Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!snorkelwacker!bloom-beacon!SUN.COM!dshr
From: dshr@SUN.COM (David Rosenthal)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: Proper way to install a colormap...
Message-ID: <9001100130.AA00579@devnull.sun.com>
Date: 10 Jan 90 01:14:07 GMT
Sender: daemon@athena.mit.edu (Mr Background)
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 28

> This should probably go on a frequently asked questions list, but one more
> time...  What is the proper way to install a colormap so that (an ICCCM
> compliant?) window manager such as twm will honor the request.  I would
> like for the colormap to be installed when the cursor is in a particular
> window, execpt possibly when the keyboard focus is elsewhere.
> 
As usual,  the answer to frequently asked questions is RTFM.  In this case
the FM is the ICCCM,  sections 4.1.2.8 and 4.1.8.  In brief:

-	Clients whose top-level window and its subwindows all use the
	same colormap should set the colormap attribute of the top-level
	window.  The WM will track any changes,  and will ensure that this
	colormap is installed whenever the client has the colormap focus.

-	Top-level windows with subwindows or override-redirect popups that
	have different colormaps should have a WM_COLORMAP_WINDOWS property
	with a priority-ordered list of the windows whose colormaps should
	be installed.

Its kind of difficult to imagine how we could make it clearer to someone
who knows that the question relates to the ICCCM than to label the relevant
section "Colormaps".  There are a lot of complaints about the s/n ratio
on xpert.  Frequently asking questions that indicate that you can't
even be bothered to consult the contents page of the manual is a sure way
of overloading this communication channel to the point at which the people
who know the answers no longer listen to it.

	David.