editres

EDITRES(1)                  General Commands Manual                 EDITRES(1)

NAME
       editres - a dynamic resource editor for X Toolkit applications

SYNTAX
       editres [ -toolkitoption ... ]

OPTIONS
       Editres accepts all of the standard X Toolkit command line options (see
       X(7)).  The order of the command line options is not important.

DESCRIPTION
       Editres is a tool that allows users and application developers to  view
       the  full widget hierarchy of any X Toolkit application that speaks the
       Editres protocol.  In addition, editres will help  the  user  construct
       resource  specifications,  allow  the user to apply the resource to the
       application and view the results dynamically.  Once the user  is  happy
       with  a  resource specification editres will append the resource string
       to the user's X Resources file.

USING EDITRES
       Editres provides a window consisting of the following four areas:

       Menu Bar                 A set of popup menus that allow you  full  ac-
                                cess to editres's features.

       Panner                   The  panner  allows  a  more  intuitive way to
                                scroll the application tree display.

       Message Area             Displays information to the user about the ac-
                                tion that editres expects of her.

       Application Widget Tree  This area will be used to display the selected
                                application's widget tree.

       To begin an editres session select the Get Widget Tree menu  item  from
       the  command  menu.  This will change the pointer cursor to cross hair.
       You should now select the application you wish look at by  clicking  on
       any of its windows.  If this application understands the editres proto-
       col then editres will display the application's widget tree in its tree
       window.   If  the  application does not understand the editres protocol
       editres will inform you of this fact in the message area  after  a  few
       seconds delay.

       Once  you  have  a widget tree you may now select any of the other menu
       options. The effect of each of these is described below.

COMMANDS
       Get Widget Tree
               Allows the user to click on any application that speaks the ed-
               itres protocol and receive its widget tree.

       Refresh Current Widget Tree
               Editres  only knows about the widgets that exist at the present
               time.  Many applications create and destroy widgets on the fly.
               Selecting this menu item will cause editres to ask the applica-
               tion to resend its widget tree, thus updating  its  information
               to the new state of the application.

               For  example, xman only creates the widgets for its topbox when
               it starts up.  None of the widgets for the manual  page  window
               are  created  until the user actually clicks on the Manual Page
               button.  If you retrieved xman's widget  tree  before  the  the
               manual  page is active, you may wish to refresh the widget tree
               after the manual page has been displayed.  This will allow  you
               to also edit the manual page's resources.

       Dump Widget Tree to a File
               For  documenting  applications it is often useful to be able to
               dump the entire application widget tree to an ASCII file.  This
               file  can  then be included in the manual page.  When this menu
               item is selected a popup dialog is activated.  Type the name of
               the file in this dialog, and either select okay, or type a car-
               riage-return.  Editres will now dump the widget  tree  to  this
               file.  To cancel the file dialog, select the cancel button.

       Show Resource Box
               This command will popup a resource box for the current applica-
               tion.  This resource box (described in detail below) will allow
               the user to see exactly which resources can be set for the wid-
               get that is currently selected  in  the  widget  tree  display.
               Only  one widget may be currently selected; if greater or fewer
               are selected editres will refuse to pop up the resource box and
               put an error message in the Message Area.

       Set Resource
               This  command will popup a simple dialog box for setting an ar-
               bitrary resource on all selected widgets.  You must type in the
               resource  name,  as well as the value.  You can use the Tab key
               to switch between the resource name field  the  resource  value
               field.

       Quit    Exits editres.

TREE COMMANDS
       The  Tree  menu  contains  several commands that allow operations to be
       performed on the widget tree.

       Select Widget in Client
              This menu item allows you to select any widget in  the  applica-
              tion;  editres will then highlight the corresponding element the
              widget tree display.   Once  this  menu  item  is  selected  the
              pointer  cursor  will  again  turn  to a crosshair, and you must
              click any pointer button in the widget you  wish  to  have  dis-
              played.   Since  some  widgets are fully obscured by their chil-
              dren, it is not possible to get to every widget  this  way,  but
              this  mechanism  does give very useful feedback between the ele-
              ments in the widget tree and those in the actual application.

       Select All

       Unselect All

       Invert All
              These functions allow the user to select,  unselect,  or  invert
              all widgets in the widget tree.

       Select Children

       Select Parents
              These  functions select the immediate parent or children of each
              of the currently selected widgets.

       Select Descendants

       Select Ancestors
              These functions select all parents or children of  each  of  the
              currently selected widgets.  This is a recursive search.

       Show Widget Names

       Show Class Names

       Show Widget IDs

       Show Widget Windows
              When  the  tree widget is initially displayed the labels of each
              widget in the tree correspond to the widget names.  These  func-
              tions  will  cause  the  label  of all widgets in the tree to be
              changed to show the class name, IDs, or window  associated  with
              each widget in the application.  The widget IDs, and windows are
              shown as hex numbers.

       In addition there are keyboard accelerators for each of the Tree opera-
       tions.   If  the  input focus is over an individual widget in the tree,
       then that operation will only effect that widget.  If the  input  focus
       is  in  the Tree background it will have exactly the same effect as the
       corresponding menu item.

       The translation entries shown may be applied to any widget in  the  ap-
       plication.   If that widget is a child of the Tree widget, then it will
       only affect that widget, otherwise it will have the same effect as  the
       commands in the tree menu.

       Flash Active Widgets
              This  command is the inverse of the Select Widget in Client com-
              mand, it will show the user each widget that  is  currently  se-
              lected  in the widget tree, by flashing the corresponding widget
              in the application numFlashes (three by default)  times  in  the
              flashColor.

              Key     Option                     Translation Entry
              -
              space   Unselect                   Select(nothing)
              w       Select                     Select(widget)
              s       Select                     Select(all)
              i       Invert                     Select(invert)
              c       Select Children            Select(children)
              d       Select Descendants         Select(descendants)
              p       Select Parent              Select(parent)
              a       Select Ancestors           Select(ancestors)
              N       Show Widget Names          Relabel(name)
              C       Show Class Names           Relabel(class)
              I       Show Widget IDs            Relabel(id)
              W       Show Widget Windows        Relabel(window)
              T       Toggle Widget/Class Name   Relabel(toggle)

              Clicking  button  1  on  a widget adds it to the set of selected
              widgets.  Clicking button 2 on a widget deselects all other wid-
              gets  and then selects just that widget.  Clicking button 3 on a
              widget toggles its label between the widget's instance name  the
              widget's class name.

USING THE RESOURCE BOX
       The  resource box contains five different areas.  Each of the areas, as
       they appear on the screen, from top to bottom will be discussed.

       The Resource Line
              This area at the top of the resource box shows the  current  re-
              source name exactly as it would appear if you were to save it to
              a file or apply it.

       The Widget Names and Classes
              This area allows you to select exactly which  widgets  this  re-
              source  will  apply to.  The area contains four lines, the first
              contains the name of the selected widget and all its  ancestors,
              and  the  more  restrictive  dot (.) separator.  The second line
              contains less specific the Class names of each widget, and  well
              as the less restrictive star (*) separator.  The third line con-
              tains a set of special buttons called Any Widget which will gen-
              eralize  this level to match any widget.  The last line contains
              a set of special buttons called Any Widget Chain which will turn
              the  single  level into something that matches zero or more lev-
              els.

              The initial state of this area is the  most  restrictive,  using
              the  resource  names  and  the  dot separator.  By selecting the
              other buttons in this area you can ease the restrictions to  al-
              low  more  and more widgets to match the specification.  The ex-
              treme case is to select all the Any Widget Chain buttons,  which
              will match every widget in the application.   As you select dif-
              ferent buttons the tree display will update to show you  exactly
              which  widgets will be effected by the current resource specifi-
              cation.

       Normal and Constraint Resources
              The next area allows you to select the name  of  the  normal  or
              constraint resources you wish to set.  Some widgets may not have
              constraint resources, so that area will not appear.

       Resource Value
              This next area allows you to enter  the  resource  value.   This
              value  should  be  entered exactly as you would type a line into
              your resource file.  Thus it should contain  no  unescaped  new-
              lines.   There  are  a  few special character sequences for this
              file:

              \n - This will be replaced with a newline.

              \### - Where # is any octal digit.  This will be replaced with a
              single  byte that contains this sequence interpreted as an octal
              number.  For example, a value containing  a  NULL  byte  can  be
              stored by specifying \000.

              \<new-line> - This will compress to nothing.

              \\ - This will compress to a single backslash.

       Command Area
              This  area  contains  several command buttons, described in this
              section.

       Set Save File
              This button allows the user to modify file  that  the  resources
              will  be  saved to.  This button will bring up a dialog box that
              will ask you for a filename; once the filename has been entered,
              either  hit carriage-return or click on the okay button.  To pop
              down the dialog box without changing the save  file,  click  the
              cancel button.

       Save   This button will append the resource line described above to the
              end of the current save file.  If no save file has been set  the
              Set  Save  File  dialog box will be popped up to prompt the user
              for a filename.

       Apply  This button attempts to perform a XtSetValues call on  all  wid-
              gets  that  match  the resource line described above.  The value
              specified is applied directly to all matching widgets.  This be-
              havior is an attempt to give a dynamic feel to the resource edi-
              tor.  Since this feature allows users to put an  application  in
              states it may not be willing to handle, a hook has been provided
              to allow specific applications to block these SetValues requests
              (see Blocking Editres Requests below).

              Unfortunately  due  to design constraints imposed on the widgets
              by the X Toolkit and the Resource Manager, trying to  coerce  an
              inherently static system into dynamic behavior can cause strange
              results.  There is no guarantee that the  results  of  an  apply
              will be the same as what will happen when you save the value and
              restart the application.  This functionality is provided to  try
              to  give you a rough feel for what your changes will accomplish,
              and the results obtained should be considered suspect  at  best.
              Having  said  that,  this  is one of the neatest features of ed-
              itres, and I strongly suggest that you play  with  it,  and  see
              what it can do.

       Save and Apply
              This  button combines the Save and Apply actions described above
              into one button.

       Popdown Resource Box
              This button will remove the resource box from the display.

BLOCKING EDITRES REQUESTS
       The editres protocol has been built into the Athena Widget  set.   This
       allows all applications that are linked against Xaw to be able to speak
       to the resource editor.  While this provides great flexibility, and  is
       a useful tool, it can quite easily be abused.  It is therefore possible
       for any Xaw application to specify a value  for  the  editresBlock  re-
       source  described  below,  to  keep  editres from divulging information
       about its internals, or to disable the SetValues part of the protocol.

       editresBlock (Class EditresBlock)
               Specifies which type of blocking this application wishes to im-
               pose on the editres protocol.

       The accepted values are:

       all            Block all requests.

       setValues      Block  all  SetValues requests.  As this is the only ed-
                      itres request that actually  modifies  the  application,
                      this  is in effect stating that the application is read-
                      only.

       none           Allow all editres requests.

       Remember that these resources are set on any Xaw application,  not  ed-
       itres.   They  allow individual applications to keep all or some of the
       requests editres makes from ever succeeding.   Of  course,  editres  is
       also  an  Xaw application, so it may also be viewed and modified by ed-
       itres (rather recursive, I know), these commands can be blocked by set-
       ting the editresBlock resource on editres itself.

RESOURCES
       For editres the available application resources are:

       numFlashes (Class NumFlashes)
               Specifies  the  number  of times the widgets in the application
               will be flashed when the Show Active  Widgets  command  in  in-
               voked.

       flashTime (Class FlashTime)
               Amount of time between the flashes described above.

       flashColor (Class flashColor)
               Specifies  the  color  used  to  flash  application widgets.  A
               bright color should be used that will immediately draw your at-
               tention to the area being flashed, such as red or yellow.

       saveResourcesFile (Class SaveResourcesFile)
               This  is  the file the resource line will be append to when the
               Save button activated in the resource box.

WIDGETS
       In order to specify resources, it is useful to know  the  hierarchy  of
       the  widgets which compose editres.  In the notation below, indentation
       indicates hierarchical structure.   The  widget  class  name  is  given
       first, followed by the widget instance name.

       Editres  editres
            Paned  paned
                                       Box  box
                                                             MenuButton  commands
                                                             SimpleMenu  menu
                                                             SmeBSB  sendTree
                                                             SmeBSB  refreshTree
                                                             SmeBSB  dumpTreeToFile
                                                             SmeLine  line
                                                             SmeBSB  getResourceList
                                                             SmeLine  line
                                                             SmeBSB  quit
                                                             MenuButton  treeCommands
                                                             SimpleMenu  menu
                                                             SmeBSB  showClientWidget
                                                             SmeBSB  selectAll
                                                             SmeBSB  unselectAll
                                                             SmeBSB  invertAll
                                                             SmeLine  line
                                                             SmeBSB  selectChildren
                                                             SmeBSB  selectParent
                                                             SmeBSB  selectDescendants
                                                             SmeBSB  selectAncestors
                                                             SmeLine  line
                                                             SmeBSB  showWidgetNames
                                                             SmeBSB  showClassNames
                                                             SmeBSB  showWidgetIDs
                                                             SmeBSB  showWidgetWindows
                                                             SmeLine  line
                                                             SmeBSB  flashActiveWidgets
                                       Paned  hPane
                                                             Panner  panner
                                                             Label  userMessage
                                                             Grip  grip
                                       Porthole  porthole
                                                             Tree  tree
                                                             Toggle  <name of widget in application>
                                                             .
                                                             .
                                                             .
                                                             TransientShell  resourceBox
                                                             Paned  pane
                                                             Label  resourceLabel
                                                             Form  namesAndClasses
                                                             Toggle  dot
                                                             Toggle  star
                                                             Toggle  any
                                                             Toggle  name
                                                             Toggle  class
                                                                  .
                                                                  .
                                                                  .
                                                             Label  namesLabel
                                                             List  namesList
                                                             Label  constraintLabel
                                                             List  constraintList
                                                             Form  valueForm
                                                             Label  valueLabel
                                                             Text  valueText
                                                             Box  commandBox
                                                             Command  setFile
                                                             Command  save
                                                             Command  apply
                                                             Command  saveAndApply
                                                             Command  cancel
                                                             Grip  grip
                                       Grip  grip

ENVIRONMENT
       DISPLAY to get the default host and display number.

       XENVIRONMENT
               to  get  the  name of a resource file that overrides the global
               resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.

FILES
       /etc/X11/app-defaults/Editres
              specifies required resources

SEE ALSO
       X(7), xrdb(1), Athena Widget Set

RESTRICTIONS
       This is a prototype, there are lots of nifty features I would  love  to
       add, but I hope this will give you some ideas about what a resource ed-
       itor can do.

AUTHOR
       Chris D. Peterson, formerly MIT X Consortium

X Version 11                     editres 1.0.7                      EDITRES(1)
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