MirBSD manpage: xmessage(1)


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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XMESSAGE(1)         UNIX Programmer's Manual          XMESSAGE(1)

             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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