From 5a2f518818431f74f291facf2c5503735b85e5a9 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Daan Blom <contact@daanblom.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2025 12:13:03 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Show prompt as placeholder inside input field instead of
 before it

---
 config.def.h |  1 +
 dmenu.c      | 25 ++++++++++++++-----------
 2 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/config.def.h b/config.def.h
index 1edb647..c4c8b72 100644
--- a/config.def.h
+++ b/config.def.h
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ static const char *colors[SchemeLast][2] = {
 	[SchemeNorm] = { "#bbbbbb", "#222222" },
 	[SchemeSel] = { "#eeeeee", "#005577" },
 	[SchemeOut] = { "#000000", "#00ffff" },
+	[SchemePrompt] = { "#444444", "#222222" },
 };
 /* -l option; if nonzero, dmenu uses vertical list with given number of lines */
 static unsigned int lines      = 0;
diff --git a/dmenu.c b/dmenu.c
index fd49549..a58a28b 100644
--- a/dmenu.c
+++ b/dmenu.c
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
 #define TEXTW(X)              (drw_fontset_getwidth(drw, (X)) + lrpad)
 
 /* enums */
-enum { SchemeNorm, SchemeSel, SchemeOut, SchemeLast }; /* color schemes */
+enum { SchemeNorm, SchemeSel, SchemeOut, SchemePrompt, SchemeLast }; /* color schemes */
 
 struct item {
 	char *text;
@@ -152,21 +152,24 @@ drawmenu(void)
 	drw_setscheme(drw, scheme[SchemeNorm]);
 	drw_rect(drw, 0, 0, mw, mh, 1, 1);
 
-	if (prompt && *prompt) {
-		drw_setscheme(drw, scheme[SchemeSel]);
-		x = drw_text(drw, x, 0, promptw, bh, lrpad / 2, prompt, 0);
-	}
-	/* draw input field */
 	w = (lines > 0 || !matches) ? mw - x : inputw;
-	drw_setscheme(drw, scheme[SchemeNorm]);
-	drw_text(drw, x, 0, w, bh, lrpad / 2, text, 0);
 
-	curpos = TEXTW(text) - TEXTW(&text[cursor]);
-	if ((curpos += lrpad / 2 - 1) < w) {
+	if (text[0] == '\0' && prompt && *prompt) {
+		drw_setscheme(drw, scheme[SchemePrompt]);
+		/* If vertical list: use full width (w), else just promptw */
+		drw_text(drw, x, 0, (lines > 0 ? w : promptw), bh, lrpad / 2, prompt, 0);
+	} else {
 		drw_setscheme(drw, scheme[SchemeNorm]);
-		drw_rect(drw, x + curpos, 2, 2, bh - 4, 1, 0);
+		drw_text(drw, x, 0, w, bh, lrpad / 2, text, 0);
 	}
 
+	if (text[0] != '\0') {
+		curpos = TEXTW(text) - TEXTW(&text[cursor]);
+		if ((curpos += lrpad / 2 - 1) < w) {
+			drw_setscheme(drw, scheme[SchemeNorm]);
+			drw_rect(drw, x + curpos, 1, 2, bh - 4, 1, 0);
+		}
+	}
 	if (lines > 0) {
 		/* draw vertical list */
 		for (item = curr; item != next; item = item->right)
-- 
2.50.1