ADR 0048: Syntax accent colors, caret inset, smaller default font, immediate status label¶

Status¶

Accepted

Context¶

Direct user feedback after using the Phase 1 Vim mode and its new block cursor (ADR 0046, ADR 0047): drop italics from syntax highlighting and add real color instead, using a specific color the user had already supplied once before (#689d6a, ADR 0036's docs-site accent) plus one more color that pairs with it, kept restrained ("don't use too much"); make both caret shapes a little shorter; make the default font a little smaller; show the Vim mode label in the status bar immediately on launch, not just after the first keystroke; and (tracked separately, see the "not in this ADR" note below) add a typing animation.

Decision¶

Two real accent colors, replacing italic entirely¶

ADR 0007's "one font color" pillar meant every syntax capture rendered in m_textColor's own hue, varying only weight/opacity — ASE_HL_TYPE was the one exception, rendered italic. Italic is gone now; in its place, ASE_HL_TYPE and ASE_HL_STRING are the two captures that get a real, distinct color:

syntax_type = #689d6a — the color the user supplied previously for the docs site (ADR 0036), reused here since it's already an established part of this project's identity, not a new arbitrary choice.
syntax_string = #d79921 — a warm, muted gold chosen to pair with the given aqua-green without competing with it or with the editor's own warm cream text color; both land in the same desaturated, low-contrast register as everything else in this theme rather than reading as a bright, saturated "rainbow" addition.

ASE_HL_KEYWORD (bold), ASE_HL_NUMBER/ASE_HL_COMMENT (dimmed alpha), and ASE_HL_NONE (plain) are unchanged — still monochrome, varying only weight/opacity. Only two of the five captures gained a hue, deliberately, per "don't use too much": this is a small, scoped departure from ADR 0007's pillar, not its replacement. Both colors are configurable (syntax_type/syntax_string in config.ase, defaults baked into both ase_config_create_default() and kDefaultConfigTemplate in core/src/config.c), consistent with every other themeable color in this editor.

Removing italic also let m_italicMetrics/the italic QFont setup in applyConfig() be deleted outright rather than kept dead — nothing else in this codebase ever used italic.

Both caret shapes inset a little vertically¶

kCaretVerticalInset = 2 (px) trims 2px off the top and bottom of both the bar caret (Insert/Visual) and the Normal-mode block cursor's fill rect (ADR 0047) — a full-line-height caret read as slightly too tall/blocky against the actual glyph height. The block cursor's knocked-out glyph (drawn on top, in the background color) still uses the un-inset rect, so the character's own vertical centering/baseline stays identical to normal text; only the surrounding fill shrinks.

Default `font_size`: 12 → 11¶

A one-point reduction, in ase_config_create_default(), kDefaultConfigTemplate, and the ase_config_get_int fallback literal in applyConfig() — all three needed updating to actually stay in sync (core/tests/test_config.c's default-value assertions updated to match). This only affects a newly generated config file (ase_config_write_default_if_missing() never touches an existing one) — an already-existing ~/.config/ase/config.ase keeps whatever font_size it already has and needs a manual edit to pick up the new default.

Status bar shows the mode label immediately, not just after the first keystroke¶

main.cpp's status QLabel was constructed with a hardcoded literal ("Ln 1, Col 1") and only replaced once EditorViewport::statusChanged first fired — which happens at ensureCursorVisible(), called from every cursor-moving action and edit, but not at construction. A Vim-mode user launching the editor therefore saw a bare, mode-less status line until their very first keystroke. Fixed with a new public EditorViewport::emitInitialStatus() (a one-line wrapper around the already-private ensureCursorVisible(), added instead of just making that private method public, since nothing else outside the class needs it), called once in main() right after window.resize() and before window.show() — so the label already reads e.g. "INSERT Ln 1, Col 1" the instant the window appears.

Not in this ADR: the requested typing animation¶

A fourth request — "add an animation while typing to give a good effect" — is deliberately not designed or built here. Unlike the three decisions above, it has no single obvious shape (per-character fade/scale-in vs. a caret pulse vs. something else entirely), each with real, different implementation cost and feel; picked without asking, it's the one item in this batch most likely to need throwing away and redoing. Left for a follow-up ADR once the direction is confirmed.

Consequences¶

Verified live (screenshots, real GUI on a C test file exercising every capture kind): keywords/typedef/const/struct bold and plain-color as before; every int/void/double/char/Point type renders in the aqua-green, no italic anywhere; string literals ("hello, world", a format string, <stdio.h>) render in the new gold; comments and numbers keep their existing dimmed-alpha treatment. Both caret shapes visibly shorter than the full line height on inspection, with the block cursor's knocked-out glyph still correctly centered. The status bar reads "INSERT Ln 1, Col 1" on the very first frame after launch, before any input. ctest --test-dir build still 9/9 (after updating test_config.c's two hardcoded 12s to 11).