Emacs Graphical Display Configuration

Mode Line
Window Dimmer
Find the Bloody Cursor
Font Configuration
Themes
- Highlight Task Labels
Full Size Frame
Emojis, Icons and Whatnot
Ligatures

A literate programming file to configure the Emacs UI.

Let’s turn off the menu and other settings:

(when (display-graphic-p)
  (context-menu-mode 1)
  (tool-bar-mode -1)
  (scroll-bar-mode -1)
  (horizontal-scroll-bar-mode -1)
  (setq visible-bell 1
        frame-inhibit-implied-resize t))

And let’s make this Emacs look more like a fancy IDE with all-the-icons:

(use-package all-the-icons
  :if (display-graphic-p)
  :config
  (setq major-mode-hydra-title-generator
        '(lambda (mode)
           (let ((title (thread-last mode
                                     (symbol-name)
                                     (string-replace "-" " ")
                                     (string-replace " mode" "")
                                     (s-titleize))))
             (s-concat ; (s-repeat 5 " ")
              (all-the-icons-icon-for-mode mode :v-adjust 0.05)
              " " title " Commands")))))

This also expands the Major Mode Hydra title sequence with a pretty icon.

Mode Line

Let’s install and load some of packages from the Doom Emacs project, like doom-modeline and maybe the themes:

(use-package doom-modeline
  :init
  (setq doom-modeline-minor-modes nil
        doom-modeline-buffer-encoding nil
        doom-modeline-major-mode-color-icon t
        doom-modeline-buffer-state-icon t
        doom-modeline-buffer-modification-icon t
        doom-modeline-modal 'evil
        doom-modeline-lsp-icon t
        doom-modeline-percent-position nil)
  (doom-modeline-mode 1))

Window Dimmer

To make the active window more noticeable, we dim the in-active windows with the dimmer project.

(use-package dimmer
  :custom (dimmer-adjustment-mode :foreground))

I get issues with Magic and Dimmer, so let’s turn off this feature in certain windows:

(use-package dimmer
  :config
  (dimmer-configure-which-key)    ; Do not dim these special windows
  (dimmer-configure-hydra)
  (dimmer-configure-magit)

  (dimmer-mode t))

As an interesting alternative, check out the selected-window-accent project.

Find the Bloody Cursor

Large screen, lots of windows, so where is the cursor? While I used to use hl-line+, I found that the prolific Protesilaos Stavrou introduced his Pulsar project is just what I need. Specifically, I might loose the cursor and need to have it highlighted (using F8), but also, this automatically highlights the cursor line with specific actions , like changing windows.

(use-package pulsar
  :straight (:host github :repo "protesilaos/pulsar")
  :custom
  (pulsar-face 'pulsar-generic)
  (pulsar-delay 0.15)

  :config
  (dolist (built-in-function '(recenter-top-bottom move-to-window-line-top-bottom reposition-window
                               bookmark-jump other-window delete-window delete-other-windows
                               forward-page backward-page scroll-up-command scroll-down-command
                               ha-new-window tab-new tab-close tab-next org-next-visible-heading
                               org-previous-visible-heading org-forward-heading-same-level
                               org-backward-heading-same-level outline-backward-same-level
                               outline-forward-same-level outline-next-visible-heading
                               outline-previous-visible-heading outline-up-heading))
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions built-in-function))

  (when (fboundp 'winner-undo)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'winner-undo)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'winner-redo))

  (when (fboundp 'winum-select-window-1)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'winum-select-window-1)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'winum-select-window-2)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'winum-select-window-3)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'winum-select-window-4)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'winum-select-window-5)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'winum-select-window-6)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'winum-select-window-7)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'winum-select-window-8)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'winum-select-window-9))

  (when (fboundp 'aw-delete-window)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'aw-move-window)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'aw-swap-window)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'aw-copy-window)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'aw-split-window-vert)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'aw-split-window-horz)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'aw-split-window-fair)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'aw-delete-window))

  (when (fboundp 'evil-window-right)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'evil-window-right)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'evil-window-left)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'evil-window-up)
    (add-to-list 'pulsar-pulse-functions 'evil-window-down))

  (pulsar-global-mode 1))

And if I can’t find the cursor, and don’t want to move it to see it, I can hit a key:

(use-package pulsar
  :bind ("<f8>" . pulsar-pulse-line))

Font Configuration

Am I ever really ever satisfied with any font? I regularly change my font based on the monospace du jour… Source Code Pro is attractive, and has been a staple on every programmers’ screen. However, we all want ligatures, Hasklig is a nice font that is thinner and easier to read than Fira, but Iosevka seems to have it all. Oh, Microsoft just gave us Cascadia and that seems shiny. However, the Nerd Font project adds the ligatures as well as all the other niceties to a font.

Choosing a Font

I stole the following idea from Protesilaos Stavrou’s dotfile configuration, and the following should minimally be readable:

| Similarities | Regular                    |
|--------------+----------------------------|
| ()[]{}<>«»‹› | ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ |
| 6bB8&        | abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz |
| 0ODdoaoOQGC  | 0123456789                 |
| I1tilIJL     | ~!@#$%^&*+                 |
| !¡ij         | `'"‘’“”.,;:…               |
| 5$§SsS5      | ()[]{}—-_=<>/\             |
| 17ZzZ2       | ΑΒΓΔΕΖΗΘΙΚΛΜΝΞΟΠΡΣΤΥΦΧΨΩ   |
| 9gqpG6       | αβγδεζηθικλμνξοπρστυφχψω   |
| hnmMN        |                            |
| uvvwWuuwvy   |                            |
| x×X          |                            |
| .,·°%        |                            |
| ¡!¿?         |                            |
| :;           |                            |
| `''"‘’“”     |                            |
| —-~≈=≠+*_    |                            |
| …⋯           |                            |
| ...          |                            |

The following is from Hack’s website:

//  The four boxing wizards jump
#include <stdio.h> // <= quickly.
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
  long il1[]={1-2/3.4,5+6==7/8};
  int OxFaced=0xBAD||"[{(CQUINE";
  unsigned O0,l1,Z2,S5,G6,B8__XY;
  printf("@$Hamburgefo%c`",'\n');
  return ~7&8^9?0:l1|!"j->k+=*w";
}

To install a font, I use the following command on my Mac:

brew tap homebrew/cask-fonts
brew install --cask font-hack-nerd-font

Specifying a Font

My current favorite font is actually the top list of fonts that may be installed on my system:

(defvar ha-fixed-font
  (when window-system
    (or
     (seq-first
      (seq-filter (lambda (font) (when (x-list-fonts font) font))
                  '("CaskaydiaCove Nerd Font"  ; finally found it
                    ;; funky font with litagures and a dotted 0
                    "Cascadia Code PL"
                    ;; clean font, but no litagures!?
                    "Hack Nerd Font"
                    "FiraCode Nerd Font"       ; has litagures
                    "Cousine Nerd Font"
                    "Iosevka Nerd Font"
                    "FantasqueSansMono Nerd Font"
                    "Monoid Nerd Font"
                    "Hasklig"
                    "Source Code Pro")))
     "monospaced"))
  "My fixed width font based on what I have installed.")

I probably don’t need to have such a ranking system, as chances are good I have them all installed.

(defvar ha-variable-font
  (when window-system
    (or
     (seq-first
      (seq-filter (lambda (font) (when (x-list-fonts font) font))
                  '("Atkinson Hyperlegible"
                    "SN Pro"   ; https://supernotes.app/open-source/sn-pro
                    "Literata" ; Clean, readable with litagures
                    ;; Next best can be downloaded here:
                    ;; https://fontesk.com/xcharter-typeface/
                    "XCharter"
                    "Charter"
                    ;;  Interesting idea: "Iosevka Comfy Motion Duo"
                    "Serif")))
     (warn "Cannot find a Serif Font.  Install Source Sans Pro."))))

(defvar ha-variable-header-font
  (when window-system
    (or
     (seq-first
      (seq-filter (lambda (font) (when (x-list-fonts font) font))
                  '("SN Pro" "Overpass" "DejaVu Sans"
                    "Verdana" "Overpass"
                    "Source Sans Pro"
                    "Lucida Grande"
                    "Sans Serif")))
     (warn "Cannot find a Sans Serif Font.  Install Source Sans Pro."))))

Simple function that gives me the font information based on the size I need. Recently updated after reading this essay, as I wanted my fixed-pitch to scale along with my variable-pitch font.

(defun ha-set-favorite-font-size (size)
  "Set the default font size as well as equalize the fixed and variable fonts."
  (let ((fav-font (format "%s-%d" ha-fixed-font size)))
    (set-face-attribute 'default nil :font fav-font)
    (set-face-attribute 'fixed-pitch nil :family ha-fixed-font :inherit 'default :height 1.0)
    (set-face-attribute 'variable-pitch nil :family ha-variable-font :inherit 'default :height 1.2)))

Define interactive functions to quickly adjusting the font size based on my computing scenario:

(defun ha-mac-monitor-fontsize ()
  "Quickly set reset my font size when I connect my laptop to a monitor on a Mac."
  (interactive)
  (ha-set-favorite-font-size 13))

(defun ha-linux-monitor-fontsize ()
  "Quickly set reset my font size when I connect my laptop to a monitor on Linux."
  (interactive)
  (ha-set-favorite-font-size 12))

(defun ha-mac-laptop-fontsize ()
  "Quickly set reset my font size when I disconnect my laptop to a monitor from a Mac."
  (interactive)
  (ha-set-favorite-font-size 32))

(defun ha-linux-laptop-fontsize ()
  "Quickly set reset my font size when I disconnect my laptop to a monitor from Linux."
  (interactive)
  (ha-set-favorite-font-size 10))

(defun ha-imac-fontsize ()
  "Quickly set reset my font size when I am on my iMac."
  (interactive)
  (ha-set-favorite-font-size 16))

Which font to choose?

(defun font-monitor-size-default ()
  "Set the default size according to my preference."
  (interactive)
  (cond
   ((eq system-type 'gnu/linux)         (ha-linux-monitor-fontsize))
   ((s-starts-with? "imac" system-name) (ha-imac-fontsize))
   (t                                   (ha-mac-monitor-fontsize))))

(defun font-laptop-size-default ()
  "Set the default size according to my preference."
  (interactive)
  (if (eq system-type 'gnu/linux)
      (ha-linux-laptop-fontsize)
    (ha-mac-laptop-fontsize)))

(font-monitor-size-default)

Mixed Pitch

Mixed pitch is a minor mode that enables mixing fixed-pitch (also known as fixed-width or monospace) and variable-pitch (AKA “proportional”) fonts. It tries to be smart about which fonts get which face.

(use-package mixed-pitch
  :straight (:host github :repo "jabranham/mixed-pitch")
  :config
  (add-to-list 'mixed-pitch-fixed-pitch-faces 'org-property-value)
  (add-to-list 'mixed-pitch-fixed-pitch-faces 'font-lock-comment-face)
  :hook (text-mode . mixed-pitch-mode))

Zooming or Increasing Font Size

Do we want to increase the size of font in a single window (using text-scale-increase), or globally (using my new font-size-increase)?

Increase or decrease the set size of the face:

(defun font-size-adjust (delta)
  "Adjust the current frame's font size.
DELTA would be something like 1 or -1."
  (interactive "nFont size difference: ")
  (when (null delta) (setq delta 1))

  (let* ((font-family (face-attribute 'default :font))
         (font-size   (font-get font-family :size))
         (new-size    (+ delta font-size)))
    (ha-set-favorite-font-size new-size)))

(defun font-size-increase ()
   "Increase the `default' font size of all frames."
   (interactive)
   (font-size-adjust 1))

(defun font-size-decrease ()
   "Decrease the `default' font size of all frames."
   (interactive)
   (font-size-adjust -1))

And some keybindings to call them:

(global-set-key (kbd "s-+") 'font-size-increase)
(global-set-key (kbd "s-=") 'font-size-increase)
(global-set-key (kbd "s--") 'font-size-decrease)

Themes

One does get used to a particular collection of colors. After happily using Steve Purcell’s port of the Tomorrow theme for years, I decided I needed a change, so I made made my own theme.

Most of the time, Emacs is on my desk is a darkened room, so I choose the dark theme:

(defun laptop-inside ()
  "Customize the theme for inside programming."
  (interactive)
  (load-theme 'hamacs)
  (ha-word-processor-fonts))

But, when feeling adventurous, I sometimes take my laptop outside:

(defun laptop-in-the-sun ()
  "Customize the theme for outside programming."
  (interactive)

  (use-package doom-themes
    :config
    (setq doom-themes-enable-bold t ; if nil, bold is universally disabled
          doom-themes-enable-italic t)
    (load-theme 'doom-ayu-light t)

    ;; This theme needs a bit of help:
    (set-face-attribute 'default nil :foreground "#0c0906")
    (set-face-attribute 'org-block nil :background "#f2f1ef")
    (set-face-attribute 'org-block-begin-line nil :foreground "#999491" :background "#e5e4e3")
    (set-face-attribute 'font-lock-comment-face nil :foreground "#888888" :slant 'italic :weight 'normal)
    (set-face-attribute 'font-lock-comment-delimiter-face nil :foreground "#aaaaaa" :slant 'italic :weight 'bold))

  (ha-word-processor-fonts))

I’ve been playing around with making the current window more pronounced. This isn’t needed as much with the Window Dimmer feature, but if I do, this would be the settings:

Oh, and turn off the line highlighting:

(global-hl-line-mode -1)

And of course, the default is inside where my mind is dark and safe:

(add-to-list 'custom-theme-load-path hamacs-source-dir)

;; (ha-hamacs-load "ha-theme.org")
;; (ha-hamacs-tangle "ha-theme.org")
(require 'hamacs-theme)
(load-theme 'hamacs)

(laptop-inside)

Highlight Task Labels

In code, if you drop a specific text labels, we can highlight them with hl-todo package:

(use-package hl-todo
  :straight (:host github :repo "tarsius/hl-todo")
  :init
  (setq hl-todo-keyword-faces
    `(("TODO"   . ,(face-foreground 'warning))
      ("FIXME"  . ,(face-foreground 'error))
      ("NOTE"   . ,(face-foreground 'success))))
  (global-hl-todo-mode 1))

This package visually standout comments like: TODO Fix bug where highlight isn’t loading

Suggests to bind some keys to hl-todo-next in order to jump from tag to tag, but the consult-todo implements that in a more visual way:

(use-package consult-todo
  :straight (:host github :repo "liuyinz/consult-todo")
  :init
  (defconst consult-todo--narrow
    '((?t . "TODO")
      (?f . "FIXME")
      (?n . "NOTE"))
    "Mapping of narrow and keywords.")
  :general (:states 'normal "g t" '("jump todos" . consult-todo)))

Full Size Frame

Taken from this essay, I figured I would start the initial frame automatically in fullscreen, but not any subsequent frames (as this could be part of the capturing system).

(add-to-list 'initial-frame-alist '(fullscreen . maximized))

But when capturing, I subsequently open smaller frames that shouldn’t be odd looking:

(add-to-list 'default-frame-alist '(ns-transparent-titlebar . t))
(add-to-list 'default-frame-alist '(ns-appearance . dark))

Now that I’m using v29 of Emacs, I can un-decorate the non-full-sized frames:

(add-to-list 'default-frame-alist '(undecorated-round . t))

Emojis, Icons and Whatnot

Display these two symbols as one:

(add-hook 'text-mode-hook (lambda ()
                            (dolist (pair '(("!?" . "‽")
                                            ("ae" . "æ")
                                            ("AE" . "Æ")

                                            ;; If we have ligatures, why these?
                                            ;; ("->" . ?→)
                                            ;; ("<-" . ?←)
                                            ;; ("=>" . ?⇒)
                                            ))
                              (push pair prettify-symbols-alist))))

And turn the prettifier on:

(global-prettify-symbols-mode 1)

Also, we need a font for the symbols, and both Apple and Linux supplies different ones:

(set-fontset-font t 'symbol
 (cond
  ((ha-running-on-macos?)
   (cond
    ((member "Apple Symbols" (font-family-list)) "Apple Symbols")))
  ((ha-running-on-linux?)
   (cond
    ((member "Symbola" (font-family-list)) "Symbola")))))

In Emacs 28.1, we have better Unicode 14 support. Which means, we need to install either Noto Emoji or Noto Color Emoji. Since I’m also on Mac, I might use what Apple supplies when on a Mac (thanks Xah Lee):

;; set font for emoji (should come after setting symbols)
(set-fontset-font t 'emoji
 (cond
  ((member "Apple Color Emoji" (font-family-list)) "Apple Color Emoji")
  ((member "Noto Color Emoji" (font-family-list))  "Noto Color Emoji")
  ((member "Noto Emoji" (font-family-list))        "Noto Emoji")
  ((member "Symbola" (font-family-list))           "Symbola")))

Test this out: 😄 😱 😸 👸 👽 🙋

Not use what I’m doing with the all-the-icons package, but the Doom Modeline uses much of this.

(use-package all-the-icons)

Note: Install everything with the function, all-the-icons-install-fonts.

Ligatures

Seems like getting ligatures to work in Emacs has been a Holy Grail. On Mac, I’ve used special builds that have hacks, but now with Emacs 27 and Harfbuzz, I should be able to get –> to look like it should.

(setq prettify-symbols-unprettify-at-point 'right-edge)

(global-prettify-symbols-mode +1)
(prettify-symbols-mode +1)

We’ll start using that instead, but setting this over here in the programming section.

Also note that adding a little extra space between lines makes text files easier to read.

(add-hook 'text-mode-hook (lambda () (setq-local line-spacing 0.1)))