/lambda-line

A configurable status line for Emacs

Primary LanguageEmacs LispGNU General Public License v3.0GPL-3.0

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Lambda-line is a custom status-line (or “mode-line) for Emacs. It is configurable for use either as a header-line or as a footer-line.

The status-line has the structure:

[ status name (primary) tertiary secondary ]

Information displayed depends on major mode. Not all segments display in every mode.

screenshots/read-write-dark.png

screenshots/read-only-dark.png

screenshots/write-dark-prog.png

screenshots/read-write-light.png

screenshots/read-only-light.png

screenshots/line-time-icon.png

screenshots/inverted-rw.png

screenshots/inverted-ro.png

To achieve the above coloration of the status-line see lambda-themes.

Installation

Lambda-line is not yet on MELPA. In the meantime to use this package you’ll have to clone or otherwise download the repo and put it into your load path. Here’s a basic way of setting it up using use-package and straight.

(use-package lambda-line
  :straight (:type git :host github :repo "lambda-emacs/lambda-line") 
  :custom
  (lambda-line-icon-time t) ;; requires ClockFace font (see below)
  (lambda-line-clockface-update-fontset "ClockFaceRect") ;; set clock icon
  (lambda-line-position 'top) ;; Set position of status-line 
  (lambda-line-abbrev t) ;; abbreviate major modes
  (lambda-line-hspace "  ")  ;; add some cushion
  (lambda-line-prefix t) ;; use a prefix symbol
  (lambda-line-prefix-padding nil) ;; no extra space for prefix 
  (lambda-line-status-invert nil)  ;; no invert colors
  (lambda-line-gui-ro-symbol  " ⨂") ;; symbols
  (lambda-line-gui-mod-symbol " ⬤") 
  (lambda-line-gui-rw-symbol  " ◯") 
  (lambda-line-space-top +.50)  ;; padding on top and bottom of line
  (lambda-line-space-bottom -.50)
  (lambda-line-symbol-position 0.1) ;; adjust the vertical placement of symbol
  :config
  ;; activate lambda-line 
  (lambda-line-mode) 
  ;; set divider line in footer
  (when (eq lambda-line-position 'top)
    (setq-default mode-line-format (list "%_"))
    (setq mode-line-format (list "%_"))))

Options

Lambda-line has a lot of different options for customization. Please see M-x customize-group lambda-line for full details.

  • Set lambda-line-position to header (top) or footer (bottom).
  • Use a prefix status icon in the status-line with lambda-line-prefix t.
  • Customize the various prefix status symbols in both GUI and TTY with lambda-line-GUI/TTY-RO/RW/MD-symbol.
    • NOTE: If you use symbols you should make sure you are using a font that will display them properly. Here is one reliable way, using Symbola font: 
      (use-package fontset
  :straight (:type built-in) ;; only include this if you use straight
  :config
  ;; Use symbola for proper unicode
  (when (member "Symbola" (font-family-list))
    (set-fontset-font
     t 'symbol "Symbola" nil)))
  • Abbreviate major modes with lambda-line-abbrev.
  • Show current time (via dynamic icon font)
    • Note that time is only shown when display-time-mode is non-nil.
    • The time icon uses a specific set of fonts. Install ClockFace Fonts and the time will be displayed using these fonts. You can download and install the fonts within Emacs via M-x lambda-line-install-clockface-fonts.
    • You can choose which clock icon you’d prefer, via M-x lambda-line-clockface-select-font. To set it programmatically in your config, use the function (lambda-line-clockface-update-fontset FONT); e.g. (lambda-line-clockface-update-fontset "ClockFaceRect").
      • Available styles are ClockFace, ClockFaceSolid, ClockFaceRect, ClockFaceRectSolid
    • To display time as only an icon, set lambda-line-icon-time to t. When set to nil, the icon clock and text time will be displayed. To display time only as text, set lambda-line-icon-time to -1 (the default).
  • Show both vc project and branch in the modeline
  • Show the diff in the status-line with lambda-line-git-diff-mode-line.
  • Set the symbol for vc project buffers with lambda-line-vc-symbol.
  • Set a visual bell with lambda-line-visual-bell.
  • Set char length for truncating information using lambda-line-truncate-value.
  • Control the right margin padding with lambda-line-hspace.
  • Set the top and bottom padding of the status-line with lambda-line-space-top. and lambda-line-space-bottom.
  • Set the position of the prefix status symbol with lambda-line-symbol-position.
  • Show flycheck/flymake report in status-line with lambda-line-syntax.
    • If you use flymake, you might want to configure the status-line display with the following, which provides a minimalist display:
(customize-set-variable 'flymake-mode-line-counter-format '("" flymake-mode-line-error-counter flymake-mode-line-warning-counter flymake-mode-line-note-counter ""))
(customize-set-variable 'flymake-mode-line-format '(" " flymake-mode-line-exception flymake-mode-line-counters))
  • Set the modes in which the status-line is formatted with lambda-line-mode-formats.
  • Set the default display function for the status-line with lambda-line-default-mode-format. This is set to lambda-line-default-mode but can be customized to any function the user wishes.

Lambda-line also sets a variety of faces that can be individually customized.

Acknowledgments

  • The basic structure of the status line is heavily indebted to Rougier’s work on nano-modeline.
  • My bespoke-modeline was my first attempt to create a custom mode-line and the original basis for much of the current code.
  • The idea for the flycheck/flymake segment function is originally from mood-line.