XRDB(1) X Version 11 XRDB(1)
Release 4
NAME
xrdb - X server resource database utility
SYNOPSIS
xrdb [-option ...] [filename]
DESCRIPTION
Xrdb is used to get or set the contents of the RESOURCE_MANAGER
property on the root window of screen 0. You would normally run this
program from your X startup file to initialize the property with
resource specifications (X defaults) from filename. You can also use
xrdb to list the contents of the RESOURCE_MANAGER property or to
modify its contents with specifications from either filename or the
standard input if - or no input file given.
Client applications (which use the X Toolkit or the XLib routine
XGetDefault(3X)) use the resource manager to obtain user preferences
for color, fonts, and so on from the RESOURCE_MANAGER property. For
compatibility, if there is no RESOURCE_MANAGER property defined
(either because xrdb was not run or the property was removed), the
resource manager will obtain user preferences from a file called
.Xdefaults in your home directory. However, having this information
in the server (where it is available to all clients) instead of on
disk, solves the problem in previous versions of X that required you
to maintain .Xdefaults files on every machine that you might use. It
also allows for dynamic changing of user preferences without editing
files.
Note that user preferences are not the only type of resource
specification obtained by the resource manager for clients.
Application class specifications (normally from an application class
file in /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults) and user/application class
specifications are both overridden by user preferences. User/host
specifications and process specific specifications (from the command
line), however, both override user preferences (see the XLib Resource
Manager documentation).
The filename (or the standard input) is optionally passed through the
C preprocessor with the following symbols defined, based on the
capabilities of the server being used:
BITS_PER_RGB=num
the number of significant bits in an RGB color specification.
This is the log base 2 of the number of distinct shades of
each primary that the hardware can generate. Note that it
usually is not related to PLANES.
CLASS=visualclass
one of StaticGray, GrayScale, StaticColor, PseudoColor,
TrueColor, DirectColor. This is the visual class of the root
window of the default screen.
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COLOR defined only if CLASS is one of StaticColor, PseudoColor,
TrueColor, or DirectColor.
HEIGHT=num
the height of the default screen in pixels.
SERVERHOST=hostname
the hostname portion of the display to which you are
connected.
HOST=hostname
the same as SERVERHOST.
CLIENTHOST=hostname
the name of the host on which xrdb is running.
PLANES=num
the number of bit planes (the depth) of the root window of the
default screen.
RELEASE=num
the vendor release number for the server. The interpretation
of this number will vary depending on VENDOR.
REVISION=num
the X protocol minor version supported by this server
(currently 0).
VERSION=num
the X protocol major version supported by this server (should
always be 11).
VENDOR=vendor
a string specifying the vendor of the server.
WIDTH=num
the width of the default screen in pixels.
X_RESOLUTION=num
the x resolution of the default screen in pixels per meter.
Y_RESOLUTION=num
the y resolution of the default screen in pixels per meter.
Lines that begin with an exclamation mark (!) are ignored and
may be used as comments.
OPTIONS
xrdb program accepts the following options:
-help This option (or any unsupported option) will cause a brief
description of the allowable options and parameters to be
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printed.
-display display
This option specifies the X server to be used; see X(1).
-n This option indicates that changes to the property (when used
with -load) or to the resource file (when used with -edit)
should be shown on the standard output, but should not be
performed.
-quiet This option indicates that warning about duplicate entries
should not be displayed.
-cpp filename
This option specifies the pathname of the C preprocessor
program to be used. Although xrdb was designed to use CPP,
any program that acts as a filter and accepts the -D, -I, and
-U options may be used.
-nocpp This option indicates that xrdb should not run the input file
through a preprocessor before loading it into the
RESOURCE_MANAGER property.
-symbols
This option indicates that the symbols that are defined for
the preprocessor should be printed onto the standard output.
It can be used in conjunction with -query, but not with the
options that change the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.
-query This option indicates that the current contents of the
RESOURCE_MANAGER property should be printed onto the standard
output. Note that since preprocessor commands in the input
resource file are part of the input file, not part of the
property, they won't appear in the output from this option.
The -edit option can be used to merge the contents of the
property back into the input resource file without damaging
preprocessor commands.
-load This option indicates that the input should be loaded as the
new value of the RESOURCE_MANAGER property, replacing whatever
was there (i.e. the old contents are removed). This is the
default action.
-merge This option indicates that the input should be merged with,
instead of replacing, the current contents of the
RESOURCE_MANAGER property. Since xrdb can read the standard
input, this option can be used to the change the contents of
the RESOURCE_MANAGER property directly from a terminal or from
a shell script. Note that this option does a lexicographic
sorted merge of the two inputs, which is almost certainly not
what you want, but remains for backward compatibility.
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-remove This option indicates that the RESOURCE_MANAGER property
should be removed from its window.
-retain This option indicates that the server should be instructed not
to reset if xrdb is the first client.
-edit filename
This option indicates that the contents of the
RESOURCE_MANAGER property should be edited into the given
file, replacing any values already listed there. This allows
you to put changes that you have made to your defaults back
into your resource file, preserving any comments or
preprocessor lines.
-backup string
This option specifies a suffix to be appended to the filename
used with -edit to generate a backup file.
-Dname[=value]
This option is passed through to the preprocessor and is used
to define symbols for use with conditionals such as #ifdef.
-Uname This option is passed through to the preprocessor and is used
to remove any definitions of this symbol.
-Idirectory
This option is passed through to the preprocessor and is used
to specify a directory to search for files that are referenced
with #include.
FILES
Generalizes ~/.Xdefaults files.
SEE ALSO
X(1), XGetDefault(3X), Xlib Resource Manager documentation
ENVIRONMENT
DISPLAY to figure out which display to use.
NOTES
The default action when no action argument is specified is -load, not
-query, which is inconsistent with the non-destructive default action
of other programs.
Resource specifications that begin with an exclamation mark (!) or (#)
are ignored by xrdb and may be used as comments if also ignored by the
preprocessor when used. Note that cpp is used as the default and does
not ignore lines that begin with #.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 1988, Digital Equipment Corporation.
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XRDB(1) X Version 11 XRDB(1)
Release 4
AUTHORS
Phil Karlton, rewritten from the original by Jim Gettys
Hewlett-Packard Company - 5 - X11 Release 4 November 1991