Emacs: fontaine version 1.0.0

Fontaine lets the user specify presets of font configurations and switch between them on demand. This makes it easy to optimise for different contexts, such as a “reading” preset with large, spacious fonts, and an “editing” preset with smaller, more compact fonts.

Package name (GNU ELPA): fontaine
Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/fontaine
Change log: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/fontaine-changelog
Git repo on SourceHut: https://git.sr.ht/~protesilaos/fontaine
- Mirrors:
  - GitHub: https://github.com/protesilaos/fontaine
  - GitLab: https://gitlab.com/protesilaos/fontaine
Mailing list: https://lists.sr.ht/~protesilaos/fontaine
Backronym: Fonts, Ornaments, and Neat Typography Are Irrelevant in Non-graphical Emacs

Below are the release notes. Also make sure to check my [growing] list of Emacs packages: https://protesilaos.com/emacs.

Fontaine has been in a stable state for several months now. I am thus increasing the major version number to reflect this fact. Otherwise, this is a small release with only one sizeable addition.

Inherit the properties of another named preset

Preset font configuration can now optionally inherit (and thus extend) the properties of another named preset.

When defining multiple presets, we may need to duplicate properties and then make tweaks to individual values. Suppose we want to have two distinct presets for presentations: one is for coding related demonstrations and the other for prose. Both must have some common styles, but must define distinct font families each of which is suitable for the given task. In this case, we do not want to fall back to the generic t preset (per the default behaviour) and we also do not wish to duplicate properties manually, potentially making mistakes in the process. Fontaine thus provides a method of inheriting a named preset’s properties by using the :inherit property with a value that references the name of another preset (technically, the car of that list). Here is the idea:

(setq fontaine-presets
      '((regular
         :default-height 100)
        (code-demo
         :default-family "Source Code Pro"
         :default-weight semilight
         :default-height 170
         :variable-pitch-family "Sans"
         :bold-weight extrabold)
        (prose-demo
         :inherit code-demo ; copy the `code-demo' properties
         :default-family "Sans"
         :variable-pitch-family "Serif"
         :default-height 220)
        (t
         :default-family "Monospace"
         ;; more generic fallback properties here...
         )))

In this scenario, the regular preset gets all its properties from the t preset. We omit them here in the interest of brevity (see the default value of fontaine-presets and its documentation for the details). In turn, the code-demo specifies more properties and falls back to t for any property not explicitly referenced therein. Finally, the prose-demo copies everything in code-demo, overrides every property it specifies, and falls back to t for every other property.

In the interest of simplicity, Fontaine does not support recursive inheritance. If there is a compelling need for it, we can add it in future versions.

Bug fixes

Fixed a faulty setup for the :height attribute of the bold face. Using the commands fontaine-set-preset or fontaine-set-face-font with a prefix argument (C-u with default key bindings) does not produce an error anymore. The prefix argument limits the operation to the current frame.
Updated the Commentary section of fontaine.el to use the FONTAINE backronym I have had on my website for a long time. Namely, I changed FONTs Are Irrelevant in Non-graphical Emacs, which was cheating on a few letters, to Fonts, Ornaments, and Neat Typography Are Irrelevant in Non-graphical Emacs. What do you mean this is not a bug fix? 🙃