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From: unknown@Unify.Com
Newsgroups: comp.windows.open-look
Subject: re: Fallback Resources
Message-ID: <2rasb54@openlook.Unify.Com>
Date: 26 Jun 91 21:53:20 GMT
Sender: news@Unify.Com
Lines: 49

> [is it] possible to register fallback resources with an
> appication using Olit 2.5? ... I don't know if OlInitialize()
> creates an Application Context and if so, how do get it?

No, sorry, it is not possible to (usefully) register fallback
resources. This is an example of a more generic problem that "we"
intend to fix. (I speak for more than just USL when I say "we".)
OlInitialize must go, XtAppInitialize (or its constituant
parts) must prevail.

One can get the application context handle as follows:

    top_leval = OlInitialize(...);
    ac = XtWidgetToApplicationContext(top_level);

But after calling OlInitialize--which calls XtOpenDisplay--it
is too late to (effectively) register any fallback resources.

> I know i can do basically the same thing using an app-default
> file but i would like it better if the information was
> compiled into the program where it can't be lost ...

Sorry, I don't understand the concern people have when they
fear an app-defaults file may be "lost". I usually retort,
as I'm doing here, that one is just about as likely to lose the
a.out (application) itself as an app-defaults file. Certainly
losing the application (or the app-defaults file) is a bummer,
but what is the likelihood? I think this is a non-issue, in
practice, but I can't argue with the fact that people do
worry.

> ... or modified.

Yes, this is a problem--or a benefit. Consider that the
app-defaults file is a nifty way to allow someone to localize
(make language- and custom-specific) the client. Consider
also that the app-defaults file is a great template for
the user who wishes to create a private, customized version,
via the $XAPPLRESDIR path.

Yet you are right: A messed up app-defaults file typically
causes the client to behave strangely, so modification of
an app-defaults file should not be taken lightly. On the other
hand, accidental modification of the file is, similar to losing
the file, just about as likely as accidental modification of
the a.out.

Steve Humphrey
UNIX System Laboratories