Thoughts on using get_icon_color in tabline

[richin13]

I'm in the process of migrating from heirline to mini.{tabline && statusline}. So far I'm enjoying the transition except for the lack of colors here and there. I was wondering if it would be possible to add colors to the file icons in the tabline by using get_icon_color from devicons (challenge being it returns a hex code instead of a highlight group name)

I can live without the other customizations but the lack of colors here is throwing me off a bit (😆)

So far I've taken it pretty close with this patch:

diff --git a/lua/mini/tabline.lua b/lua/mini/tabline.lua
index a7d879b..fba873a 100644
--- a/lua/mini/tabline.lua
+++ b/lua/mini/tabline.lua
@@ -364,10 +364,13 @@ H.finalize_labels = function()
   for _, tab in pairs(H.tabs) do
     if show_icons and has_devicons then
       local extension = vim.fn.fnamemodify(tab.label, ':e')
-      local icon = devicons.get_icon(tab.label, extension, { default = true })
-      tab.label = string.format(' %s %s ', icon, tab.label)
+      local icon, color = devicons.get_icon_color(tab.label, extension, { default = true })
+      local hl = "CustomIconColor"..extension
+      vim.api.nvim_set_hl(0, hl, { fg = color })
+      tab.icon = "%#"..hl.."#" .. string.format(' %s ', icon)
     else
       tab.label = string.format(' %s ', tab.label)
+      tab.icon = ""
     end
   end
 end
@@ -472,7 +475,7 @@ H.concat_tabs = function()
   local t = {}
   for _, tab in ipairs(H.tabs) do
     -- Escape '%' in labels
-    table.insert(t, ('%s%s%s'):format(tab.hl, tab.tabfunc, tab.label:gsub('%%', '%%%%')))
+    table.insert(t, ('%s%s%s%s'):format(tab.icon, tab.hl, tab.tabfunc, tab.label:gsub('%%', '%%%%')))
   end
 
   -- Usage of `%X` makes filled space to the right 'non-clickable'

But there are some issues (such as the icon not being clickable and the highlight being weird (the bg mostly)) but I wanted to survey the interest in something like this or if it has been discussed/considered in the past but discarded for other reasons/philosophies before I continue down this rabbit hole (not too knowledgeable on lua tbh)

[echasnovski]

Thanks for your interest in 'mini.tabline'!

Yes, it was suggested earlier in #153. The resolution is in this comment with one of the points being similar to what you describe about highlighting colors.

I might revisit this soon after some new planned 'mini.nvim' modules come out which might make this issue more solvable.

[richin13]

Understandable, thank you very much!