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From: diamant@hpfclp.SDE.HP.COM (John Diamant)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: xterm -C takes over hosts/X consoles
Message-ID: <9740106@hpfclp.SDE.HP.COM>
Date: 28 Aug 89 06:21:19 GMT
References: <229@lib.tmc.edu>
Organization: HP SESD, Fort Collins, CO
Lines: 39

> Problem is, when I give xterm the "-C" option, it takes over the real console
> from the host on which it's running, and the user starts seeing all kinds
> of system messages intended for the operator.

Yes, well, that's what the "-C" option means.

> I'd like to make a designated xterm the "console" only for the msgs the user
> *should* see (complaints from programs, xwatch and xwininfo entries, etc.).
> What I'm hoping to avoid is running all of my programs from this
> "console" xterm; instead, I'd like to have  xtools (perhaps called from
> the .login or from xdm) handle everything.

What you might do (I used to do this before our O.S. could handle the -C
option) is have all your programs send stdout and stderr to a file.  If
all your programs were invoked from a startup script, have the stdout and
stderr from that script set to the file and all the programs will inherit
it.  Then, set up a special window which is running a tail -f on the
log file you set up.  It doesn't allow you to interact in that window
(no interactive shell available), but it logs all messages to a common
spot.  This will require everything to run on the same host or at least
to be able to write to the common log file (maybe over NFS or some
other transparent file access).
> 
> Is there some sort of 
>     "I've registered myself with the X server on this display as the 
>      <<console window>>, so all programs on all hosts running on this 
>      display can send your messages to me!" 
> ability present in or planned for X that all programs could use?

No, there isn't any such standard system.   Of course, you could always
implement such a thing, but it won't be general unless it were adopted
as part of the Inter-Client Communication Conventions Manual (which 
is frozen, at least for now).


John Diamant
Software Engineering Systems Division
Hewlett-Packard Co.		Internet: diamant@hpfclp.sde.hp.com
Fort Collins, CO		    UUCP: {hplabs,hpfcla}!hpfclp!diamant