Volume 6A: Motif Programming Manual

18.3 Clipboard Data Formats

As discussed in the introduction, the clipboard can contain data in arbitrary formats. While the most commonly used

format is text, other formats include integers, pixmaps, and arbitrary data structures. Since all applications on the

desktop have access to the clipboard, any of them may register a new format and place items of that type on the

clipboard.

When registering a new format, you must also register a corresponding format name and the format length in bits (8,

16, and 32). Determining the type of data on the clipboard is much easier when there is a descriptive name associated

with it. The length allows applications to send and receive data without suffering from byte−swapping problems due

to differing computer architectures.

To register a new format, use XmClipboardRegisterFormat(), which takes the following form:

int

XmClipboardRegisterFormat(display, format_name, format_length)

Display *display;

char *format_name;

unsigned long format_length;

The function may return ClipboardBadFormat if the format name is NULL or the format length is other than 8,

16, or 32. The format length may be specified as 0, in which case Motif will attempt to look up the default length for

the given name. shows the format lengths for some predefined format names.

tab(@), linesize(2); l | l lfCW | nfCW . Format Name@Format Length

_

"TARGETS"@32 "MULTIPLE"@32 "TIMESTAMP"@32 "STRING"@8 "LIST_LENGTH"@32 "PIXMAP"@32

"DRAWABLE"@32 "BITMAP"@32 "FOREGROUND"@32 "BACKGROUND"@32 "COLORMAP"@32 ...