Release 5

NAME

xinit − X Window System initializer

SYNOPSIS

xinit [ [ client ] options ] [ −− [ server ] [ display ] options ]

DESCRIPTION

The xinit program is used to start the X Window System server and a first client program on systems that cannot start X directly from /etc/init or in environments that use multiple window systems.  When this first client exits, xinit will kill the X server and then terminate. 

On HP systems, the X Window System is normally started via the Visual User Environment (VUE) which uses xdm (X Display Manager) technology rather than xinit to start X.  When VUE is not used, the normal method of starting X is via the x11start script which is simply a "wrapper" around xinit providing environment and command line setup appropriate for HP systems (see x11start(1)). 

If no specific client program is given on the command line, xinit will look for a file in the user’s home directory called .xinitrc to run as a shell script to start up client programs.  If no such file exists, xinit will use the following as a default: xterm  −geometry  +1+1  −n  login

If no specific server program is given on the command line, xinit will look for a file in the user’s home directory called .xserverrc to run as a shell script to start up the server.  If no such file exists, xinit will use the following as a default: X  :0 Note that this assumes that there is a program named X in the current search path.  However, servers are usually named Xdisplaytype where displaytype is the type of graphics display which is driven by this server.  The site administrator should, therefore, make a link to the appropriate type of server on the machine, or create a shell script that runs xinit with the appropriate server. 

An important point is that programs which are run by .xinitrc should be run in the background if they do not exit right away, so that they don’t prevent other programs from starting up.  However, the last long-lived program started (usually a window manager or terminal emulator) should be left in the foreground so that the script won’t exit (which indicates that the user is done and that xinit should exit). 

An alternate client and/or server may be specified on the command line.  The desired client program and its arguments should be given as the first command line arguments to xinit.  To specify a particular server command line, append a double dash (−−) to the xinit command line (after any client and arguments) followed by the desired server command. 

Both the client program name and the server program name must begin with a slash (/) or a period (.).  Otherwise, they are treated as an arguments to be appended to their respective startup lines.  This makes it possible to add arguments (for example, foreground and background colors) without having to retype the whole command line. 

If an explicit server name is not given and the first argument following the double dash (−−) is a colon followed by a digit, xinit will use that number as the display number instead of zero and will incorporate it into the $DISPLAY environment variable.  All remaining arguments are appended to the server command line. 

EXAMPLES

Below are several examples of how command line arguments in xinit are used. 

xinit This will start up a server named X, if .xserverrc doesn’t exist, and run the user’s .xinitrc, if it exists, or else start an xterm. 

xinit −− /usr/bin/X11/Xqdss  :1
This is how one could start a specific type of server on an alternate display.

xinit −geometry =80x65+10+10 −fn 8x13 −j −fg white −bg navy
This will start up a server named X, if .xserverrc doesn’t exist, and will append the given arguments to the default xterm command.  It will ignore .xinitrc. 

xinit −e widgets −− ./Xsun −l −c
This will use the command ./Xsun −l −c to start the server and will append the arguments −e widgets to the default xterm command. 

xinit remsh fasthost cpupig −display ws:1 −−  :1 −a 2 −t 5
This will start a server named X on display 1 with the arguments −a 2 −t 5.  It will then start a remote shell on the machine fasthost in which it will run the command cpupig, telling it to display back on the local workstation. 

Below is a sample .xinitrc that starts a clock, several terminals, and leaves the window manager running as the “last” application.  Assuming that the window manager has been configured properly, the user then chooses the “Exit” menu item to shut down X. 

xrdb −load $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot −solid gray &
xclock −g 50x50−0+0 −bw 0 &
xload −g 50x50−50+0 −bw 0 &
xterm −g 80x24+0+0 &
xterm −g 80x24+0−0 &
mwm

Sites that want to create a common startup environment could simply create a default .xinitrc that references a site-wide startup file:

#!/bin/sh
.  /usr/local/lib/site.xinitrc

Another approach is to write an X start-up script that runs xinit with a specific client script.  Such X start-up scripts are usually named x11, xstart, or startx and are a convenient way to provide a simple interface for novice users.  HP provides the X start-up script, /usr/bin/x11start and the default client script, /usr/lib/X11/sys.x11start for this purpose:

#!/bin/sh
   ...
xinit /usr/lib/X11/sys.x11start "$@"

where "$@" is simply additional client and/or server options that can be specified on the x11start command line.  The default client script can be copied to the user’s $HOME directory, customized and renamed .x11start in which case x11start will use this version in place of the default script (see x11start(1)). 

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

DISPLAY If not already set, this variable gets set to the name of the display to which clients should connect. 

XINITRC This variable specifies an init file containing shell commands to start up the initial windows.  By default, .xinitrc in the home directory will be used. 

XSERVERRC This variable specifies an init file containing shell commands to start up the server.  By default, .xserverrc in the home directory will be used. 

FILES

.xinitrc default client script

xterm client to run if .xinitrc does not exist

.xserverrc default server script

X server to run if .xserverrc does not exist

HP ENHANCEMENTS

HP has added a number of enhancements to the generic version of xinit provided by MIT.  These enhancements may not be supported in future versions of xinit. 

DISPLAY The generic version of xinit always resets the default value of $DISPLAY to unix:0.0 regardless of its value prior to running xinit.  This behavior has been changed so that the (exported) value of $DISPLAY outside of X will be maintained within X unless modified on the xinit command line.  In addition, if $DISPLAY is not set outside of X, its default value will be initialized to hostname:0.0 where hostname is the name of the system invoking xinit as returned by gethostname(2). 

TTY Settings The generic version of xinit always ran the client script in a new session (with a separate controlling terminal).  Tty settings set outside of X, consequently, did not apply to X terminal windows.  The client script is now run in the same session as xinit so that tty settings set prior to running xinit need not be reset within X. 

WARNINGS

xinit, as well as the x11start components, x11start, sys.x11start and sys.Xdefaults may not be supported in future releases.  The vuelogin component of VUE will perform all of the tasks performed by these components and will become the supported method of starting up the X Window System both when VUE is and is not used. 

SEE ALSO

X(1), x11start(1), Xserver(1), xterm(1)

COPYRIGHT

Copyright 1988, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 
See X(1) for a full statement of rights and permissions. 

AUTHOR

Bob Scheifler, MIT Laboratory for Computer Science

Hewlett-Packard Company  —  HP-UX 9.0 August 1992