Synopses & Reviews
The X Window System User's Guide, Motif Edition, orients the new user to window system concepts and provides detailed tutorials for many client programs, including the xterm terminal emulator and the window manager. Building on this basic knowledge, later chapters explain how to customize the X environment and provide sample configurations.This alternative edition of the User's Guide highlights the Motif window manager for users of the Motif graphical user interface. Revised for Motif 1.2 and X11 Release 5.Topics include:
- Starting the system and opening windows
- Using the xterm terminal emulator and window managers
- Most standard release clients, including programs for graphics, printing, font manipulation, window/display information, removing windows, as well as several "desktop" utilities
- Customizing the window manager, keyboard, display, and certain basic features of any client program
- Using and customizing the mwm window manager, for those using theOSF/Motif graphical interface
- System administration tasks, such as managing fonts, starting X automatically, and using the display manager, xdm, to run X on single or multiple displays
Material covered in this second edition includes:
- Overview of the X Color Management System (Xcms)
- Creating your own Xcms color database
- Tutorials for two "color editors": xcoloredit and xtici
- Using the X font server
- Tutorial for editres, a resource editor
- Extensive coverage of the new implementations of bitmap and xmag
- Overview of internationalization features
- Features common to Motif 1.2 applications: tear-off menus and drag-and-drop
Synopsis
The X Window System User's Guide, Motif Edition, orients the new user to window system concepts and provides detailed tutorials for many client programs, including the xterm terminal emulator and the window manager. Building on this basic knowledge, later chapters explain how to customize the X environment and provide sample configurations.
This alternative edition of the User's Guide highlights the Motif window manager for users of the Motif graphical user interface. Revised for Motif 1.2 and X11 Release 5.
Topics include: Starting the system and opening windowsUsing the xterm terminal emulator and window managersMost standard release clients, including programs for graphics, printing, font manipulation, window/display information, removing windows, as well as several desktop utilitiesCustomizing the window manager, keyboard, display, and certain basic features of any client programUsing and customizing the mwm window manager, for those using theOSF/Motif graphical interfaceSystem administration tasks, such as managing fonts, starting X automatically, and using the display manager, xdm, to run X on single or multiple displays
Material covered in this second edition includes: Overview of the X Color Management System (Xcms)Creating your own Xcms color databaseTutorials for two color editors: xcoloredit and xticiUsing the X font serverTutorial for editres, a resource editorExtensive coverage of the new implementations of bitmap and xmagOverview of internationalization featuresFeatures common to Motif 1.2 applications: tear-off menus and drag-and-drop
Synopsis
Orients the new user to Window system concepts and provides detailed tutorials for many client programs, including the xterm terminal emulator and window managers. This popular manual is available in two editions, one for users of the MIT software, one for users of Motif. Revised for X11 Release 5 and Motif 1.2.
About the Author
Tim O'Reilly is the founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media, Inc., thought by many to be the best computer book publisher in the world, and an activist for open standards. O'Reilly Media also publishes online through the O'Reilly Network and hosts conferences on technology topics, including the O'Reilly Open Source Convention, the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, and the Web 2.0 Conference. Tim's blog, the O'Reilly Radar "watches the alpha geeks" to determine emerging technology trends, and serves as a platform for advocacy about issues of importance to the technical community. For everything Tim, see tim.oreilly.com.
Valerie Quercia has co-written a number of books for O'Reilly & Associates, including the X Window System User's Guide (with Tim O'Reilly), X User Tools (with Linda Mui), and WebMaster in a Nutshell (with Stephen Spainhour). Internet in a Nutshell is her first solo book. Val is also the managing editor of The Left Field Press, a company that specializes in baseball publications.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Preface
Do I Have To Read This WHOLE Book?
A Quick Start Approach to X
Assumptions
What's New in Release 5?
New Client Programs
Defunct Programs
Clients that Work Differently in Release 4 and Release 5
Available Fonts
Available Colors
Screen-specific Resources
Bulk Sales Information
Acknowledgements
Font and Character Conventions
PART ONE: Using X
Chapter 1. An Introduction to the X Window System
Anatomy of an X Display
Standard X Clients versus Motif Clients
X Architecture Overview
The X Display Server
Clients
The Window Manager
The xterm Terminal Emulator
The Display Manager
Other Standard X Clients
Customizing Clients
Chapter 2. Getting Started
Starting X
Logging On in the Special xdm Window
Logging In at a Full Screen Prompt
Starting X Manually
Starting the mwm Window Manager
Typing In a Window Once mwm is Running
Chapter 3. Working in the X Environment
Creating Other Windows
Using the Pointer
Managing Windows Using the mwm Frame
Converting a Window to an Icon
Converting an Icon to a Window
Maximizing a Window
Raising a Window or Icon
Moving a Window
Moving an Icon
Resizing a Window
Closing a Window: The Window Menu Button
Exiting from an xterm Window
Starting Additional Clients
Command-line Options
Window Geometry: Specifying Size and Location
Running a Client on Another Machine: Specifying the Display
The DISPLAY Environment Variable
Using -display
Once You Run a Remote xterm Using -display
Logging In to a Remote System
Monitoring the Load on a Remote System
Putting It All Together
Customizing a Program
Customizing the X Environment
Where to Go from Here
Chapter 4. More About the mwm Window Manager
Using Special Keys
Input Focus and the Window Manager
Focusing Input on an Icon
Changing the Stacking Order with Keystrokes
Transferring (Explicit) Focus with Keystrokes
What To Do if mwm Dies and the Focus Is Lost
A Quick Review of Frame Features
Using the Window Menu
Invoking Window Menu Items
Pointer Commands to Manage Icons
Using the Window Menu on Icons
The Root Menu
Chapter 5. The xterm Terminal Emulator
Terminal Emulation and the xterm Terminal Type
Resizing and Terminal Emulation
Running xterm with a Scrollbar
The Athena Scrollbar
How to Use the Scrollbar
Copying and Pasting Text Selections
Selecting Text to Copy
Extending a Selection
Pasting Text Selections
The Text Selection Mechanism and xclipboard
Saving Multiple Selections with xclipboard
Problems with Large Selections
Editing Text Saved in the xclipboard
The xterm Menus
The Main Options Menu
VT Options Menu
VT Fonts Menu
Tek Options Menu
Chapter 6. Font Specification
What's New in Release 5?
If You Just Want to Pick a Font
Font Naming Conventions
Font Families
Stroke Weight and Slant
The Size of Bitmap and Outline Fonts
Other Information in the Font Name
Font Name Wildcarding
Specifying Scalable Fonts
The Font Search Path
Modifying the Font Search Path
The fonts.dir Files
Font Name Aliasing
Making the Server Aware of Aliases
Utilities for Displaying Information about Fonts
The Font Displayer: xfd
Previewing and Selecting Fonts: xfontsel
Previewing Fonts with the xfontsel Menus
Selecting a Font Name
Changing Fonts in xterm Windows
The Great Escape
The Selection Menu Item
Using the Font Server
The Font Server config File
Running the Font Server
Adding a Server to the Font Path
Font Server Clients
Chapter 7. Graphics Utilities
Overview of the bitmap Editor
Menu Bar
Editing Command Buttons
Editing Area
Image Size Versus Window Size
What's New in Release 5
bitmap Editing Commands
Pointer Commands to Draw
Bitmap Command Buttons
Undo
Drawing: Point, Curve, Line, Rectangle, Circle
Filling in a Shape: Flood Fill
Clear, Set, and Invert
Marking an Area for Editing or Pasting
Copying or Moving an Area Within the Bitmap Window
Rotating or Moving with Arrow Buttons
Setting and Clearing a Hot Spot
Using the Menus
Dialog Boxes and Command Buttons
The File Menu
Inserting a File
The Edit Menu
Transferring Bitmap Images Using the Edit Menu
Magnifying Portions of the Screen: xmag
Selecting an Area to Magnify
xmag Command Buttons
Magnifying A Different Source Area: replace or new
Copying and Pasting Images: select and paste
What xmag Shows You
Removing an xmag Window: close
Creating a Bitmap from a Cursor
The Portable Bitmap Toolkit
Chapter 8. Other Clients
Redrawing the Screen: xrefresh
Desk Accessories
Clock Programs: xclock and oclock
Removing an xclock or oclock
A Scientific Calculator: xcalc
Terminating the Calculator
Mail Notification Client: xbiff
Monitoring System Load Average: xload
Browsing Reference Pages: xman
The xedit Text Editor
Printing Utilities: xwd, xpr, xdpr
Killing a Client Window with xkill
Problems with Killing a Client
Window and Display Information Clients
Displaying Information About a Window: xwininfo
Examining the Window Hierarchy
Listing the Currently Running Clients: xlsclients
Generating Information About the Display: xdpyinfo
User-contributed Clients
Previewing Colors for Your Monitor: xcol
Creating Colors of Your Own: xcoloredit and xtici
xcoloredit
Using a Color Within an Application
Saving Multiple Colors Using the Color Cells
What Are the H, S, and V Sliders For?
Quitting xcoloredit
xtici (The TekColor Editor)
Choosing a Hue to Edit
Changing the Hue with the Hue Bar
Adjusting the Color with the Hue Leaf
Selecting and Pasting the Numeric Color Value
Working with the Numeric Color Values
Problems Allocating Color Cells
Quitting xtici
PART TWO: Customizing X
Chapter 9. Working with Motif Applications
Pointer Button Usage
The Periodic Table of Motif Widgets
Menus
Pull-down Menus
Pop-up Menus
Option Menus
Tear-off Menus
Push Buttons
Radio Boxes and Toggle Buttons
The Motif Scrollbar
Text Windows
Dialog Boxes
Prompt Dialog
Selection Dialog
File Selection Dialog
Selecting a File from the Files Box
Choosing a File from Another Directory in the Directories Box ... 284
Choosing a File from Another Directory on the System
Command Box
Scale
Drag and Drop
Chapter 10. Command-line Options
Display and Geometry
Window Title and Application Name
Starting a Client Window as an Icon
Specifying Fonts on the Command Line
Reverse Video
Border Width
Specifying Color
Chapter 11. Setting Resources
Resource Naming Syntax
Syntax of Toolkit Client Resources
Tight Bindings and Loose Bindings
Instances and Classes
Wildcarding a Component Name with ?
Precedence Rules for Resource Specification
Some Common Resources
Event Translations
The Syntax of Event Translations
xterm Translations to Use xclipboard
Entering Frequently Used Commands with Function Keys
Other Clients that Recognize Translations
How to Set Resources
A Sample Resources File
Specifying Resources from the Command Line
The -xrm Option
How -name Affects Resources
Setting Resources with xrdb
Querying the Resource Database
Loading New Values into the Resource Database
Saving Active Resource Definitions in a File
Removing Resource Definitions
Listing the Current Resources for a Client: appres
Other Sources of Resource Definition
Setting Resources for Color Versus Monochrome Screens
Loading Custom Application Defaults Files
Setting Screen-specific Resources
Testing and Editing Resources with editres
What Widget Is That, Anyway?
editres Menus
Displaying the Widget Tree
Tracking Down the Widgets
Using the Resource Box to Create a Specification
Other Ways to Specify the Same Resource
Chapter 12. Specifying Color
What Color Names Can I Use?
Available RGB Colors
Surveying the RGB Database: rgb.txt
Alternative Release 5 RGB Color Databases
Specifying RGB Colors as Hexadecimal Numbers
The Xcms Color Spaces
A Mixed Bag: Using Both RGB and Xcms
Beyond the Rainbow: Inside the Color Models
The RGB Color Model
The X Color Management System
How Many Colors Are Available on My Screen?
Adding New Color Names
Changing the RGB Color Name Database
Finding the Color Values
Editing and Compiling the Database
Fixing a Corrupted RGB Database
Creating an Xcms Color Database
Device-Specific Tuning
Chapter 13. Customizing mwm
Activating Changes to the Window Manager
Switching Between Custom Version and System Defaults
The system.mwmrc File
mwm Functions
Menu Specifications
Key Bindings
Button Bindings
Customizing the Root Menu
Creating New Menus
Cascading Menus
Setting mwm Resources
Component Appearance Resources
mwm-specific Appearance and Behavior Resources
Client-specific Resources
Setting the Focus Policy
Using an Icon Box
Chapter 14. Setup Clients
When Should I Set Preferences?
Setting Display and Keyboard Preferences: xset
Keyboard Bell
Bug Compatibility Mode (Release 4)
Keyclick Volume
Enabling or Disabling Autorepeat
Changing or Rehashing the Font Path
Keyboard LEDs
Pointer Acceleration
Screen Saver
Color Definition
Help with xset Options
Setting Root Window Characteristics: xsetroot
Setting Root Window Patterns
Foreground Color, Background Color, and Reverse Video
Changing the Root Window Pointer
Modifier Key and Pointer Customization: xmodmap
Keycodes and Keysyms
Procedure to Map Modifier Keys
Displaying the Current Modifier Key Map
Determining the Default Key Mappings
Matching Keysyms with Physical Keys Using xev
Changing the Map with xmodmap
Expressions to Change the Key Map
Key Mapping Examples
Displaying and Changing the Pointer Map
PART THREE: Client Reference Pages
Intro
X
Xserver
appres
bdftopcf
bdftosnf
bitmap
editres
fs
fsinfo
fslsfonts
fstobdf
listres
mkfontdir
mwm
oclock
resize
sessreg
showfont
showrgb
showsnf
viewres
xauth
xbiff
xcalc
xclipboard
xclock
xcmsdb
xcol
xcoloredit
xconsole
xcrtca
xditview
xdm
xdpr
xdpyinfo
xedit
xev
xfd
xfontsel
xhost
xinit
xkill
xload
xlogo
xlsatoms
xlsclients
xlsfonts
xlswins
xmag
xman
xmh
xmodmap
xpr
xprop
xrdb
xrefresh
xsccd
xset
xsetroot
xstdcmap
xterm
xtici
xwd
xwininfo
xwud
PART FOUR: Appendices
Appendix A. Managing Your Environment
Including X in Your Search Path
A Startup Shell Script
What Should Go in the Script
Server Access Control
Host-based Access and the xhost Client
User-based Access: xdm and the .Xauthority File
Console Messages
Appendix B. Release 5 Standard Fonts
Appendix C. Standard Bitmaps
Appendix D. Standard Cursors
Appendix E. xterm Control Sequences
Definitions
VT100 Mode
Mouse Tracking
Tektronix 4014 Mode
Appendix F. Translation Table Syntax
Event Types and Modifiers
Detail Field
Modifiers
Complex Translation Examples
Appendix G. Widget Resources
The Widget Class Hierarchy
Widgets in the Application
What All This Means
Complications
Athena Widget Resources
Box
Command
Dialog
Form
Grip
Label
List
MenuButton
Paned
Panner
Porthole
Repeater
Scrollbar
Simple
SimpleMenu
Sme
SmeBSB
SmeLine
StripChart
Text
Toggle
Tree
Viewport
Motif Widget Resources
ArrowButton
BulletinBoard
CascadeButton
Command
DialogShell
Display
DrawingArea
DrawnButton
FileSelectionBox
Form
Frame
Gadget
Label
List
MainWindow
Manager
MenuShell
MessageBox
PanedWindow
Primitive
PushButton
RowColumn
Scale
Screen
ScrollBar
ScrolledWindow
SelectionBox
Separator
Text
TextField
ToggleButton
VendorShell
Appendix H. Obtaining Example Programs
FTP
FTPMAIL
BITFTP
UUCP
Glossary
Index
Figures
1-1 X display with five windows and an icon
1-2 mwm frames each window on the display
1-3 Some standard cursors and two Motif-specific cursors
1-4 Focus on an xterm window
1-5 A pull-down menu: mwm's Window Menu
1-6 A pop-up menu: mwm's Root Menu
1-7 A display made up of two physical screens
1-8 A Motif application: mre
1-9 A standard X application: xclipboard
1-10 A sample X Window System configuration
2-1 xdm login window
2-2 Window frame indicates that mwm is running
2-3 Workstation with login xterm window on the root window
2-4 Workstation functioning as a single terminal: X isn't running
2-5 Changes in appearance indicate a window has the input focus
3-1 mwm automatically places the second xterm window
3-2 An xterm window framed by mwm
3-3 Converting a window to an icon with the Minimize button
3-4 Window Menu being displayed over an icon
3-5 A maximized window
3-6 Raising an icon
3-7 Moving a window by dragging the title area
3-8 Dragging an icon to a new location
3-9 The outer frame is divided into four long borders and four corners
3-10 Window with resizing pointer
3-11 Resizing pointer symbols
3-12 Dragging the corner to make a window larger
3-13 Closing an xterm window
3-14 The oclock window
3-15 xterm window sized and positioned with the -geometry option
3-16 Monitoring activity on two systems with xload
3-17 A working display, screen 0
3-18 A working display, screen 1
3-19 Digital xclock display
4-1 An xterm window running with the Motif window manager
4-2 The Window Menu
4-3 The mwm Root Menu
5-1 An xterm window with a scrollbar
5-2 The parts of the Athena scrollbar
5-3 Highlighted text saved as the PRIMARY selection
5-4 Pasting text into an open file
5-5 The xclipboard window
5-6 Selected text appears automatically in the xclipboard window
5-7 xclipboard with scrollbars to view large text selection
5-8 The Release 5 xterm menus
5-9 The Main Options menu
5-10 Reverse video is enabled when the keyboard is secure
5-11 The VT Options menu
5-12 VT Fonts menu
5-13 The Tek Options menu
6-1 Font name components
6-2 The major commercial font families available in the standard X
distribution
6-3 Miscellaneous fonts for xterm text
6-4 The same fonts in different weights and slants
6-5 The same font in six different point sizes
6-6 The 100-dpi version of a 24-point font appears larger on a 75-dpi moni-
tor 135
6-7 Fixed font, 6x13 pixels
6-8 xfontsel window displaying Hangul font
6-9 xfontsel window with foundry menu displayed
6-10 xfontsel after choosing adobe from the foundry menu
7-1 Release 5 Bitmap window
7-2 Gumby bitmap
7-3 Drawing a curve
7-4 Drawing a line
7-5 Drawing a rectangle
7-6 Drawing a filled circle
7-7 Flood Fill
7-8 Inverting all squares in the grid
7-9 Marking an area
7-10 Copying an image
7-11 Arrow command buttons and their functions
7-12 Folding an image: before and after
7-13 Setting a hot spot
7-14 Bitmap window with quit dialog box
7-15 Dialog box requests name of file to insert
7-16 Image is inserted into open file
7-17 Two bitmap windows
7-18 Marking the exclamation so that it can be pasted
7-19 Pasting the exclamation next to the question mark
7-20 xmag window displaying magnified screen area
7-21 Displaying pixel statistics with pointer in xmag window
7-22 ASCII array representing the British pound sign
7-23 /tmp/gumby.array
7-24 Bitmap of the Gumby cursor
7-25 gumby.array padded by hyphens
8-1 Two xclock displays: analog clock above digital clock
8-2 oclock display
8-3 Oblong oclock displays
8-4 oclock with mwm titlebar
8-5 The default xcalc (TI-30 mode) on the screen
8-6 xbiff before and after mail is received
8-7 A sample xload window
8-8 Initial xman window
8-9 Xman Options menu
8-10 cd reference page displayed in xman window
8-11 Xman Sections menu
8-12 xman's search dialog prompts for a manpage to display
8-13 xedit window before text file is read in
8-14 test file displayed in edit window
8-15 Selecting the window to be removed
8-16 xcol's TextView window
8-17 Initial xcoloredit window
8-18 Mixing pea soup with xcoloredit
8-19 Copying the hex value into memory for pasting
8-20 Mixing a second color
8-21 Initial xtici window
8-22 Changing the hue by clicking in the Colormap Scale area
9-1 The periodic table of Motif widgets
9-2 Periodic menu bar
9-3 Periodic File menu
9-4 Sample option button and option menu
9-5 Perforation means you can tear off menu
9-6 Click on the perforation and the tear-off is displayed
9-7 Moving a tear-off to a convenient place
9-8 Click on a push button to invoke the function
9-9 A drawn button
9-10 A radio box
9-11 Lights off, lights on
9-12 Sample text window
9-13 Typical Motif dialog box with two push buttons
9-14 Nine push buttons to display periodic's sample dialogs
9-15 A prompt dialog box
9-16 A selection dialog box
9-17 A file selection dialog box
9-18 A command box
9-19 Command entered in small text window appears in history window ... 286
9-20 Entering another command: before and after
9-21 Scale widget
9-22 When you move the slider, the value changes
10-1 Window titles showing client's host system
11-1 Selected text appears automatically in the xclipboard window
11-2 Pushing F1 passes command text to xterm shell
11-3 A sample resources file
11-4 editres and xmh
11-5 editres displays xmh's widget tree
11-6 Middle portion of xmh's widget tree reveals menu items
11-7 The editres resource box
11-8 Edit the template resource by clicking on another component
11-9 Custom font makes xmh menus readable in screen dump
12-1 Red, green, and blue color guns
12-2 Multiple planes used to index a colormap
13-1 Dialog boxes to toggle custom and default mwm environments
13-2 An arrowhead pointing to the right indicates a submenu
13-3 Utilities submenu of the Root Menu
13-4 An icon box
13-5 In the resized icon box, only three icons are visible
13-6 Pack Icons menu item rearranges icons in resized box
14-1 xev window
14-2 Pointer map
A-1 Display after running either sample script
C-1 The standard bitmaps
D-1 The standard cursors
G-1 Anatomy of an X Toolkit application
G-2 Resource names and class inheritance
G-3 Inheritance among the Athena widgets
G-4 Inheritance among the Motif widgets
Examples
3-1 Resources to create a custom xclock
6-1 Subsection of the Release 5 fonts.dir file
in /usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi
6-2 Sample fonts.alias file entries
8-1 Window information displayed by xwininfo
8-2 Window tree displayed by xwininfo -children
8-3 Run xwininfo-tree and select the root to see the
complete window hierarchy
8-4 Long xlsclients listing
11-1 Sample resources
11-2 What takes precedence?
13-1 The system.mwmrc file, Release 1.2
14-1 Partial keymap table with valid xmodmap expressions
A-1 Startup Bourne shell script for a workstation
B-1 xshowfont source listing
Tables
3-1 Geometry Specification x and y Offsets
4-1 Key Combinations to Change the Stacking Order
4-2 Key Combinations to Change Focus Window
4-3 Window Menu Actions on an Icon
5-1 Athena Scrollbar Commands
5-2 Button Combinations to Select Text for Copying
5-3 Button Combinations to Extend a Text Selection
5-4 xclipboard Command Buttons and Functions
5-5 VT Fonts Menu Defaults
6-1 Fixed Font Aliases and Font Names
6-2 Essential Elements of a Font Name
6-3 Standard Font Directories, Release 5
7-1 File menu items
7-2 Edit Menu Items
7-3 Some PBM Toolkit Conversion Utilities
9-1 Keyboard Commands to Move the Text Cursor
10-1 Standard Options
11-1 Common Toolkit Resources
12-1 Xcms Color Spaces
13-1 Resource Names Corresponding to mwm Components
B-1 Fonts in the misc Directory
B-2 Fonts in the misc Directory (continued)
B-3 Fonts in the 75dpi Directory
B-3 Fonts in the 75dpi Directory (continued)
B-3 Fonts in the 75dpi Directory (continued)
B-3 Fonts in the 75dpi Directory (continued)
B-3 Fonts in the 75dpi Directory (continued)
B-3 Fonts in the 75dpi Directory (continued)
B-4 Fonts in the 100dpi Directory
B-5 Fonts in the Speedo directory
C-1 Standard Bitmaps Added in Release 5
D-1 Standard Cursor Symbols
F-1 Event Types and Their Abbreviations
F-2 Key Modifiers
F-3 Event Modifiers and Their Meanings
G-1 Core Resources
END