Volume 6A: Motif Programming Manual

course of writing this book, I developed the Motif interface for Z−Mail that you see here, which was my reality−check

that what I preach really does work.

It should be mentioned that Z−Mail also supports an OPEN LOOK interface. To do the OPEN LOOK version, I chose

to use OLIT (OPEN LOOK Intrinsics Toolkit) because, like Motif, it is based on the X Toolkit Intrinsics. Xt is a great

environment for developing applications for the X environment. I also believe that the best applications are those

whose user interfaces can be abstracted, generalized, and modularized so that you can unplug one interface and plug in

another. My approach to doing that is also reflected in this book, although not as a major topic.

Since the first writing of this book, I'm happy to say that Z−Mail has become a great success. It has been ported to

Microsoft Windows and to the Apple Macintosh, both of which have graphical user environments that are

substantially different from Motif in look, feel, and API implementations. However, the models described in this

book, namely the abstraction and generalization of core components from one another, were maintained throughout

the course of the porting processes.

Dan Heller

1.9 Acknowledgments

The current edition of this book was updated to cover Motif 1.2, including drag and drop and internationalization, by

Paula Ferguson. Dave Brennan, of HaL Computer Systems, took on the unenviable task of learning everything he

could about UIL and Mrm, in order to write the UIL programming material for this edition. He did a great job of

covering a complex subject.

Adrian Nye deserves recognition for allowing me to work on this project, when I'm sure that he had other projects he

would have liked to send my way. I don't think either one of us had any idea how involved this update project would

become. He also provided editorial support that helped keep me on track in the final stages of the work on the book.

The other writers at O'Reilly & Associates in Cambridge, Valerie Quercia and Linda Mui, provided support that kept

me sane while I was working on the book. Their willingness to listen and offer advice is greatly appreciated. Extra

gratitude goes to Valerie Quercia for her help with the screen dumps for the book.

David Flanagan deserves credit for always being willing to answer my questions about the technical details of Motif

and X. Douglas Rand, Scott Meeks, and David Brooks at OSF answered questions and helped review the new

material. Daniel Jahn, of SAS Institute, Inc., also provided valuable review comments for this edition.

Special thanks go to the people who worked on the production of this book. The final form of this book is the work of

the staff at O'Reilly & Associates. The authors would like to thank Chris Reilly for the figures, Donna Woonteiler,

Chris Tong, and Ellie Cutler for indexing, Lenny Muellner for tools support, and Stephen Spainhour, Clairemarie

Fisher O'Leary, Kismet McDonough, and Eileen Kramer for copyediting and production of the final copy. Thanks also

to Donna Woonteiler for her patience in helping me understand the production process.

Finally, I'd like to thank my friends for putting up with me when I kept telling them that I'd be done working non−stop

in a month or two. Special thanks to my housemate, Meredith Hunt, who put up with me when I was stressed out and

not much fun to live with, and who took care of the cats when I wasn't around. My friends Karen Lewis and Liz

Bradley opened their house to me when I needed to escape and be someplace where there are mountains. And thanks

to the great people at the Boston Rock Gym, who provided me with a much−needed outlet for climbing the walls.

Despite the efforts of all of these people, the authors alone are responsible for any errors or omissions that remain.

Paula M. Ferguson

1 Preface 1.9 Acknowledgments

10

The first edition of this book took over a year and a half to write and compile from the beginning. But when I look

back on the entire effort, and I think about what it takes to do things like this (and other difficult things in life), I

realize that what it really requires is a state of mind and a mental model that lends itself to seeing the big picture and

choosing to do what's necessary to get the job done.

To this, I can only credit one person, Tim O'Reilly, my friend and editor of this book. It's his approach to life, his

values, his way of thinking about things, and his talent for expressing them is what has influenced me more than

anything else in adopting the kind of mental framework necessary to write a book like this (or to start my company,

Z−Code Software, or to do anything I do in life). He never gives me advice when I ask for it, nor does he tell me what

to do. Instead, he uses quotes, cites anecdotes, or just describes an abstract thought that always seems to be

appropriate to every situation. In short, he's shown me a way of thinking about things that appreciates the big picture. I

take this with me wherever I go, and in whatever I do. Without it, I couldn't have written this book.

Those who worked most closely with me on the project include Irene Jacobson, who dedicated long hours to

meticulous editing and support. Her intuition and insistence on proper use of words saved many cuts of Tim O'Reilly's

scalpel. David Lewis also gets super−high marks for his excellent feedback, for his technical expertise, and for

helping take care of certain Z−Mail ports while I was busy hunched over this computer. More thanks go to the great

folks at Z−Code Software, Bart Schaefer and Don Hatch, for not laughing at me when I told people for at least six

months that the book would take "just two more weeks now." (I really meant it, too!) Actually, they helped quite a bit

with reading nroff'd manuscripts, and by taking care of the business whenever I was at O'Reilly & Associates' offices

in "Bahston."

The figures in this book come in two forms: screendumps and hand−generated figures done by Chris Reilly. What a

super job he did−−and always on time. And how can I thank Kismet McDonough, Lenny Muellner, Rosanne Wagger,

Mike Sierra, Eileen Kramer, and the other production folks at O'Reilly & Associates, who did a wonderful job of

copyediting, proofing, page layout, and all the other things that make the difference between a manuscript and a

finished book. And that's not all: Ellie Cutler wrote the index. Tony Marotto of Cambridge Computer Associates

figured out how to convert our screen dumps into PostScript files and how to scale screen dumps without the moire

and plaid patterns you see in many books. He used Jeff Poskanzer's pmbplus to convert xwd dumps to gif format, and

then wrote a set of image−processing programs that shift and enhance the tones. Daniel Gilly took on the enormous

job of developing the reference appendices when it became clear that I wouldn't have time.

Enthusiastic applause goes to Libby Hanna (do I get a real official OSF/Motif decoder ring now!!??), David Brooks,

Scott Meeks, Susan Thompson, Carl Scholz, Benjamin Ellsworth, and the entire cast at OSF in Cambridge for their

support. And, of course, everyone on the motif−talk mailing list. (I wish I could remember all your names!)

People I can't forget: Bill "Rock" Petro, Akkana, Mike Harrigan at NCD for the terminal, Danny Backx at BIM (sorry

I didn't get you any review copies!), John Harkin, and certain folks at Sun that I'd love to mention, but I can't because

they're into that OL−thang and they wouldn't want to be associated with the M−word, Jordan Hayes, Paula Ferguson,

and Kee Hinckley (just because he's cool). Also thanks to Ralph Swick and Donna Converse at the X Consortium for

being somewhat patient with me.

Added thanks to Lynn Vaughn at CNN for keeping me informed about what's going on in the world, since I have no

time to look out the window; to Short Attention−Span Theatre, for keeping me amused; and to Yogurt World, for

keeping me fed.

This book was written using a Sun workstation, the vi editor (for which I guess I ought to thank Bill Joy), SoftQuad's

sqtroff, X11R4 and various versions of Motif (1.0 through 1.1.3).

For catching and reporting errors that have been fixed in the second printing, I'd like to thank Akkana, Wayne

Robertz, Glen Shute, Scott Strool, Trevor Taylor, Peter Wagner, Andrew Wason, Tim Weinrich, and Bill Wohler.

1 Preface 1.9 Acknowledgments

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