
17
Resources
In the X Window System, the user can configure the interface according to options available
in specific applications. The user accomplishes this through a resource database that resides
in the X server. The X Protocol provides many ways to access the resource database, as well
as many functions to aid in this task. You should consult Chapter 11, Managing User Prefer-
ences, in Volume One, Xlib Programming Manual, for a complete, in-depth discussion of X
resource specification and management. Related programs include xrdb, and related func-
tions can be found in Volume Two, Xlib Reference Manual.
XView provides many functions that allow the programmer to interact with the server to get
or set resources specified by the user. Robust applications should account for user-definable
defaults. That is, your programs should always consider the user’s wishes for changing attri-
bute values for things like fonts, colors and maybe even window sizes, as long as the values
do not interfere with the normal running of the program. You should also provide the user
with a list of resources that can be set, and you should test for them in your application.
17.1 Predefined Defaults
All of the packages in XView look for predefined defaults that the user can set in his/her
resource environment. Table 17-1 outlines these defaults, their types and legal values. Refer
to Section 6, Command-line Arguments