xkill

XKILL(1)                    General Commands Manual                   XKILL(1)

NAME
       xkill - kill a client by its X resource

SYNOPSIS
       xkill  [-display  displayname] [-id resource] [-button number] [-frame]
       [-all] [-version]

DESCRIPTION
       Xkill is a utility for forcing the X server  to  close  connections  to
       clients.   This  program  is very dangerous, but is useful for aborting
       programs that have displayed undesired windows on a user's screen.   If
       no  resource identifier is given with -id, xkill will display a special
       cursor as a prompt for the user to select a window to be killed.  If  a
       pointer button is pressed over a non-root window, the server will close
       its connection to the client that created the window.

OPTIONS
       -display displayname
               This option specifies the name of the X server to contact.

       -id resource
               This option specifies the X identifier for the  resource  whose
               creator  is  to be aborted.  If no resource is specified, xkill
               will display a special cursor with which you  should  select  a
               window to be kill.

       -button number
               This  option specifies the number of pointer button that should
               be used in selecting a window to kill.  If the  word  "any"  is
               specified,  any button on the pointer may be used.  By default,
               the first button in the pointer map (which is usually the left-
               most button) is used.

       -all    This  option  indicates that all clients with top-level windows
               on the screen should be killed.  Xkill will ask you  to  select
               the  root  window with each of the currently defined buttons to
               give you several chances to  abort.   Use  of  this  option  is
               highly discouraged.

       -frame  This  option  indicates  that  xkill should ignore the standard
               conventions for finding top-level  client  windows  (which  are
               typically  nested  inside  a window manager window), and simply
               believe that you want to kill direct children of the root.

       -version
               This option makes xkill print  its  version  and  exit  without
               killing anything.

CAVEATS
       This  command  does not provide any warranty that the application whose
       connection to the X server is closed will abort nicely, or  even  abort
       at  all.  All  this  command  does  is to close the connection to the X
       server. Many existing applications do indeed abort when  their  connec-
       tion to the X server is closed, but some can choose to continue.

XDEFAULTS
       Button  Specifies a specific pointer button number or the word "any" to
               use when selecting windows.

SEE ALSO
       X(7), xwininfo(1), XKillClient(3), XGetPointerMapping(3), KillClient in
       the X Protocol Specification

AUTHOR
       Jim Fulton, MIT X Consortium
       Dana Chee, Bellcore

X Version 11                      xkill 1.0.5                         XKILL(1)