# Shortening paths

> Fit a file path into a fixed-width column with truncate(), keeping both ends — the directory it starts in and the file it names.

Source: https://linegauge.interlace.tools/docs/recipes/shortening-paths

A path's two ends carry the information: where it starts and what file it names. Cut from
the middle, and give the column a fixed width, and every path fits it exactly:

```js title="paths.mjs"
import { truncate } from 'linegauge';

const files = ['README.md', 'packages/linegauge/src/truncate.test.ts', 'apps/docs-linegauge/content/docs/recipes/shortening-paths.mdx'];

for (const file of files) console.log(`[${truncate(file, 24, { position: 'middle' })}]`);
```

```text title="node paths.mjs"
[README.md]
[packages/lin…ate.test.ts]
[apps/docs-li…g-paths.mdx]
```

The ellipsis is inside the 24 columns, so the bracket never moves. A path that already fits
comes back as it was. For a log line where the file name matters most, cut from the start
instead: `truncate(file, 24, { position: 'start' })` keeps the end.

A path with a wide character in it is cut by columns, not characters, so a Japanese directory
name spends two of the 24 per character and the result is still no wider than 24.