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- Xref: sparky comp.windows.open-look:4368 comp.windows.x:18730 alt.toolkits.xview:1032 comp.windows.x.intrinsics:482
- Newsgroups: comp.windows.open-look,comp.windows.x,alt.toolkits.xview,comp.windows.x.intrinsics
- Path: sparky!uunet!uunet.ca!wildcan!sq!lee
- From: lee@sq.sq.com (Liam R. E. Quin)
- Subject: OPEN LOOK GUI frequently asked questions
- Message-ID: <1992Nov5.043432.10572@sq.sq.com>
- Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada
- Date: Thu, 5 Nov 92 04:34:32 GMT
- Lines: 1040
-
-
- Frequently-asked questions about the OPEN LOOK Graphical User Interface.
- This is version: $Revision: 1.40 $; Last posted version: 1.38
- Changes and additions are marked with a | or + in the right margin.
-
-
- If your question isn't here, please try (at *least*)
- man openwin
- man xnews
- man 7 xview
- man olwm +
- and looking in the appropriate manuals listed in the Bibliography below
- before posting to the comp.windows.open-look, comp.windows.x or
- alt.toolkits.xview newsgroups and/or their corresponding mailing lists.
-
- Frequently Asked Questions for X11 are posted to comp.windows.x monthly.
-
-
- Contents: (in rn and trn you can use control-G to go to the next topic)
-
- Subject: Terminology: OPEN LOOK, OpenWindows, X11, XView, (MO)OLIT, Motif
- Subject: Window Managers -- olwm, olvwm
- Subject: OpenWindows, Terminals, and Other Displays
- Subject: Configuration Files: Getting started with OpenWindows
- Subject: Key Bindings, Cut and Paste
- Subject: Applications: Finding Out...
- Subject: Troubleshooting: It Won't Let Me Type
- Subject: Troubleshooting: Not authorized to use display
- Subject: Trouble Shooting: other common problems
- Subject: Trouble Shooting: XView problems
- Subject: Fonts
- Subject: Environment Variables
- Subject: Where Can I get It? Ftp, implementations, etc...
- Subject: Bibliography -- books, manuals, journals, papers, beer-mats
- Subject: Getting this File, Revision History, Recent Changes
-
-
- Subject: Terminology: OPEN LOOK, OpenWindows, X11, XView, OLIT, MOOLIT, Motif
-
- @ What is OPEN LOOK?
- OPEN LOOK is a specification of a Graphical User Interface (GUI).
- A GUI determines the `look and feel' of a system -- the shape of
- windows, buttons and scroll-bars, how you resize things, how you
- edit files, etc.
-
- The OPEN LOOK GUI is specified, developed and maintained jointly by
- Sun Microsystems and AT&T.
-
- See Also:
- Bibliography
-
- @ What is OpenWindows?
- OpenWindows is a windowing environment that conforms to the OPEN LOOK
- Graphical User Interface Specifications. It's compatible with the
- X11 window system from MIT as well as (currently) Sun's NeWS and SunView, |
- so you can intermix programs written for any of those systems. |
- It comes from Sun and also with System V Release 4 from certain vendors. |
- OpenWindows is sometimes also called openwin or xnews, after the
- program used to start it and the main executable itself, respectively.
- It should not be called `Windows' or 'OPEN LOOK' or `OpenLook', as
- these terms are either wrong or apply to something else.
- A commerical OpenWindows source licence costs about $5,000 for the +
- server, plus about $25,000 for DeskSet, and another $40,000 for ToolTalk. +
- The current versions of OpenWindows for various platforms are: +
- SunOS 4.1.1 on Sun 3: 2.0 +
- Solaris 1.x (SunOS 4.1.x) on SPARC: 3.0 +
- Solaris 2.0 (SunOS 5) on SPARC: 3.0.1 +
-
- See Also:
- Mixing X11 and OpenWindows
- Where can I get it?
-
- @ What are OLIT, XView and TNT?
- These are all toolkits for programmers to use in developing programs
- that conform to the OPEN LOOK specifications. See the Bibliography
- for documentation on the individual toolkits. Here's a brief summary:
-
- OLIT is AT&T's OPEN LOOK Intrinsics Toolkit for the X Window system;
- it uses a widget set, and is probably the easiest for people who are
- already X11 programmers to learn. You can buy the source from AT&T.
- Sun includes the OLIT library in OpenWindows (q.v.); it may also be
- included in System V Release 4. It's written in C. The current
- version of OLIT (included in OpenWindows, or available from AT&T) is 2.5.
- The release of OLIT in OpenWindows 3.0 is OLIT 3.0.
- See also: MOOLIT [sic]
-
- XView is Sun's toolkit for X11, written in C. XView is similar in |
- programmer interface to SunView. There's even a shell script to help |
- migrate source code from SunView to XView. XView is often said to be |
- the easiest toolkit to learn if you are not familiar with X Windows. |
- The XView toolkit is included in OpenWindows, and full source is
- available by anonymous ftp from export.lcs.mit.edu (and elsewhere).
- The current version of XView from Sun is 3.0.
- Despite rumours to the contrary -- some even from within Sun -- the +
- XView toolkit is *NOT* about to be dropped by Sun. XView *will* be +
- included in the next release of OpenWindows, unlike NeWS. +
-
- The NeWS Toolkit (TNT) was an object-oriented programming system based |
- on the PostScript language and NeWS. TNT implements many of the
- OPEN LOOK interface components required to build the user interface of
- an application. It's currently included in OpenWindows. |
-
- The current version of TNT from Sun is 3.0; Release 3.0 contains some
- incompatibilities with tNt 1.0 an 2.0, but Sun are committed to
- supporting the API, at least until they stop NeWS support some time
- later this year and replace it with Display PostScript. Wail.
- You might ask what `is committed to' means in this context; the +
- answer seems to be that it means absolutely nothing. +
-
- The C++ User Interface Toolkit (UIT) consists of an object-oriented C++
- class library layered on top of XView and a tool to generate code from
- DevGuide 3 GIL files. The UIT also includes features that simplify
- event management and the use of PostScript and color. It is said to be
- compatible with OpenWindows V2 and V3, and presumably V3.0.1, since the
- release mentions that it works on Solaris 2.
- UIT is not an official Sun-supported product but an ongoing project of
- various people within Sun. It can be found on export.lcs.mit.edu in
- the MIT contrib directory as UITV2.tar.Z (use binary mode!).
-
- @ Where does Motif fit in?
- It doesn't :-). Motif is an alternative Graphical User Interface that
- is being developed by OSF. It has a `look and feel' reminiscent of
- Microsoft Windows and the OS/2 Presentation Manager. There are no non-
- commercial Motif toolkits available, although the Motif source is sold
- reasonably cheaply by OSF. Although Motif is currently available on
- more platforms than OpenWindows, the OPEN LOOK GUI is almost certainly
- used on many more machines, simply because Sun (and SysVR4) have such a
- large installed base.
- Sun's CD/WARE Volume 2 contains a roadmap for improving Motif
- applications by converting them to OLIT [:-)]; there are also notes in
- the `Periodic Table' OLIT demo, $OPENWINHOME/demo/olittable.
-
- @ What is MOOLIT?
- MOOLIT is a version of OLIT from AT&T that lets users choose between a
- Motif and an OPEN LOOK UI feel at run-time. It will be part of System V
- Release 4.2, which may also contain an X11R5 that supports Adobe's Type
- Manager (ATM). It isn't clear whether MOOLIT will replace OLIT.
- Contact: Joanne Newbauer, jo@usl.com, (908) 522-6677
-
- @ What about that Display PostScript thing? +
- Sun and Adobe have agreed that Sun will include the DPS extension to X +
- in the next release of OpenWindows. DPS is essentially a badly designed +
- hack on top of a slow Level 2 PostScript interpreter intended to give a +
- very small subset of the functionality of NeWS whilst simultaneously +
- being harder to use, as I understand it. The only real advantage it +
- has over NeWS is that the manual is much smaller, being generally less +
- complete; DPS is also available on more kinds of machine. +
- Performance on the RS/6000 is not suitable for interactive work; +
- what it will be like on the SPARCStation remains to be seen. +
-
- Subject: Window Managers -- olwm, olvwm
-
- @ What are olwm and olvwm?
- They are window managers. A window manager is the part of the X Window
- system (e.g. X11) that is responsible for deciding how to lay out windows
- on the screen, and for managing the user's interaction with the windows.
-
- Olwm is the standard OPEN LOOK window manager.
- It's included with all of the OpenWindows (q.v.) implementations, and
- you can also get the source by ftp, since Sun donated it.
-
- Olvwm is a version of olwm that manages a `virtual desktop' (hence the
- `v' in its name). It shows a little map on the screen, with the
- currently displayed area represented by a little rectangle. You can
- move around by dragging the rectangle or with the arrow keys. This
- lets you run several clients (applications) and move the display around
- from one to the other. Olvwm was derived from the OpenWindows 3.0 olwm
- by Scott Oaks; you need to have XView 3.0 to compile it.
- Get olvwm from an ftp site such as export.lcs.mit.edu (in the contrib
- directory; there are two patches).
-
- @ Can I use my favorite window manager with OpenWindows instead of olwm?
- Yes. If you use twm, for example, or mwm, you won't be able to use
- the Pin and Unpin feature of olwm, and you (probably) won't see the
- footers some windows use to display certain messages.
-
- If you use twm, you'll want to use the f.delete function to unpin menus
- and get rid of programs that don't have a `quit' button when not run
- under olwm.
- For twm, put this in your $HOME/.twmrc:
- LeftTitleButton "target" = f.delete
- where "target" is a 16x16 icon from /usr/include/X11/bitmaps.
- Alternatively, try
- # Add a menu to each window managed by twm or tvtwm
- LeftTitleButton ":menu" = f.menu "OL.menu"
-
- menu "OL.menu" {
- "Quit" f.delete
- }
-
- For mwm, you can double-click on the menu icon on the left of the title
- bar to dismiss a pop-up window (I am told).
-
- See the manual page for your window manager (twm, etc).
-
- Subject: OpenWindows, Terminals, and Other Displays
-
- @ Can I use olwm and olvwm without OpenWindows or on an X Terminal?
- The OpenWindows xnews server combines SunView, NeWS (PostScript) and X11.
- This means that it can run programs compiled for any of those systems.
- Unfortunately, it means that some OpenWindows programs need either NeWS
- or SunView support, and thus won't run on an X terminal. This includes
- pageview in particular.
-
- You can use olwm or olvwm (see above) on an X terminal or a non-Open-
- Windows display, and most OPEN LOOK clients (e.g. OLIT or XView ones)
- will work perfectly well. You may find that you get complaints about
- fonts not being found. If so, see the Fonts section below.
- If you are running the window manager built-in to an NCD terminal, you
- may have problems with input focus; setting *Input: True in the terminal's
- XDefault file in /usr/lib/X11/xdm may or may not help.
-
-
- Subject: Configuration Files: Getting started with OpenWindows
-
- @ What configuration files do I need to know about?
-
- .xinitrc and .xsessionrc
-
- The first time you run OpenWindows, a .xinitrc file will be created in
- your login directory ($HOME). If it already exists, you might have to
- edit it somewhat; it's simplest to move it and any other old X11 files
- you have to another directory, and then merge the old and new files.
-
- If your site uses xdm, you should use .xsession instead of .xinitrc,
- since xdm doesn't look at your .xinitrc file.
-
- .openwin-init, .openwin-menu and .openwin-sys
-
- These are optional files you can create in your $HOME directory,
- depending on which version of olwm or olvwm you use.
- Look in $OPENWINHOME/lib (normally /usr/openwin/lib) for these files
- without the leading . and copy any you want to change. You may need
- to edit your .xinitrc to get them recognized. If you are not on an
- X terminal, you will want to run a console window (such as cmdtool -C,
- shelltool -C, xterm -C) or Chuck Musciano's "contool" program so that
- system output will be directed there instead of writing over your screen.
- Note that .openwin-sys is not executed unless you edit .xinitrc.
-
- .Xdefaults
-
- You can put X Windows resource specifications in here. In particular,
- it is a good idea to include at least:
- OpenWindows.FocusLenience: true
- *Input: TRUE
- These allow non-ICCCM-compliant programs to receive input even if they
- forget to ask for it.
-
- Props, the program that runs when you select `properties' from the default
- root menu under olwm or olvwm, writes your choices into .Xdefaults.
- Don't put comments in .Xdefaults, since `props' deletes them.
-
- .startup.ps
-
- This is the NeWS user profile file, read by OpenWindows (actually xnews)
- on startup. This is documented in the NeWS programming manual, near the
- back. The most useful thing to put here is PostScript code to change
- the keyboard repeat rate, although you must be very careful, since a
- syntax error in the PostScript means that xnews will either not start up
- at all or will get broken in strange ways. The NeWS manual gives code
- that is both incorrect and insufficient.
- WARNING: things in this file rarely work on both OpenWindows 2 and 3.
-
- Note that the mouse speed is best set in your .xinitrc with xset m; see
- the man page for xset ("man xset", and "xset -help") for more information.
-
- Here's what $HOME/.startup.ps should look like if you want a delay of
- about a third of a second (300000 microseconds), and a repeat rate of
- twenty or so keys per second (30000 microseconds between repeats) for
- OpenWindows 3. You'll have to experiment a bit because the RepeatTime
- is the delay between keys sent, and thus doesn't include the time to
- process each key, which is probably higher on my 4/110 than on your
- SuperSPARC 10/51 GTi injection :-) Again, this is for OpenWindows 3...
-
- % don't want the demos - see p. xxxii of NeWS Toolkit Reference Manual
- % /IncludeDemos? false def
-
- UserProfile begin
- /KeyRepeatThresh 0 300000 timeval storetimeval def
- /KeyRepeatTime 0 30000 timeval storetimeval def
- % Note: 300000 and 30000 differ greatly...
- end
-
- You must also have a .user.ps file in the same directory, like this:
-
- /NeWS 3 0 findpackage beginpackage
- /TNTCore 3 0 findpackage beginpackage
- /TNT 3 0 findpackage beginpackage
-
- ClassRepeatKeys pop % force repeat.ps to autoload
-
- endpackage endpackage endpackage
-
- If you change these parameters, you can test them without restarting the
- OpenWindows server like this:
- $ psh -i .startup.ps
- Welcome to X11/NeWS Version3
- $ psh -i
- Welcome to X11/NeWS Version3
- /classinit ClassRepeatKeys send
- %%% now press control-D
-
- You can also either of these two files (.startup.ps and .user.ps) to make
- the root window be "retained", so that a PostScript drawing on the
- background won't be erased when you move windows:
- frambuffer /Retained true put
- will do this. Note that this may increase the amount of memory used
- by the NeWS server (xnews) dramatically.
-
- See also:
- Troubleshooting: It Won't Let Me Type
- Troubleshooting: Is there an easy way to edit Xdefaults?
- Environment Variables
-
- @ How can I configure OPEN LOOK for a left-handed mouse and keyboard?
- It's probably best to wait for OpenWindows 3.0, since some of the
- functions are hard-coded and can't be changed. In the mean-time, you
- can use xmodmap to change the mouse buttons, but be prepared for one
- or two occasional surprises.
-
- @ How can I get the screen to go blank when the system is idle?
-
- Run screenblank from /etc/rc.local if you can; it's a boring but effective
- screen saver. See `man screenblank'.
-
- Subject: Key Bindings, Cut and Paste
-
- [please tell me if this section is useful! -- Lee, lee@sq.com]
-
- @ How do I cut and paste between XTerm and OpenWindows programs?
-
- To go from XTerm to textedit (say):
- * Select the text you want to copy by dragging the SELECT mouse button
- in xterm
- * Press COPY in the XTerm (this key is L6, or Meta+c (the O'Reilly
- XView manual gets this wrong)
- * Move to the textedit window, and press PASTE (L8 or Meta+v)
-
- If this doesn't work, see Troubleshooting: Cut and Paste
-
- To go the other way, from textedit to XTerm:
- * Select the text in textedit. No need to use COPY
- * Move to the XTerm window and press ADJUST (the middle mouse button).
- * You can also use the COPY/CUT and PASTE buttons.
-
- @ COPY/PASTE is boring. What short-cuts are available?
-
- Quick Copy within textedit, mailtool, etc:
- * Click SELECT to get a text caret where you want the copied text to go
- * Press and HOLD DOWN the PASTE (or CUT) button
- * Select the text you want to copy/move. You'll see that it's underlined
- or crossed out, as appropriate. (In the jed demo it goes grey)
- * Let go of the PASTE (or CUT) button.
- * The text you underlined or crossed out appears at the insert caret.
-
- Drag and Drop to Move a Selection
- * Select the text you want to copy or move, by dragging or miltiple-
- clicking the SELECT or ADJUST mouse button
- * Put the mouse pointer anywhere within the selection
- * Press and HOLD DOWN down the SELECT mouse button, and move the mouse
- pointer a little to the right; you'll see the cursor changes to be the
- first 3 letters of the text (or some other icon).
- * Still holding SELECT down, move the mouse over the point where you want
- to drop the text
- * You may see the mouse pointer change to a rifle-sight or target, to show
- that it's OK to drop things here
- * Let go of SELECT, and the text is moved. This works in text fields of
- dialogue boxes as well as in text subwindows.
-
- Drag and Drop to Copy a Selection
- * This is the same as using Drag and Drop to Move a Selection, except that
- you must hold the CONTROL key down as well as the SELECT mouse button.
-
- @ What are the default key bindings in textedit and elsewhere?
-
- See the man page for textedit(1) for some of them.
- In general, the editing/moving commands go in the opposite direction when
- shifted - e.g. Ctrl+w deletes a word, and Ctrl+W deletes the word to the
- right of the insert point.
-
- Meta-i - include file Meta-f - find selection (forward/backward)
-
- Ctrl-a - start of line Ctrl-< - back word
- Ctrl-e - end of line Ctrl-> - forward word
- Ctrl-w - delete word Ctrl-u - delete to start/END of line
- Ctrl-Return - move to end/START of document
-
- See the O'Reilly XView Reference Manual for a list of some of the default
- keys; see also the olwm or olvwm manual page.
-
- @ What can I put in my .ttysrc? Where is it documented?
-
- See the manual page for shelltool.
-
- Subject: Applications: Finding Out...
- Contact SunSoft (or Sun) and ask for the Catalyst OPEN LOOK guide,
- which lists over 200 pages of applications, and also the _huge_
- Catalyst listing of products for Suns, updated six-monthly.
-
- Sun's free CDWare CD/ROMs each contain demo versions of several popular
- OPEN LOOK applications. Often you can simply contact the vendor
- concerned to have the license upgraded from demo, and receive the full
- product documentation.
-
- SunPICS produces a CD/ROM for NeWSPrint users, Printer's Pallate, which
- contains NeWSprint drivers for a variety of printers and plotters, as
- well as 600 scaleable fonts that you can license.
-
- There is a separate FAQ posting in comp.windows.open-look that lists
- a number of free and commercial aplications; mail lee@sq.com for a
- copy, including OPEN LOOK UI Application List in the Subject for a
- faster reply.
-
-
- Subject: Fonts
-
- @ Does OpenWindows support Type 1 PostScript fonts?
- Yes, under either Solaris 2.0 or 2.1 (I'm not sure which). |
- Or, Not Yet, in other words. |
-
- If you have FrameMaker there is a utility to import them, I'm told.
- The 57 fonts supplied with OpenWindows are fully hinted, though, and
- comparing them to the Microsoft Windows and Apple TrueType fonts is
- interesting... The F3 font format is described in a publication from the
- Sun OpenFonts group, listed in the Bibliography below. Documentation on
- the unbundled version of TypeScaler is also available from Sun OpenFonts.
-
- You can buy F3 fonts from SunPICS, Monotype, Linotype, URW and probably
- other major foundries.
-
- SunPICS' NeWSPrint software supports Type 1 fonts. |
-
- @ Improving font rendering time
- Although the Sun type renderer (TypeScaler) is pretty fast, it's not as
- fast as loading a bitmap :-). You can pre-generate bitmap fonts for sizes
- that you use a lot, and you can also alter and access the font cache
- parameters. If you have a lot of memory you might want to increase the
- font cache size.
- $ psh -i
- Welcome to X11/NeWS Version3 <--- psh will say this at you
- currentfontmem = % type this line ...
- 300 % and here's whai my server was using -- 300 Kbytes
- 1024 setfontmem
- % Just to check:
- currentfontmem =
- 1024
- See pp. 328ff of the NeWS 3.0 Programmer's Guide. You need to say psh -i
- so that the PostScript packages are loaded - see the psh man page.
-
- @ Making bitmap fonts for faster startup:
- $ mkdir $HOME/myfonts
- $ cd $HOME/myfonts
- $ makeafb -20 -M $OPENWINHOME/lib/fonts/Bembo.f3b
- Creating Bembo20.afb
- $ convertfont -b Bembo20.afb
- Bembo20.afb->./Bembo20.fb
- Chars parameter greater than number of characters supplied.
- $ ls
- Bembo20.afb Bembo20.fb Synonyms.list
- $ bldfamily
- * Bembo ./Bembo.ff (Encoding: latin)
- cat: ./Compat.list: No such file or directory
- $ xset +fp `pwd`
- $ xset fp rehash
-
- If you want the server to see your new font directory every time,
- add this directory to your FONTPATH environment variable in one
- of your start-up files, e.g. .login or .profile.
-
- @ Converting between font formats (convertfont, etc.)
- You can also use Folio fonts with an X11 server, by converting them to a
- bitmap (X11 bdf format) first. Your licence forbids you from using the
- fonts on another machine, and unless you have NeWSPrint you shouldn't
- use them for printing. Having said all that... you can use makeafb and
- convertfont to generate bdf files that you can compile with bdftosnf or
- bdftopcf.
-
- Use mftobdf (from the SeeTeX distribution) to convert TeX pk fonts to
- X11 bdf format, which you can then use with either X11 or OenWindows.
-
- You can also use der Mouse's "getbdf" to get bdf fonts from a running +
- X display server - ftp: larry.mcrcim.mcgill.edu (132.206.1.1) /X/getbdf +
-
- @ Xview/OLIT fonts at 100 dpi
- There aren't any. More precisely, the various text fonts, such as
- Lucida Typewriter Sans, are available at 100 dpi, and in fact are
- scalable under OpenWindows. The glyph fonts are bitmaps, and don't
- scale very well.
-
- Subject: Troubleshooting: It Won't Let Me Type
-
- @ When I try to type into some programs, I just get beeps or nothing happens
- It is a good idea to include at least:
- OpenWindows.FocusLenience: true
- *Input: TRUE
- in your .Xdefaults file, as these allow non-ICCCM-compliant programs to
- receive input even if they forget to ask for it.
- See the next item for editing .Xdefaults
-
- Subject: Troubleshooting: Cut and Paste not working
-
- @ I can't paste between xterm and XView or deskset programs
- Under OpenWindows 2, you need to add the following either to your
- $HOME/.Xdefaults file, or to $OPENWINHOME/lib/app-defaults/XTerm instead:
-
- XTerm*VT100.Translations: #override \
- <Key>L6:select-set(CLIPBOARD)\n\
- <Key>L8:insert-selection(CLIPBOARD)
-
- You must not move the mouse between ending the selection and pressing
- L8 (the Paste key)!
-
- Under OpenWindows 3, this is already in the app-defaults file, so if it
- isn't working, check that XFILESEARCHPATH is set to
- /usr/openwin/lib/%T/%N%S
- and if it isn't, either set it or copy/merge the above lines from
- $OPENWINHOME/lib/app-defaults/XTerm into /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/XTerm.
- [See also: Environment Variables]
-
- This version automatically puts each xterm selection onto the clipboard:
- XTerm*VT100.translations: #override\n\
- ~Ctrl ~Meta<Btn2Up>: insert-selection(PRIMARY,CUT_BUFFER0)\n\
- ~Ctrl ~Meta<BtnUp>: select-end(PRIMARY,CUT_BUFFER0,CLIPBOARD)\n\
- <KeyPress>L8: insert-selection(CLIPBOARD)
- [Note: be sure that the \n\ is at the very end of the line, there must
- be no following spaces, and any + or | signs showing that this FAQ file
- was altered must also be removed!]
-
- Adding the lines
- <Key>L10: start-extend() select-end(PRIMARY, CLIPBOARD, CUT_BUFFER0)\n\
- <KeyRelease>L10: kill-selection() \n
- will even make L10 (CUT) work as a cut key! [untested]
-
- If you alter $HOME/.Xdefaults instead, you must use what X calls a
- `more specific' resource name:
- xterm.vt100.translations
- will do.
-
- @ I always get the same piece of text whn I press PASTE (L8, Meta+v)
- Remove the file /tmp/textsw_shelf and see if that helps; see also the
- next item.
-
- * Cut Copy and Paste don't work at all (OpenWindows only)
- Oh dear. Use ps -xuaww | grep xv to check that sv_xv_sel_svc is running
- and that either you or root started it, depending on whether you started
- OpenWindows with "openwin" or by logging in through xdm.
- If not, start it. If it dies, check that there is no /tmp/.sv_xv_sel_svc
- before restarting it - you may need to be root to remove it, or you can
- reboot your workstation.
- Check that there is space in /tmp (use "df /tmp"), and also see if there
- are a lot of files there with names like /tmp/tty.txt.a01246; if there are
- several hundred of them, cut and paste may take so long that it times out.
-
- Quit any deskset tools such as mailtool, filemgr and cm (calendar), start
- a terminal emulator and remove and /tmp/tty.txt* and /tmp/Text* files
- that are still there. It's simplest to quit openwin and start it again
- after doing that, if cut and paste was broken, but if it starts working
- again you can just carry on. Note that files in /tmp not owned by you
- might be in use by another worker comrade, so don't remove thos without
- checking first!
-
- Subject: Troubleshooting: Not authorized to use display
-
- If you get error messages that look like
- Xlib: connection to ":0.0" refused by server
- Xlib: Internal error during connection authorization check
- Error: Can't Open display
- try, on the machine running OpenWindows or X11,
- xhost +machine
- where "machine" is the computer on which you ran the command that failed.
- If you want to let other users run programs on the same machine as you,
- using your display, you will have to type the bizarre-looking
- xhost +`hostname`
- (or xhost +happyboy, if happyboy is the name of your workstation).
- This lets ANY user on `happyboy' access your display.
-
- With OpenWindows 3.0 you can also use xauth, and the Programmer's Guide
- describes how to do this in Chapter 8, p. 101. This is more secure.
- [Also note that there is a CERT advisory notice and a Sun patch for users
- of OpenWindows 3.0 under SunOS 4.1.1 to fix a serious security problem.]
-
- On an X Terminal, there may be a setup menu that lets you change or
- disable the list of hosts that can access the display.
-
- If you start getting this message after you've been logged in overnight,
- there might be a cron job that's removing the Unix sockets in /tmp
- that are used to communicate with the server when $DISPLAY doesn't have
- a hostname before the :, or is empty. Have the system administrator
- change the cron script to skip sockets.
-
- Subject: Trouble Shooting: other common problems
-
- @ I get console error messages on my screen and they don't go away (Sun 3 or 4)
- If "refresh" makes the messages vanish, but new ones come along later,
- you need to run "xterm -C" from your .xinitrc, or start one up in
- the background and then choose Save Workspace from the
- Workspace->Utilities menu. Better still, pick up "contool" and run
- that. Get it from export.lcs.mit.edu in the contrib directory. It
- will monitor the console and open, flash its icon or beep when a
- message appears; it's very easy to configure.
-
- If "refresh" from the Workspace->Utilities menu doesn't make the messages,
- go away...
- a Sun with a cg4 frame buffer has two screens - you can move the
- mouse off the right-hand (by default) edge of the screen and onto
- a whole new (but monochrome) display, called ":0.1". See the man.
- page for openwin; I have a shell script that checks for this and,
- if there's a /dev/cgfour0, does
- openwin -dev /dev/cgfour0 -dev /dev/bwtwo0
- If you are running X11 or OpenWindows 2, you might need to add this
- to your .xinitrc or other startup file:
- (
- eval `svenv -display unix:0.1 -env`
- olvwm -display unix:0.1
- ) &
- Later releases of olwm and olvwm do this automatically.
- You can also run switcher -e 0 to get rid of the messages. Also, see
- the note about contool, above.
-
- @ Is there an easy way of editing .Xdefaults?
- Use `props', which appears in the default root menu as `properties'.
- This starts `props', a property editor which will re-write your
- .Xdefaults after removing comments. It then applies any changes.
- Keep comments by using "comment." instead of "!", for example,
- comment.*.font: Palatino-Italic-37
-
- @ How do I get the File manager to use emacs instead of textedit?
- set the default editor to
- sh -c "exec emacs -font lucidasanstypewriter-18 \"$FILE\""
- (you can change the font if you prefer a smaller one)
-
- @ How do I run OpenWindows in inverse video?
- This tends not to work under OpenWindows 2. With OpwnWindows 3.0,
- there are various ways, including using -bg and -fg options. If you're
- using OpenWindows 2 on a Sun 3 , probably the best you can do (short of
- upgrading the workstation to a SPARC!) is to use xterm instead of cmdtool.
-
- @ Why don't flat check-boxes work?
- A known bug may make Guide's output dump core if you use these.
- A workaround is to edit the Guide output, as it's only Guide's output
- that's broken, not the actual check-box code.
- This applies only to versions of DevGuide before Devguide 3.0. If you're
- still using an ancient DevGuide, you should upgrade as soon as possible;
- the new one is fantastic!
-
- @ When I leave OpenWindows, my screen goes blank or my mouse cursor stays
- on the screen.
- Try running clear_colormap; if this helps, put it as the last line in
- the shell script you use to start OpenWindows (e.g. `openwin').
-
- @ When I use snapshot, the system crashes, or the server hangs, or something.
- This was a bug related to some systems only. The only work-round was to
- use some other screen dump program, such as xwd, xv 2.21 or xgrabsc.
-
- @ Why have some of my function keys stopped working?
- Keys F11 and F12 changed from SunF36 and SunF37 to SunXK_F36 and SunXK_F37
- respectively in OpenWindows 3. Applications must be recompiled, or you
- might be able to use xmodmap or the public domain xkeycaps program to
- change your keyboard layout back again.
-
- @ When I type shelltool or cmdtool or textedit, I get the Sunview version
- Set your path so that $OPENWINHOME/bin and $OPENWIN/bin/xview come before
- /bin (or /usr/bin, they're the same), or you'll get the SunView versions
- of mailtool, cmdtool, shelltool, etc.
-
- (see also next item)
-
- @ Mixing X11 and OpenWindows
- (see also next item)
-
- Note that OpenWindows 3.0 includes the X11R4 core distribution (to patch
- level 18), but not the contrib directory. These notes apply to
- OpenWindows 2.0, although you could also the same sort of thing with
- OpenWindows 3.0 and X11R5.
-
- Install the X11 libraries in /usr/lib/X11. You can intermix OpenWindows
- and X11R4 or X11R5, they're all compatible in this respect.
- Put the X11 binaries in (for example) /usr/bin/X11.
-
- Put /usr/bin/X11 last in your PATH, so that you get OpenWindows versions
- of programs instead of X11 ones where appropriate, although this is a
- matter of preference. In any event, put the OpenWindows bin directory
- first -- see the preceding item for more details on that. If you have
- /bin (or /usr/bin, they're the same directory on SunOS) earlier in
- your PATH than $OPENWINHOME/bin/xview, you'll get SunView programs instead
- of OpenWindows ones!
-
- Set LD_LIBRARY_PATH so that /usr/openwin/lib is last, after the X11
- library directory. This doesn't matter with OpenWindows 3.0, but with
- older versions you'll get error messages from X11 programs if you don't
- do this. The messages are generally harmless (see next item), although
- xdm core dumps if this isn't right.
-
- Set OPENWINHOME to the directory containing OpenWindows if it isn't
- /usr/openwin.
-
- See Also:
- Environment Variables
-
- @ I get error messages on my screen about ld.so: libX11.so.4 not found
- set LD_LIBRARY_PATH to be /usr/openwin. If you also use X11, use
- /usr/lib:/usr/5lib:/usr/openwin/lib
- If you put this in a shell script or your .profile, use
- ${OPENWINHOME-/usr/openwin}/lib instead of /usr/openwin; this is for
- /bin/sh; for csh it is different.
-
- @ I launch my filemgr and I get ld.so:map heap error (9) at /dev/zero
- Your system needs to be patched. Look in $OPENWINHOME/lib/OSpatches
- and install the patch.
-
- @ Why doesn't AnswerBook run for me?
- You must be running OpenWindows to use AnswerBook. It won't run under
- X11 (on an X terminal or on anything else) because it uses NeWS to draw
- the PostScript text and pictures.
- If you are using OpenWindows 3.0, you need to use the OpenWindows 3.0
- compatible navigator; it's called .navigator.ow3 on the AnswerBook CD/ROM.
- If all AnswerBook users are using OpenWindows 3.0, you can replace
- navigator wih .navigator.ow3 altogether (rename the old one first to
- satisfy your sense of paranoia!)
- The navigator.ow3 binary is also on CD/Ware Vol 2.
-
- @ Why aren't there any fish in realxfishdb?
- A fixed version of realxfishdb is available by ftp from
- ftp.eng.auburn.edu [131.204.10.91] as /pub/xrealfishdb.Z
-
- @ Why is the Properties choice disabled in the Window menu?
- It isn't implemented yet. Many programs do respond to the Properties
- Key (L3), though, or have a pop-up menu with Properties on it.
-
- @ File completion in the C-shell is broken in cmdtool
- Sadly true, but use shelltool or xterm instead and it's fine. It also
- works if you run command tool on a remote machine.
- Fixed in OpenWindows 3.0.1 shipped with Solaris 2.
-
- @ When I run OLIT programs, some of the widgets are red!
- Release 3 of OLIT added mouseless operation; action widgets can be
- selected via the keyboard. The currently selected item is highlighted
- in red (the `Red Stain') to show that it has the input focus.
- To disable it in most places, add this to your $HOME/.Xdefaults file:
- *traversalOn: off
- *TextEdit.traversalOn: on
- *TextField.traversalOn: on
- You can change the colour using (for example)
- *InputFocusColor: grey50
- *input*FocusColor: green
- See the man page resources(3w), at the start of the OLIT 3 Widget Set
- Reference Manual included in the OpenWindows 3 programmer documentation.
- There is an OLIT `Jumbo Patch' that lets you make the Red Stain go away
- altogether; I assume that this is available from Sun.
-
- @ XDM breaks things
- Command tool doesn't like being run without a Unix `controlling terminal'.
- Use /etc/setsid to start your command tools and all will be well.
- SunView applications may need to be run with svenv, as in
- svenv -exec /usr/bin/traffic
- because xdm won't set the necessary environment variables.
- Note that the MIT xdm starts up the X server as root, which is a security
- hole for OpenWindows; use the OpenWindows 3.0 xdm or be aware that your
- users can access files and start Unix processes ass root...
-
- @ Function keys 11 and 12 stopped working
- In OpenWindows 3.0, the X11 names ("keysyms") for these keys was changed
- to SunXK_F36 and SunXK_F37. Code which uses them should be recompiled,
- or you might be able to get away with
- xmodmap -e 'keysym SunXK_F36 = SunF36'
-
- Subject: Trouble Shooting: XView problems
- This section is here only until an XView FAQ appears, which has been
- promised, but hasn't reached here. Note that there is also a usenet
- newsgroup, alt.toolkits.xview, although it doesn't sem to have very
- wide distribution and has triffic of the order of one or two articles
- per month. You should also look at the FAQ in comp.windows.x.
-
- @ how do I set the font of individual Scrolling List items?
- PANEL_LIST_FONT takes an int row_number and an Xv_opaque font_handle.
- PANEL_LIST_FONTS take a NULL terminated list of Xv_opaque font_handles.
- There is no easy way to make an entire list fixed width font.
- You have to make sure that you always specify PANEL_LIST_FONT when you
- insert a new row into that list, or write a convenience function
- insert_row(list, row, string) that hides the nasty bits.
-
- @ how do I keep an XView pop-up window displayed after a button is pressed?
- In the button callback, do
- xv_set(button, PANEL_NOTIFY_STATUS, XV_ERROR, NULL);
- This will keep the window visible.
-
- @ how do I make an XView button look pressed?
- call panel_begin_preview() and panel_cancel_preview(); these are
- documented in -- er -- the XView 3 source...
-
- @ OpenWindows 3 imake doesn't work properly
- Here is Greg Earle's patch, to be applied in $OPENWINHOME; note that you
- should edit lib/config/sun.cf afterwards to get OSName and
- OSMinorVersion right (MinorVersion is 1 in SunOS 4.1.2, for example).
- I have edited the patch a little, so any bugs are mine [lee@sq.com] :-)
-
- *** bin/xmkmf.orig Wed Sep 18 07:02:02 1991
- --- bin/xmkmf Tue Aug 6 00:39:20 1991
- ***************
- *** 30,34 ****
-
- elif [ -n "$OPENWINHOME" ]; then
- ! args="-DUseInstalled "$OPENWINHOME/lib/config
-
- else
- --- 30,34 ----
-
- elif [ -n "$OPENWINHOME" ]; then
- ! args="-I$OPENWINHOME/lib/config -DUseInstalled -DXCOMM="/**/#"
-
- else
- *** lib/config/site.def.orig Wed Sep 18 01:26:19 1991
- --- lib/config/site.def Tue Aug 6 00:44:37 1991
- ***************
- *** 0 ****
- --- 1,7 ----
- + #define BinDir $(OPENWINHOME)/bin
- + #define LibDir $(OPENWINHOME)/lib
- + #define IncRoot $(OPENWINHOME)/share/include
- + #define InstallNonExecFile(file,dest) @@\
- + install:: file @@\
- + $(INSTALL) -c $(INSTDATFLAGS) file dest
- + #define NullParameter
-
- [Note: the patch is new, but I have not marked each line with a "+" -- Liam]
-
- Subject: Environment Variables
-
- Environment variables, and plausible values to use -- this list doesn't
- take into account any local changes that you might have made, of course.
- This list is for OpenWindows 3.0 -- differences for OpenWindows 2.0 are
- marked, and I've added some comments for users of X11R4 and X11R5, too.
-
- DISPLAY The name of the X Windows Display to use
- :0.0 (on the local machine, the one actually running X11 or xnews)
- :0.1 (on some machines for a second, monochrome screen)
- machine-running-unix:0.0 (on other machines)
- (You may need to do "xhost +other-machine" to let programs on other
- machines use your display; see also under Troubleshooting, and see
- the section on xauth in the OpenWindows Version 3 Programmer's Guide,
- pp. 101ff)
- See also: console messages, under Trouble Shooting
- FONTPATH Where xnews searches for fonts
- /usr/openwin/lib/fonts
- (you can also use "xset fp+ dir" to add a directory to the font path,
- but you may have to do "xset fp rehash" afterwards. This is fine
- under OpenWindows, but many X11 servers have font problems)
- HELPPATH Where XView looks when you press the Help key (or F1)
- /usr/openwin/lib/locale:/usr/openwin/lib/help
- (On SunOS 4.0.*, or with OpenWindows 2.0, omit the first entry, which
- is for sites using a local other than "C" or "USA").
- LD_LIBRARY_PATH Where to look to find shared C libraries
- /usr/lib:/usr/5lib:/usr/openwin/lib:/usr/CC/`arch`
- (the /usr/CC/`arch`/lib entry is only needed if you use C++ programs)
- OPENWINHOME Where OpenWindows lives
- /usr/openwin
- KEYBOARD, MOUSE -- serial devices to use instead of the console
- (don't set these for normal use; /dev/kbd and /dev/mouse)
- PATH Where the Shell searches for programs to run
- $(OPENWINHOME)/bin:$(OPENWINHOME)/bin/xview:/usr/local/bin:.\
- $HOME/bin.`arch`:/usr/ucb:/usr/bin:/usr/bin/X11:/usr/hosts:\
- (you will certainly want to change this example! There is no
- $(OPENWINHOME)/bin/xview in OpenWindows 3.0)
- XFILESEARCHPATH Where programs look for app-defaults files
- /usr/openwin/lib/%T/%N%S
- (This is set automatically by "openwin" in OpenWindows 3.0)
- You might want to use /usr/lib/X11/%T/%N%S, or perhaps both,
- separated with a :, for example (for sh users)
- XFILESEARCHPATH=$OPENWINHOME/lib/%T/%N%S:/usr/lib/X11/%T/%N%S
- export XFILESEARCHPATH
-
- Subject: Where Can I get It? Ftp, implementations, etc...
-
- XView 3.0 is available by anonymous ftp from export.lcs.mit.edu and
- elsewhere.
-
- MoOLIT can be bought from AT&T in source form. |
-
- OpenWindows can be obtained from Sun, or you can get the source from
- Interactive Systems Inc. It is also included in some vendors' System V
- Release 4 implementations, although that's not always the latest version.
- The current release of OpenWindows from Sun for supported architectures
- is 3.0; for the Sun 3 series it is frozen at OpenWindows 2.0.
- Note that Sun includes OpenWindows with SunOS, and it is also included as
- the windowing system for Solaris.
-
- There are said (by Sun) to be over 35 ports of OpenWindows either |
- available now or in progress. Unfortunately, none of them seem to be |
- available from anywhere. Contact anthony@ovi.com for more information. |
-
-
- Subject: Bibliography: books, manuals, journals, papers, beer-mats
-
- The OPEN LOOK (tm) Graphical Interface is documented in two books:
- Sun Microsystems Inc., `OPEN LOOK Graphical User Interface Application
- Style Guidelines', Addison Wesley, 1989
- and
- Sun Microsystems Inc., `OPEN LOOK Graphical User Interface Functional
- Specification', Addison Wesley
-
- The Main documentation for the X Window system comes from
- O'Reilly & Associates in about nine or ten volumes.
- The most useful for OPEN LOOK users are:
- Volume 1: XLib Programming Manual
- Volume 2: XLib Reference Manual
- Volume 3: X Window System User's Guide
- (An OPEN LOOK edition of Volume 3 should appear later this year)
- Volume 7: XView Programmer's Manual [Dan Heller]
- [make sure you get the 3rd edition for XView 3.0]
- Companion to Volume 7: XView Reference Manual [Ed. Thomas Van Raalte]
-
- The Companion to Volume 7 is an expanded version of the Attribute
- Summary from the previous edition of the XView Programming Manual,
- together with other reference information, so that in practice you
- have to buy both books.
-
- O'Reilly also have a thinnish orange book on the differences between
- X11R4 and RX115.
-
- OLIT programmers will also want the Xt books - volumes 4 and 5.
- There is a new big fat green Vol 5 updated for X11R5.
-
- A journal, The X Resource, may also be of interest.
-
- O'Reilly & Associates, 103 Morris Street, Suita A, Sebastopol, CA 95472
- +1 707 829-0515, or, in the USA and Canada only, 1-800-998-9938
- Fax: +1 707-829-0104.
- Email nuts@ora.com or uunet!ora!nuts.
- For other distributors: mail, FAX, or call +1 707-829-0515.
-
- Some of the O'Reilly examples are available fro ftp from
- export.lcs.mit.edu in the contrib/OReilly directory.
-
- The System V Release 4 Documentation from Prentice Hall may also include
- a section on OpenWindows.
-
- David Miller describes programming with OLIT in his
- `An OPEN LOOK At Unix' (M&T press).
-
- Nabajyoti Brkakati gives an excellent introduction to X and to OLIT
- programming, as well as setting up and using X and OpenWindows, in:
- `Unix[R] Desktop Guide to OPEN LOOK'
- SAMS, 1992 ISBN 0-672-30023-0
- You can get the examples from this book as
- export.lcs.mit.edu:contrib/naba-olguide-examples.tar.Z
-
- Also about using OLIT, and Xt in particular:
- The X Window System: Programming and Applications with Xt,
- OPEN LOOK Edition,
- Doug Young and John Pew, Prentice Hall, 1992,
- ISBN 0-13-982992-X
- There are also HP Widgets and Motif (ugh) versions of this book.
- The example source code in this book can be obtained by ftp from
- export.lcs.mit.edu, file "contrib/young.pew.olit.Z".
-
- There is an introduction to XView in
- `Writing Applications For Sun Systems', Vol 1, `A Guide for
- Macintosh(R) Programmers' (Sun Microsystems, pub. Addison Wesley)
-
- To learn more about the NeWS and PostScript languages, see
-
- The NeWS Book, Springer Verlag, 1989 (sadly, a little out of date)
-
- PostScript Language Reference Manual, Second Edition,
- Adobe Systems Inc., Addison Wesley, 1990 ["the Red Book"]
- Note that OpenWindows 3 is a level 1 PostScript implementation,
- with certain Level 2 features (such as Composite Fonts) to some
- degree.
-
- PostScript Language Tutorial and Cookbook,
- Adobe Systems Inc., Addison Wesley, 1985 ["The blue book"]
-
- There's at least one book on using Solaris (i.e. SunOS).
-
- Sun also supplies a large amount of documentation with OpenWindows,
- although you may have to order it separately. Here's what I have; they
- are each a little over 21 cm square (wider than A4 paper), and vary from
- about 1 cm to about 3cm thick. They say `User's Guide' or `Programmer's
- Guide' on the front. The User manuals have a red stripe on the bottom,
- and the Programmer ones have a green stripe.
-
- 800-6006-10 OpenWindows Version 3 Release Manual
- 800-6029-10 OpenWindows Version 3 Installation and Start-Up Guide |
- 800-6231-10 OpenWindows Version 3 DeskSet Reference Guide |
- 800-6618-10 OpenWindows Version 3 User's Guide
- 800-6323-10 Desktop Integration Guide [also available in bookstores?]
- 800-6027-10 Programmer's Guide
- 800-6005-10 OpenWindows Version 3 Reference Manual [the man pages]
- 800-6319-10 The NeWS Toolkit 3.0 Reference Manual
- 800-6736-10 NeWS 3.0 Programming Guide
- 800-6055-10 OLIT 3.0 Widget Set Reference Manual
- 800-6198-10 XView 3.0 Reference Manual: Converting SunView Applications
-
- 800-6854-10 F3 Font Format Specification [order separately]
-
- There are also some other sets of documentation, including the TypeScaler
- documentation from the OpenFonts group, for example. There doesn't seem
- to be a complete list anywhere.
-
- ??????????? ToolTalk 1.0 Setup and Administration Guide (SunSoft, 1991)
- 800-6093-10 ToolTalk 1.0 Programmer's Guide (SunSoft, 1991)
- There might be documentation about the Link Manager somewhere, too.
-
- AT&T includes several large thorny bushes' worth of paper with OLIT.
-
- Sun's AnswerBook CD/ROM contains a lot of the above documentation,
- including some of the O'Reilly books (not the XView 3 Volume 7, though).
-
- Volume 8 of the O'Reilly series is about X Administration, and mentions +
- OpenWindows, although it is primarily aimed at X11R5. +
-
- Several other books are in the works...
-
-
- Subject: Getting this File, Revision History, Recent Changes
-
- Mail lee@sq.com to ask for it. Douglas N. Arnold (dna@math.psu.edu)
- keeps an up-to-date copy on ftp.math.psu.edu (currently 128.118.24.22) in
- the file ~ftp/pub/FAQ/open-look.
- The net.answers archives and servers may or may not know about this file,
- since they've just changed hands and this file was previously in one
- archive but not the other.
-
- $Id: open-look.faq,v 1.40 92/11/04 23:22:27 lee Exp $
-
-
- Acknowledgements:
- Ian Darwin <ian@sq.com>
- Charles Ditzel <Charles.Ditzel@West.Sun.COM>
- Rick Heli <Rick.Heli@Eng.Sun.CO>
- Larry W. Virden <lvirden@cas.org>
-
- And many others... You get deleted from this list after a while.
-
-
- --
- lee@sq.com (Liam Quin) the barefoot programmer; SoftQuad Inc +1 416 239 4801
- OPEN LOOK UI FAQ; Metafont list; HexSweeper NeWS game; lq-text text retrieval
- ``They thought him, and they justly thought him, one [lq-text-request@sq.com
- Sent to do more than he appeared to have done.'' Wm. Cowper, Conversation
-