate(text, columns, { position: 'start' })` and `{ position: 'middle' }`. The ellipsis
is inside the budget in all three positions ([Slicing and truncating](/docs/guides/cutting)).

## Is `linegauge/wrap` exactly wrap-ansi?

It passes all 85 cases of wrap-ansi 10.0.2's own suite, and agrees with wrap-ansi on two
hundred generated inputs under six option sets in linegauge's own tests. The differences that
remain across all four paths are on [Compatibility](/docs/drop-ins#known-differences).