Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!lll-winken!uunet!bu.edu!nntp-read!jc From: jc@raven.bu.edu (James Cameron) Newsgroups: comp.windows.x Subject: Re: New User's Questions (LONG) Message-ID: Date: 12 Jun 91 05:09:21 GMT References: <162@spunky.NYU.EDU> Sender: news@bu.edu Distribution: na Organization: What do you mean 'That *can't* be done????' Lines: 153 In-reply-to: mckenney@CS.NYU.EDU's message of 10 Jun 91 15:15:05 GMT >>>>> On 10 Jun 91 15:15:05 GMT, mckenney@CS.NYU.EDU (Alan M. McKenney) said: ||> I am a new X-windows user (*not* programmer), in the process of [...First of all, just a warning: I have never really used SunWindows and TWM was my first window manager. I have used MWM, TVTWM, OLWM, and OLVWM extensively since and presently use OLVWM...] ||> Questions: ||> 1) SunWindows allows me to have a (function) key resize a window to ||> a specified size. (At least it works with cmdtool and shelltool.) ||> Is there a way to set this up, at least for XTerm? No, TWM does not have this feature. ||> 2) SunWindows uses the F1 key as a window-specific Caps-Lock key, ||> with a reminder in the title bar. This is a lot more convenient ||> than the standard Caps Lock key, which doesn't even light the ||> Caps Lock light, and its window-specificity is a little closer ||> to the context-specificity I would really like. How can I get a ||> window-specific caps lock, or, failing that, get a visual indicator ||> on the screen, or at least get the Caps Lock light to indicate the ||> state of the Caps Lock key? No, TWM does not have this feature. ||> 3) I am having a lot of problems with repeated characters, which I ||> didn't have with SunWindows. E.g., I type "bit", but sometimes get ||> something like "biit" or "bitt". Is this some kind of race ||> condition (=known problem) in X, or does this have to do with ||> how the autorepeat is set up? I.e., can I do anything about it ||> (besides swear at it)? There is a way to change your autorepeat. It is a patch and unfortunately, I do not know where it is. ||> I notice that xset allows autorepeat to be turned off, but I don't ||> see where there is any way to control how long the system waits ||> before autorepeating, or to control the repeat rate. ||> 6) When I exit X, I get a lot of "broken pipe" messages and a messy ||> screen. All attempts to get the screen cleared upon exit from X ||> have proven at best unreliable. How can I get X to quit ||> gracefully, other than by manually shutting down all child ||> processes one by one? You can have XDM running, which puts up a window for you to log into and handles the errors and X server. This is about the only solution. ||> 7) Is there any way to control where the icons go when I "iconify" ||> a window? (I have set it up so I get icons, not rectangles in ||> the "icon manager" window.) As it is, the first time a window is ||> iconified, the icon ends up wherever the window was. It would be ||> nice to be able to specify absolute positions (for those started in ||> my .xinitrc file) and a "gravity" for windows that I open later. Well, you *could* use the icon manager feature of TWM. I found it useful when I used TWM. *8-) ||> 9) Is there a better User's Manual? ||> In fact, I find it strange that, here in NYC at least, most ||> bookstores have several books on programming in X, but only ||> one or two have even one book on just using X (that being vol. 3 ||> of the Quercia & O'Reilly series.) Every other title I have seen ||> either explicitly states "programming for X-windows" or the like, ||> or turns out to focus almost exclusively on programming. Does ||> anyone just use X to get their work done, or are all X users ||> hackers or hacker wannabees? Why is there no "getting started ||> with X-windows", like there is for, say, WordPerfect, or even ||> for Unix (or SunWindows, for that matter)? Most of what it seems you are asking is WM (window manager) specific, and it simply requires you printing out the man page on it and seriously going through it all. This is the most customizable thing you will be able to have. ||> 10) Who should I contact (preferrably by E-mail) about bugs in the ||> X-windows documentation? I found one blooper in the man page for ||> "resize" already. Documentation? Is this the man pages for certain programs or the actual books you are reading? ||> 12) Is this group (comp.windows.x) the right group to ask user questions? ||> I haven't seen any questions posted that are anywhere near my level ||> of ignorance. Or is there a comp.windows.x.compleat-idiots? As long as you have honestly tried to find the solution, then this is CERTAINLY the place to ask. All that matters is that you tried to find it yourself. *8-) ||> 13) Sometimes, if there is an error in my .twmrc file, X-windows ||> seems to hang. One easy way to get this is to have a menu ||> entry in .twmrc with an ! but no &. In this case, the only ||> way I have found to get out of it (short of rebooting) is to ||> log in from somewhere else and kill processes, usually the ||> twm. Is there a better way to escape from X, similar to ||> SunWindows's ^D^Q ? Well, it is not X server which is hanging, but TWM. It does not handle errors in the startup file well, so the solution is to not make errors. (* smile *) And/or login to another machine and kill it. ||> 14) Also, is there a good (general) way to interrupt and kill a ||> window process, similar to the SunWindows item "quit"? I know ||> that XTerm has a menu item like that, but not all window ||> producers do, and it would be nice to get twm to try to kill ||> the program. Well, you could use xkill as a last resort. This does not exit things graciasly, so it should be used when you have tried other things. You can have this as part of your TWM menus. And, finally, just a few things to note. It seems that MWM and OLWM are growing in popularity. Since you are running X and not OpenWindows you might find MWM more customizable. Also, as I had done some major hacking with TWM, I will send your my old .twmrc if you want some examples of it. *8-) jc -- -- James Cameron (jc@raven.bu.edu) Signal Processing and Interpretation Lab. Boston, Mass (617) 353-2879 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "But to risk we must, for the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. For the man or woman who risks nothing, has nothing, does nothing, is nothing." (Quote from the eulogy for the late Christa McAuliffe.)