Geek Gadgets 1/ADE-1.bin/ade-bin/x11r6.1/man/cat1/xprop.0

Text File | 1996-10-17 | 15.8 KB | 463 lines

XPROP(1)                         XPROP(1)


NNAAMMEE
       xprop - property displayer for X

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
       xxpprroopp  [-help]  [-grammar]  [-id     _i_d] [-root] [-name _n_a_m_e]
       [-frame]     [-font     _f_o_n_t]    [-display   _d_i_s_p_l_a_y]   [-len   _n]
       [-notype]  [-fs    _f_i_l_e]  [-remove _p_r_o_p_e_r_t_y_-_n_a_m_e] [-spy] [-f
       _a_t_o_m _f_o_r_m_a_t [_d_f_o_r_m_a_t]]* [_f_o_r_m_a_t [_d_f_o_r_m_a_t] _a_t_o_m]*

SSUUMMMMAARRYY
       The _x_p_r_o_p utility is for displaying window and font  prop-
       erties  in  an  X  server.  One window or font is selected
       using the command line arguments or possibly in    the  case
       of a window, by clicking on the desired window.    A list of
       properties is then given, possibly with formatting  infor-
       mation.

OOPPTTIIOONNSS
       --hheellpp   Print out a summary of command line options.


       --ggrraammmmaarr
           Print  out a detailed grammar for all command line
           options.


       --iidd _i_d  This argument allows the user to select window  _i_d
           on  the command line rather than using the pointer
           to select the target window.  This is very  useful
           in  debugging X applications where the target win-
           dow is not mapped to the screen or where     the  use
           of  the    pointer     might be impossible or interfere
           with the application.


       --nnaammee _n_a_m_e
           This argument allows the user to specify that  the
           window named _n_a_m_e is the target window on the com-
           mand line rather than using the pointer to  select
           the target window.


       --ffoonntt _f_o_n_t
           This  argument allows the user to specify that the
           properties of font _f_o_n_t should be displayed.


       --rroooott   This argument specifies that X's     root  window  is
           the  target  window.  This is useful in situations
           where the root window is completely obscured.


       --ddiissppllaayy _d_i_s_p_l_a_y
           This argument allows you to specify the server  to



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XPROP(1)                         XPROP(1)


           connect to; see _X_(_1_).


       --lleenn _n  Specifies  that    at  most  _n bytes of any property
           should be read or displayed.


       --nnoottyyppee Specifies that the type of  each     property  should
           not be displayed.


       --ffss _f_i_l_e
           Specifies  that    file  _f_i_l_e  should  be    used as a
           source of more formats for properties.


       --ffrraammee  Specifies that when selecting  a     window     by  hand
           (i.e.  if none of --nnaammee, --rroooott, or --iidd are given),
           look at the window manager frame (if any)  instead
           of looking for the client window.


       --rreemmoovvee _p_r_o_p_e_r_t_y_-_n_a_m_e
           Specifies  the  name  of     a property to be removed
           from the indicated window.


       --ssppyy    Examine window  properties  forever,  looking  for
           property change events.


       --ff _n_a_m_e _f_o_r_m_a_t [[_d_f_o_r_m_a_t]]
           Specifies  that the _f_o_r_m_a_t for _n_a_m_e should be _f_o_r_-
           _m_a_t and that the _d_f_o_r_m_a_t for _n_a_m_e should be  _d_f_o_r_-
           _m_a_t.   If  _d_f_o_r_m_a_t  is  missing,     "  =  $0+\n"  is
           assumed.

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
       For each of these properties, its value    on  the     selected
       window  or  font     is printed using the supplied formatting
       information if any.  If no formatting information is  sup-
       plied,  internal     defaults are used.  If a property is not
       defined on the selected window or font, "not  defined"  is
       printed    as  the     value for that property.  If no property
       list  is     given,     all  the  properties  possessed  by  the
       selected window or font are printed.

       A  window  may be selected in one of four ways.    First, if
       the desired window is the root window, the -root     argument
       may  be    used.  If the desired window is not the root win-
       dow, it may be selected in two ways on the  command  line,
       either  by  id number such as might be obtained from _x_w_i_n_-
       _i_n_f_o, or by name if the window possesses a name.     The  -id
       argument     selects  a window by id number in either decimal



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       or hex (must start  with     0x)  while  the  -name     argument
       selects a window by name.

       The  last way to select a window does not involve the com-
       mand line at all.  If none of -font, -id, -name, and -root
       are  specified,    a  crosshairs cursor is displayed and the
       user is allowed to choose any visible window  by     pressing
       any  pointer  button  in     the  desired  window.     If it is
       desired to display properties of a font as  opposed  to    a
       window, the -font argument must be used.

       Other than the above four arguments and the -help argument
       for obtaining help, and the -grammar argument for  listing
       the  full grammar for the command line, all the other com-
       mand line arguments are used in specifying both the format
       of the properties to be displayed and how to display them.
       The -len _n argument specifies that at most _n bytes of  any
       given property will be read and displayed.  This is useful
       for example when displaying the cut  buffer  on    the  root
       window  which  could  run to several pages if displayed in
       full.

       Normally each property name is displayed by printing first
       the  property name then its type (if it has one) in paren-
       theses followed by its value.  The -notype argument speci-
       fies that property types should not be displayed.  The -fs
       argument is used to specify a file containing  a     list  of
       formats    for  properties     while the -f argument is used to
       specify the format for one property.

       The formatting information for a     property  actually  con-
       sists  of  two  parts, a _f_o_r_m_a_t and a _d_f_o_r_m_a_t.  The _f_o_r_m_a_t
       specifies the actual formatting of the property (i.e.,  is
       it  made     up  of     words, bytes, or longs?, etc.) while the
       _d_f_o_r_m_a_t specifies how the property should be displayed.

       The following paragraphs describe how to construct _f_o_r_m_a_ts
       and _d_f_o_r_m_a_ts.  However, for the vast majority of users and
       uses, this  should  not    be  necessary  as  the    built  in
       defaults     contain  the  _f_o_r_m_a_ts    and _d_f_o_r_m_a_ts necessary to
       display all the standard properties.  It     should     only  be
       necessary  to  specify _f_o_r_m_a_ts and _d_f_o_r_m_a_ts if a new prop-
       erty is being dealt with or the user dislikes the standard
       display    format.      New  users especially are encouraged to
       skip this part.

       A _f_o_r_m_a_t consists of one of 0, 8, 16, or 32 followed by    a
       sequence     of one or more format characters.  The 0, 8, 16,
       or 32 specifies how many bits per field there are  in  the
       property.   Zero     is  a special case meaning use the field
       size information     associated  with  the    property  itself.
       (This  is  only needed for special cases like type INTEGER
       which is actually three different types depending  on  the
       size of the fields of the property)



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       A  value     of  8    means  that the property is a sequence of
       bytes while a value of 16 would mean that the property  is
       a  sequence  of    words.     The difference between these two
       lies in the fact that the sequence of words will     be  byte
       swapped    while the sequence of bytes will not be when read
       by a machine of the opposite byte  order     of  the  machine
       that  originally wrote the property.  For more information
       on how properties are formatted and  stored,  consult  the
       Xlib manual.

       Once the size of the fields has been specified, it is nec-
       essary to specify the type of each field (i.e., is  it  an
       integer,     a string, an atom, or what?)  This is done using
       one format character per field.    If there are more  fields
       in  the property than format characters supplied, the last
       character will be repeated as many times as necessary  for
       the extra fields.  The format characters and their meaning
       are as follows:

       a      The field holds an atom number.  A  field     of  this
          type should be of size 32.

       b      The  field  is  an  boolean.  A 0 means false while
          anything else means true.

       c      The field is an unsigned number, a cardinal.

       i      The field is a signed integer.

       m      The field is a set of bit flags, 1 meaning on.

       s      This field and the next ones until either     a  0  or
          the  end    of  the     property represent a sequence of
          bytes.  This format character is only usable with a
          field size of 8 and is most often used to represent
          a string.

       x      The field is a hex number (like 'c'  but    displayed
          in  hex - most useful for displaying window ids and
          the like)

       An example _f_o_r_m_a_t is 32ica which is the format for a prop-
       erty  of three fields of 32 bits each, the first holding a
       signed integer, the second an unsigned  integer,     and  the
       third an atom.

       The  format of a _d_f_o_r_m_a_t unlike that of a _f_o_r_m_a_t is not so
       rigid.  The only limitations on a _d_f_o_r_m_a_t is that one  may
       not start with a letter or a dash.  This is so that it can
       be distinguished from a property name or an  argument.    A
       _d_f_o_r_m_a_t    is  a  text  string containing special characters
       instructing that various     fields     be  printed  at  various
       points  in  a manner similar to the formatting string used
       by printf.  For example, the _d_f_o_r_m_a_t " is ( $0,    $1  \)\n"



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XPROP(1)                         XPROP(1)


       would render the POINT 3, -4 which has a _f_o_r_m_a_t of 32ii as
       " is ( 3, -4 )\n".

       Any character other than a $, ?, \, or a (  in  a  _d_f_o_r_m_a_t
       prints  as itself.  To print out one of $, ?, \, or ( pre-
       cede it by a \.    For example, to print out a  $,     use  \$.
       Several special backslash sequences are provided as short-
       cuts.  \n will cause a newline to be  displayed    while  \t
       will  cause a tab to be displayed.  \_o where _o is an octal
       number will display character number _o.

       A $ followed by a number _n causes field    number    _n  to  be
       displayed.   The     format of the displayed field depends on
       the formatting character used to describe it in the corre-
       sponding     _f_o_r_m_a_t.  I.e., if a cardinal is described by 'c'
       it will print in decimal while if it is described by a 'x'
       it is displayed in hex.

       If  the field is not present in the property (this is pos-
       sible with some properties), <field not available> is dis-
       played  instead.      $_n+  will display field number _n then a
       comma then field number _n+1 then another     comma    then  ...
       until  the last field defined.  If field _n is not defined,
       nothing is displayed.  This is useful for a property  that
       is a list of values.

       A  ?  is used to start a conditional expression, a kind of
       if-then statement.  ?_e_x_p(_t_e_x_t) will display  _t_e_x_t  if  and
       only if _e_x_p evaluates to non-zero.  This is useful for two
       things.    First, it allows fields to be  displayed  if  and
       only if a flag is set.  And second, it allows a value such
       as a state number to be displayed as a name rather than as
       just a number.  The syntax of _e_x_p is as follows:

       _e_x_p    ::= _t_e_r_m | _t_e_r_m=_e_x_p | !_e_x_p

       _t_e_r_m   ::= _n | $_n | m_n

       The  !  operator is a logical ``not'', changing 0 to 1 and
       any non-zero value to 0.     = is an equality operator.  Note
       that  internally     all  expressions are evaluated as 32 bit
       numbers so -1 is not equal to 65535.  = returns 1  if  the
       two  values are equal and 0 if not.  _n represents the con-
       stant value _n while $_n represents the value of field  num-
       ber _n.  m_n is 1 if flag number _n in the first field having
       format character 'm' in the corresponding _f_o_r_m_a_t is  1,    0
       otherwise.

       Examples:  ?m3(count:  $3\n) displays field 3 with a label
       of count if and only if flag number 3 (count starts at 0!)
       is  on.     ?$2=0(True)?!$2=0(False)  displays  the inverted
       value of field 2 as a boolean.

       In order to display a property, _x_p_r_o_p needs both a  _f_o_r_m_a_t



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       and  a _d_f_o_r_m_a_t.    Before _x_p_r_o_p uses its default values of a
       _f_o_r_m_a_t of 32x and a _d_f_o_r_m_a_t of " = { $0+ }\n", it searches
       several    places    in  an attempt to find more specific for-
       mats.  First, a search is made using the name of the prop-
       erty.   If  this fails, a search is made using the type of
       the property.  This allows type STRING to be defined  with
       one  set     of formats while allowing property WM_NAME which
       is of type STRING to be defined with a  different  format.
       In  this     way, the display formats for a given type can be
       overridden for specific properties.

       The locations searched are in order:  the  format  if  any
       specified  with    the property name (as in 8x WM_NAME), the
       formats defined by -f options in last to first order,  the
       contents     of  the file specified by the -fs option if any,
       the contents of the file specified  by  the  environmental
       variable XPROPFORMATS if any, and finally _x_p_r_o_p's built in
       file of formats.

       The format of the files referred to by  the  -fs     argument
       and  the XPROPFORMATS variable is one or more lines of the
       following form:

       _n_a_m_e _f_o_r_m_a_t [_d_f_o_r_m_a_t]

       Where _n_a_m_e is either the name of a property or the name of
       a  type,     _f_o_r_m_a_t     is  the  _f_o_r_m_a_t to be used with _n_a_m_e and
       _d_f_o_r_m_a_t is the _d_f_o_r_m_a_t to be used with _n_a_m_e.   If  _d_f_o_r_m_a_t
       is not present, " = $0+\n" is assumed.

EEXXAAMMPPLLEESS
       To  display  the     name  of  the    root  window: _x_p_r_o_p -root
       WM_NAME

       To display the window manager hints for the  clock:  _x_p_r_o_p
       -name xclock WM_HINTS

       To  display  the start of the cut buffer: _x_p_r_o_p -root -len
       100 CUT_BUFFER0

       To display the point size of the fixed font:  _x_p_r_o_p  -font
       fixed POINT_SIZE

       To  display all the properties of window # 0x200007: _x_p_r_o_p
       -id 0x200007

EENNVVIIRROONNMMEENNTT
       DDIISSPPLLAAYY To get default display.

       XXPPRROOPPFFOORRMMAATTSS
           Specifies the name of a file from which additional
           formats are to be obtained.





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SSEEEE AALLSSOO
       X(1), xwininfo(1)

AAUUTTHHOORR
       Mark Lillibridge, MIT Project Athena




















































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