RE: zoom features

["Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com>]

> I put aside my own custom zoom.el package (never quite finished, and
> thus never released) to try to use the feature built into Gnu emacs
> these days: "text-scale-adjust", which is bound by default to: "C-x
> C--". and "C-x C-+" (and also the unshifted "C-x C-=").
> 
> In some ways I find it works pretty well, but in a few respects is
> disappointing:
> 
> (1) As you zoom in it does not automatically increase the size of the
> window, so you have fewer columns displayed.
> 
> (2) when I try to re-size the window (for example, to try to 
> maintain a fixed display of 80 columns), my window manager
> (icewm) tells me the wrong effective window width.
> 
> (3) text-scale-adjust only effects the current window, but if you need
> to increase the size of text in one window, it's likely 
> you're going to want it in all of them (at least in the current frame).
> 
> Are there any standard fixes for these problems kicking around?

Library `zoom-frm.el' does what you're asking - see commands `zoom-in' and
`zoom-out'.

You can either zoom a frame (and its font) or zoom a buffer's text (in all
windows showing that buffer). You can zoom in/out using a key or the mouse
wheel.

See http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/SetFonts#ZoomFrame and
http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/SetFonts#ZoomBuffer (same Web page, different
section; same commands `zoom-in', `zoom-out').

If you also use library `face-remap+.el' (with Emacs 23), then an option lets
you automatically scale the window size (horizontally, vertically, or both) when
you scale text (i.e. zoom a buffer). This lets you recuperate wasted space when
you zoom out, freeing it up for other windows.