XRDB(1) XRDB(1)
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.
The resource manager (used by the Xlib routine
XGetDefault(3X) and the X Toolkit) uses the
RESOURCE_MANAGER property to get user preferences about
color, fonts, and so on for applications. Because this
information is now in the server, where it is available
to all clients, instead of on disk (as in earlier
versions of X), you are no longer required to maintain
defaults files on every machine that you may use. It
also allows for dynamic changing of defaults without
editing files.
For compatibility, if there is no RESOURCE_MANAGER
property defined (either because xrdb was not run or if
the property was removed), the resource manager looks
for a file called .Xdefaults in your home directory.
The filename is optionally passed through the C
preprocessor with the following symbols defined, based
on the capabilities of the server being used:
HOST=hostname
Hostname portion of the display to which you are
connected.
WIDTH=num
Width of the screen in pixels.
HEIGHT=num
Height of the screen in pixels.
XRESOLUTION=num
X resolution of the screen in pixels per meter.
YRESOLUTION=num
Y resolution of the screen in pixels per meter.
PLANES=num
Number of bit planes for the default visual.
- 1 -
XRDB(1) XRDB(1)
BITSPERRGB=num
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 is not related
to the number of planes, which is the log base 2 of
the size of the colormap.
CLASS=visualclass
One of StaticGray, GrayScale, StaticColor,
PseudoColor, TrueColor, or DirectColor.
COLOR
Only defined if the default visual's type is one of
the color options.
Lines that begin with an exclamation mark ( ! ) are
ignored and may be used as comments.
OPTIONS
xrdb accepts the following options:
-help
(or any unsupported option) causes a brief
description of the allowable options and parameters
to be printed.
-display display
specifies which X server to use.
-cpp filename
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
indicates that xrdb should not run the input file
through a preprocessor before loading it into the
RESOURCE_MANAGER property.
-symbols
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.
- 2 -
XRDB(1) XRDB(1)
-query
indicates that the current contents of the property
RESOURCE_MANAGER
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 would not 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
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
indicates that the input should be merged with,
instead of replace, the current contents of the
RESOURCE_MANAGER property. Since xrdb can read the
standard input, this option can be used to change
the contents of the RESOURCE_MANAGER property
directly from a terminal or from a shell script.
-remove
indicates that the RESOURCE_MANAGER property should
be removed from its window.
-edit filename
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
specifies a suffix to be appended to the filename
used with -edit to generate a backup file.
-Dname[=value]
passes through to the preprocessor and defines
symbols for use with conditionals such as #ifdef.
-Uname
passes through to the preprocessor and removes any
definitions of this symbol.
- 3 -
XRDB(1) XRDB(1)
-Idirectory
passes through to the preprocessor and specifies a
directory to search for files that are referenced
with #include.
FILES
/.Xdefaults
~
SEE ALSO
XGetDefault(3X)
ENVIRONMENT
DISPLAY
To figure out which display to use.
BUGS
The default for no arguments should be to query, not to
overwrite, so that it is consistent with other
programs.
AUTHORS
Phil Karlton, rewritten from the original by Jim Gettys
- 4 -