XMESSAGE(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual XMESSAGE(1)
NAME
xmessage - display a message or query in a window (X-based
/bin/echo)
SYNOPSIS
xmessage [ -buttons label1[:value1],label2[:value2], ... ] [
options ] -file filename
xmessage [ -buttons label1[:value1],label2[:value2], ... ] [
options ] message ...
DESCRIPTION
The xmessage program displays a window containing a message
from the command line, a file, or standard input. Along the
lower edge of the message is row of buttons; clicking the
left mouse button on any of these buttons will cause xmes-
sage to exit. Which button was pressed is returned in the
exit status and, optionally, by writing the label of the
button to standard output.
The program is typically used by shell scripts to display
information to the user or to ask the user to make a choice.
Unless a size is specified, xmessage sizes itself to fit the
message, up to a maximum size. If the message is too big for
the window, xmessage will display scroll bars.
OPTIONS
These are the command line options that xmessage under-
stands.
-buttons button,button,...
This option will cause xmessage to create one button
for each comma-separated button argument. The
corresponding resource is buttons. Each button con-
sists of a label optionally followed by a colon and
an exit value. The label is the name of the Command
button widget created and will be the default text
displayed to the user. Since this is the name of
the widget it may be used to change any of the
resources associated with that button. The exit
value will be returned by xmessage if that button is
selected. The default exit value is 100 plus the
button number. Buttons are numbered from the left
starting with one. The default string if no -buttons
option is given is okay:0.
-default label
Defines the button with a matching label to be the
default. If not specified there is no default. The
corresponding resource is defaultButton. Pressing
Return anywhere in the xmessage window will activate
the default button. The default button has a wider
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XMESSAGE(1) UNIX Programmer's Manual XMESSAGE(1)
border than the others.
-file filename
File to display. The corresponding resource is file.
A filename of `-' reads from standard input. If this
option is not supplied, xmessage will display all
non-option arguments in the style of echo. Either
-file or a message on the command line should be
provided, but not both.
-print This will cause the program to write the label of
the button pressed to standard output. Equivalent
to setting the printValue resource to TRUE. This is
one way to get feedback as to which button was
pressed.
-center Pop up the window at the center of the screen.
Equivalent to setting the center resource to TRUE.
-nearmouse
Pop up the window near the mouse cursor. Equivalent
to setting the nearMouse resource to TRUE.
-timeout secs
Exit with status 0 after secs seconds if the user
has not clicked on a button yet. The corresponding
resource is timeout.
WIDGET HIERARCHY
Knowing the name and position in the hierarchy of each
widget is useful when specifying resources for them. In the
following chart, the class and name of each widget is given.
Xmessage (xmessage)
Form form
Text message
Command (label1)
Command (label2)
.
.
.
RESOURCES
The program has a few top-level application resources that
allow customizations that are specific to xmessage.
file A String specifying the file to display.
buttons A String specifying the buttons to display. See the
-buttons command-line option.
defaultButton
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A String specifying a default button by label.
printValue
A Boolean value specifying whether the label of the
button pressed to exit the program is written to
standard output. The default is FALSE.
center A Boolean value specifying whether to pop up the
window at the center of the screen. The default is
FALSE.
nearMouse
A Boolean value specifying whether to pop up the
window near the mouse cursor. The default is FALSE.
timeout The number of seconds after which to exit with
status 0. The default is 0, which means never time
out.
maxHeight (class Maximum)
The maximum height of the text part of the window in
pixels, used if no size was specified in the
geometry. The default is 0, which means use 70% of
the height of the screen.
maxWidth (class Maximum)
The maximum width of the text part of the window in
pixels, used if no size was specified in the
geometry. The default is 0, which means use 70% of
the width of the screen.
ACTIONS
exit(value)
exit immediately with an exit status of value
(default 0). This action can be used with transla-
tions to provide alternate ways of exiting xmessage.
default-exit()
exit immediately with the exit status specified by
the default button. If there is no default button,
this action has no effect.
EXIT STATUS
If it detects an error, xmessage returns 1, so this value
should not be used with a button.
SEE ALSO
X(7), echo(1), cat(1)
AUTHORS
Chris Peterson, MIT Project Athena
Stephen Gildea, X Consortium
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