dotfiles/modules/interface.org

#+TITLE: Interface
#+AUTHOR: Christopher James Hayward
#+EMAIL: chris@chrishayward.xyz

#+PROPERTY: header-args:emacs-lisp :tangle interface.el :comments org
#+PROPERTY: header-args:shell          :tangle no
#+PROPERTY: header-args                  :results silent :eval no-export :comments org

#+OPTIONS: num:nil toc:nil todo:nil tasks:nil tags:nil
#+OPTIONS: skip:nil author:nil email:nil creator:nil timestamp:nil

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[[../docs/images/what-is-emacs-teaser.png]]

*Bring Emacs out of the eighties*

* Completion

There's a lot of occasions Emacs asks to input text to match a file name in a directory, just one example of an oppertunity for a completion system. *Swiper*[fn:1] is a family of packages that work towards this common goal in Emacs.

** Selection menu

*Ivy*[fn:1] is a powerful selection menu for Emacs.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package ivy
  :diminish
  :config (ivy-mode 1))
#+end_src

** Replace built in commands

*Counsel*[fn:1] is a customized set of commands to replace built in completion buffers.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package counsel
  :after ivy
  :custom (counsel-linux-app-format-function #'counsel-linux-app-format-function-name-only)
  :config (counsel-mode 1))
#+end_src 

*** Switch buffers with ,

Cherry picked from =doom=.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(dotfiles/leader
  "," '(counsel-switch-buffer :which-key "Buffers"))
#+end_src

** Additional details

Provide more information about each item in the completion menu with *Ivy rich*[fn:2].

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package ivy-rich
  :after counsel
  :init (ivy-rich-mode 1))
#+end_src

* Fonts

Write out to all of Emacs' available font faces with the unified font defined in the options.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(set-face-attribute 'default nil :font dotfiles/font :height dotfiles/font-size)
(set-face-attribute 'fixed-pitch nil :font dotfiles/font :height dotfiles/font-size)
(set-face-attribute 'variable-pitch nil :font dotfiles/font :height dotfiles/font-size)
#+end_src

** Text scaling

Define a transient keybinding for Scaling the text.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(defhydra hydra-text-scale (:timeout 4)
  "Scale"
  ("j" text-scale-increase "Increase")
  ("k" text-scale-decrease "Decrease")
  ("f" nil "Finished" :exit t))
#+end_src

+ Scale the text inside of buffers with =SPC t f=
  * Increase =j=
  * Decrease =k=
  * Finished =f=

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(dotfiles/leader
  "tf" '(hydra-text-scale/body :which-key "Font"))
#+end_src

* Icons

Dired feels more modern with prioritized icon fonts using *All the Icons*[fn:3]. This makes navigation and visually parsing directories much faster, given that file types are quickly identified by their corresponding icons.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package all-the-icons)
#+end_src

Integration with the *All the Icons Dired*[fn:4]package.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package all-the-icons-dired
  :hook (dired-mode . all-the-icons-dired-mode))
#+end_src

* Themes

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[[../docs/images/what-is-emacs-customizable.gif]]

High quality and modern colour themes are provided in the *Doom Themes*[fn:5] package.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package doom-themes
  :init (load-theme 'doom-moonlight t))
#+end_src

Load a theme with =SPC t t=.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(dotfiles/leader
  "tt" '(counsel-load-theme t t :which-key "Theme"))
#+end_src

* Modeline

*Doom modeline*[fn:6] provides an elegant and modern status bar / modeline.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package doom-modeline
  :custom (doom-modeline-height 16)
  :config (doom-modeline-mode 1))
#+end_src

* Line numbering

Relative line numbers are important when using VI emulation keys. You can prefix commands with a number, allowing you to perform that action that number of times. Useful when navigating around pages that are hundreds, or even thousands of lines long.

#+begin_example
  5:
  4:
  3:
  2:
  1:
156: << CURRENT LINE >>
  1:
  2:
  3:
  4:
  5:
#+end_example

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package linum-relative
  :commands (linum-relative-global-mode)
  :custom (linum-relative-backend 'display-line-numbers-mode))
#+end_src

Toggle line numbers with =SPC t l=.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(dotfiles/leader
  "tl" '(linum-relative-global-mode :which-key "Lines"))
#+end_src

* Parenthesis

Colourize nested parenthesis with *Rainbow delimeters*[fn:8].

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package rainbow-delimiters
  :hook (prog-mode . rainbow-delimiters-mode))
#+end_src

* Pretty symbols

Programming buffers made prettier with *Pretty mode*[fn:9], complimentary to the built-in *Prettify symbols mode*[fn:10].

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package pretty-mode
  :hook (python-mode . turn-on-pretty-mode))
#+end_src

* Ligatures

Enable font ligatures via *Fira Code mode*[fn:11], perform this action *only* when *Fira Code* is the current font.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(when (display-graphic-p)
  (use-package fira-code-mode
    :hook (prog-mode org-mode)))
#+end_src

Toggle global ligature mode with =SPC t g=.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(dotfiles/leader
  "tg" '(global-fira-code-mode :which-key "Ligatures"))
#+end_src

* Dashboard

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[[../docs/images/desktop.png]]

Present a *Dashboard* when first launching Emacs. Customize the buttons of the navigator.

+ Brain @ http://localhost:8080
+ Homepage @ https://chrishayward.xyz
+ Athabasca @ https://login.athabascau.ca/cas/login
+ Bookshelf @ https://online.vitalsource.com

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(use-package dashboard
  :custom (dashboard-center-content t)
          (dashboard-set-init-info t)
          (dashboard-set-file-icons t)
          (dashboard-set-heading-icons t)
          (dashboard-set-navigator t)
          (dashboard-startup-banner 'logo)
          (dashboard-projects-backend 'projectile)
          (dashboard-items '((projects . 5) (recents  . 5) (agenda . 10)))
          (dashboard-navigator-buttons `(((,(all-the-icons-fileicon "brain" :height 1.1 :v-adjust 0.0)
                                          "Brain" "Knowledge base"
                                          (lambda (&rest _) (browse-url "http://localhost:8080"))))
                                         ((,(all-the-icons-material "public" :height 1.1 :v-adjust 0.0)
                                          "Homepage" "Personal website"
                                          (lambda (&rest _) (browse-url "https://chrishayward.xyz"))))
                                         ((,(all-the-icons-faicon "university" :height 1.1 :v-adjust 0.0)
                                          "Athabasca" "Univeristy login"
                                          (lambda (&rest _) (browse-url "https://login.athabascau.ca/cas/login"))))
                                         ((,(all-the-icons-faicon "book" :height 1.1 :v-adjust 0.0)
                                          "Bookshelf" "Vitalsource bookshelf"
                                          (lambda (&rest _) (browse-url "https://online.vitalsource.com"))))))
  :config (dashboard-setup-startup-hook))
#+end_src

When running in *daemon* mode, ensure that the dashboard is the initial buffer.

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(setq initial-buffer-choice
      (lambda ()
        (get-buffer "*dashboard*")))
#+end_src

* Resources

[fn:1] https://github.com/abo-abo/swiper
[fn:2] https://github.com/Yevgnen/ivy-rich
[fn:3] [[https://github.com/domtronn/all-the-icons.el]]
[fn:4] https://github.com/jtbm37/all-the-icons-dired
[fn:5] https://github.com/hlissner/emacs-doom-themes
[fn:6] https://github.com/seagle0128/doom-modeline
[fn:7] https://github.com/emacsmirror/linum-relative
[fn:8] https://github.com/Fanael/rainbow-delimiters
[fn:9] https://emacswiki.org/emacs/pretty-mode.el
[fn:10] https://emacswiki.org/emacs/PrettySymbol
[fn:11] https://github.com/jming422/fira-code-mode
[fn:12] https://github.com/emacs-dashboard/emacs-dashboard