xmessage man page on Ubuntu

Man page or keyword search:  
man Server   6591 pages
apropos Keyword Search (all sections)
Output format
Ubuntu logo
[printable version]

XMESSAGE(1)							   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 xmessage 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,	 xmes‐
       sage will display scroll bars.

OPTIONS
       These are the command line options that xmessage understands.

       -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 consists 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 dis‐
	       played 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 border than the others.

       -file filename
	       File to display.	 The corresponding resource is file.  A	 file‐
	       name  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 print‐
	       Value 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	 time‐
	       out.

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 cus‐
       tomizations 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
	       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 translations 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

X Version 11			xmessage 1.0.3			   XMESSAGE(1)
[top]

List of man pages available for Ubuntu

Copyright (c) for man pages and the logo by the respective OS vendor.

For those who want to learn more, the polarhome community provides shell access and support.

[legal] [privacy] [GNU] [policy] [cookies] [netiquette] [sponsors] [FAQ]
Tweet
Polarhome, production since 1999.
Member of Polarhome portal.
Based on Fawad Halim's script.
....................................................................
Vote for polarhome
Free Shell Accounts :: the biggest list on the net