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I would like to append some information (that changes over time) to the mode line format and then use it in the title.

My thought being is that once a minute I would set the frame-title-format to be that of the mode-line-format + pomodoro count.

Something along the lines of:

(defun runOnceAMinute ()
   (setq frame-title-format (concat mode-line-format my/PomodoroCount))
)

But I can't quite figure out how.

EDIT
I would need to update the string that I append. E.g the pomodoro-count would increment after each pomodoro.

EDIT 2
I got it to work by editing mode-line-format variable and using the eval construct: 

("%e" ......... "[Pomodorors: " (:eval (number-to-string my/pomCount)) "]")

This is not Drew's original answer, but Drew mentioned it in his comment.

Leo Ufimtsev
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    mode-line-format has been simplified in recent years to (more or less) just a smallish list of other variables; so you would typically modify one of those child variables (or some further descendant), rather than mode-line-format itself. See C-h v mode-line-format, and then similarly C-h v for any of the component variables you want to learn about. – phils Jul 09 '15 at 23:13
  • That's pretty close to what I want. I edited the mode line: (..... "HI" ) and this shows up. But if I want to print an integer, it doesn't show up? (.... (number-to-string my/count)) any ideas why? – Leo Ufimtsev Jul 13 '15 at 15:55
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    Read C-h v mode-line-format carefully: it describes the behaviour of the various different constructs that you can use, and it's a bit complicated. For more details, see the manual: C-h i g (elisp) Mode Line Format – phils Jul 13 '15 at 22:10
  • I read the docu, but can't seem to make sense of how to append an integer to the list? – Leo Ufimtsev Jul 13 '15 at 22:15
  • I use doom-modeline,add pomodoro segment like this: ```(defun my-eval-string (string) "Evaluate elisp code stored in a string." (eval (car (read-from-string string))))

    ;; pomodoro (doom-modeline-def-segment pomodoro "pomodoro segment" (my-eval-string "pomodoro-mode-line-string"))```

     – HelloNewWorld Dec 20 '18 at 07:41

2 Answers2

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Append it to global-mode-string. If your mode-line format string to append is my-string then:

(setq global-mode-string
      (cond ((consp global-mode-string)
             (add-to-list 'global-mode-string my-string 'APPEND))
            ((not global-mode-string)
             (list my-string))
            ((stringp global-mode-string)
             (list global-mode-string my-string))))

[If you instead wanted to prepend it to global-mode-string then you would remove the 'APPEND optional argument and reverse the order of the last list: (list my-string global-mode-string).]

Drew
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  • FWIW, nowadays there's also mode-line-misc-info (which has global-mode-string as a member by default). – phils Jul 09 '15 at 23:05
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    @phils: Yes, there is. Doesn't change my answer, but there's room for plenty of other answers. ;-) There are multiple ways to skin this cat. – Drew Jul 10 '15 at 00:24
  • Hello, this is very close to what I want :-). I think I didn't ask the question correctly. Once I've added the pomodoro count, how do I update that number? Each time I call that function, it adds more stuff to the mode line. – Leo Ufimtsev Jul 13 '15 at 15:54
  • Then instead of adding a constant string to global-mode-string, use (:eval.... That is really a different question. – Drew Jul 13 '15 at 16:38
  • @Drew, I tried (..... (:eval (number-to-string my/pc))) with my/pc being an integer that I set before hand. But the number does not show in mode line? – Leo Ufimtsev Jul 13 '15 at 22:18
  • @Drew, actually, I got the eval business working. This solves my problem. If you post it up as an answer, I'll go along with that. – Leo Ufimtsev Jul 13 '15 at 22:21
  • I just realized that you were the one who already answered. – Leo Ufimtsev Jul 13 '15 at 22:22
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(setq-default mode-line-misc-info "My Text Goes Here")

Should append the data above to your mode line.

Bret Weinraub
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