ucs_get_width(9)

💅 ucs_get_width(9) — from the Kernel API Manual, bestie ✨

Okay so real talk, this is a page straight out of the Kernel API Manual and it's genuinely one of the cutest lowkey-useful little functions in the tty/vt corner of the kernel. Like, it just tells you how wide a character is gonna be on your screen. That's it. That's the whole vibe check. And honestly? Iconic. 🎀

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🌸 NAME 🌸

ucs_get_width — get the display width of a Unicode code point.

Like, you hand it a code point and it hands you back a number telling you how many columns that thing eats up on a terminal. Fr fr, that's the whole job. 💖

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

unsigned int ucs_get_width (u32 cp );

That's the vibe. One function, one argument, one unsigned int coming back at you. No notes. 👑

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• cp — the Unicode code point you're asking about, in UCS-4. That's the actual character code, the real deal, the main character of the question you're asking. 🫶

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🔥 RETURN 🔥

So the return value is giving "three possible answers and they all mean something":

• 2 — for double-width characters. East Asian Wide/Fullwidth, emoji, that whole squad. The ones that take up two columns and make your terminal go 👀.
• 0 — for zero-width characters. Combining marks, format characters, the invisible girlies who are technically there but take up literally no space. 🙈
• 1 — for everything else. That's the common case, bestie. The default. The "yeah this is just a normal character" answer. 💀

No cap, those are the only three values. Don't go looking for a 3. There is no 3. 🧚

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👑 SEE ALSO 👑

• Kernel file ./drivers/tty/vt/ucs.c — go read the source, it's right there in the tree 🌈
• ucs_recompose(9)
• ucs_get_fallback(9)

Those two are its little friends, they hang out in the same file, they're a package deal. 💜

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okay that's the whole page and honestly it ate 🍓

This one lives in ./drivers/tty/vt and the version/date stamp is October 2026 — so basically remember where you got it and when, mwah 💅✨