This page describes the format and contents of each reference page in Section 1, which covers the Xt Intrinsics functions and macros.

NAME

Function − a brief description of the function. 

SYNOPSIS

This section shows the signature of the function: the names and types of the arguments, and the type of the return value.  The header <X11/Intrinsic.h> declares all of the public Intrinsics functions and macros. 

Inputs

This subsection describes each of the function arguments that pass information to the function. 

Outputs

This subsection describes any of the function arguments that are used to return information from the function.  These arguments are always of some pointer type, so you should use the C address-of operator (&) to pass the address of the variable in which the function will store the return value.  The names of these arguments are usually suffixed with _return to indicate that values are returned in them.  Some arguments both supply and return a value; they will be listed in this section and in the "Inputs" section above.  Finally, note that because the list of function arguments is broken into "Input" and "Output" sections, they do not always appear in the same order that they are passed to the function.  See the function signature for the actual calling order. 

Returns

This subsection explains the return value of the function, if any. 

AVAILABILITY

This section appears for functions that were added in Release 4 or Release 5, and also for functions that are now superseded by other, preferred, functions. 

DESCRIPTION

This section explains what the function does and describes its arguments and return value.  If you’ve used the function before and are just looking for a refresher, this section and the synopsis above should be all you need. 

USAGE

This section appears for most functions and provides less formal information about the function: when and how you might want to use it, things to watch out for, and related functions that you might want to consider. 

EXAMPLE

This section appears for some of the most commonly used Xt functions, and provides an example of their use. 

BACKGROUND

This section presents detailed technical material related to the function.  It is usually derived directly from the Xt specification, and is therefore definitive.  You should not often have to refer to this section, but the material here is necessary for a complete understanding of the workings of the Intrinsics. 

ALGORITHM

This section explains the details of the algorithm followed by some of the Intrinsics functions.  Like the material in the "Background" section, it is very technical and generally derived directly from the specification. 

STRUCTURES

This section shows the definition of any structures, enumerated types, typedefs, or symbolic constants used by the function. 

SEE ALSO

This section refers you to related functions, prototype procedures, Intrinsics widget classes, or widget methods.  The numbers in parenthesis following each reference refer to the sections of this book in which they are found.