1XRDB(1)                     General Commands Manual                    XRDB(1)
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NAME

6       xrdb - X server resource database utility
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SYNOPSIS

9       xrdb [-option ...] [filename]
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DESCRIPTION

12       Xrdb  is  used to get or set the contents of the RESOURCE_MANAGER prop‐
13       erty on the root window of screen 0, or the  SCREEN_RESOURCES  property
14       on  the root window of any or all screens, or everything combined.  You
15       would normally run this program from your X startup file.
16
17       Most X clients use the RESOURCE_MANAGER and SCREEN_RESOURCES properties
18       to get user preferences about color, fonts, and so on for applications.
19       Having this information in the server (where it  is  available  to  all
20       clients) instead of on disk, solves the problem in previous versions of
21       X that required you to maintain defaults files on  every  machine  that
22       you might use.  It also allows for dynamic changing of defaults without
23       editing files.
24
25       The RESOURCE_MANAGER property is used for resources that apply  to  all
26       screens  of  the display.  The SCREEN_RESOURCES property on each screen
27       specifies additional (or overriding) resources  to  be  used  for  that
28       screen.   (When  there is only one screen, SCREEN_RESOURCES is normally
29       not used, all resources are just placed in the  RESOURCE_MANAGER  prop‐
30       erty.)
31
32       The  file specified by filename (or the contents from standard input if
33       - or no filename is given) is optionally  passed  through  the  C  pre‐
34       processor with the following symbols defined, based on the capabilities
35       of the server being used:
36
37       SERVERHOST=hostname
38               the hostname portion of the display to which you are connected.
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40       SRVR_name
41               the SERVERHOST hostname string turned into a legal  identifier.
42               For         example,        "my-dpy.lcs.mit.edu"        becomes
43               SRVR_my_dpy_lcs_mit_edu.
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45       HOST=hostname
46               the same as SERVERHOST.
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48       DISPLAY_NUM=num
49               the number of the display on the server host.
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51       CLIENTHOST=hostname
52               the name of the host on which xrdb is running.
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54       CLNT_name
55               the CLIENTHOST hostname string turned into a legal  identifier.
56               For example, "expo.lcs.mit.edu" becomes CLNT_expo_lcs_mit_edu.
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58       RELEASE=num
59               the  vendor  release number for the server.  The interpretation
60               of this number will vary depending on VENDOR.
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62       REVISION=num
63               the X protocol minor version supported  by  this  server  (cur‐
64               rently 0).
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66       VERSION=num
67               the  X  protocol major version supported by this server (should
68               always be 11).
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70       VENDOR="vendor"
71               a string literal specifying the vendor of the server.
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73       VNDR_name
74               the VENDOR name string turned into  a  legal  identifier.   For
75               example, "MIT X Consortium" becomes VNDR_MIT_X_Consortium.
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77       EXT_name
78               A  symbol  is  defined for each protocol extension supported by
79               the server.  Each extension string name is turned into a  legal
80               identifier.  For example, "X3D-PEX" becomes EXT_X3D_PEX.
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82       NUM_SCREENS=num
83               the total number of screens.
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85       SCREEN_NUM=num
86               the number of the current screen (from zero).
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88       BITS_PER_RGB=num
89               the  number  of significant bits in an RGB color specification.
90               This is the log base 2 of the number of distinct shades of each
91               primary  that  the hardware can generate.  Note that it usually
92               is not related to PLANES.
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94       CLASS=visualclass
95               one of StaticGray, GrayScale, StaticColor,  PseudoColor,  True‐
96               Color,  DirectColor.  This is the visual class of the root win‐
97               dow.
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99       CLASS_visualclass=visualid
100               the visual class of the root window in a form  you  can  #ifdef
101               on.  The value is the numeric id of the visual.
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103       COLOR   defined only if CLASS is one of StaticColor, PseudoColor, True‐
104               Color, or DirectColor.
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106       CLASS_visualclass_depth=num
107               A symbol is defined for each visual supported for  the  screen.
108               The  symbol includes the class of the visual and its depth; the
109               value is the numeric id of the visual.  (If more than one  vis‐
110               ual  has  the same class and depth, the numeric id of the first
111               one reported by the server is used.)
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113       HEIGHT=num
114               the height of the root window in pixels.
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116       WIDTH=num
117               the width of the root window in pixels.
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119       PLANES=num
120               the number of bit planes (the depth) of the root window.
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122       X_RESOLUTION=num
123               the x resolution of the screen in pixels per meter.
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125       Y_RESOLUTION=num
126               the y resolution of the screen in pixels per meter.
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128       SRVR_name, CLNT_name, VNDR_name, and EXT_name identifiers are formed by
129       changing  all characters other than letters and digits into underscores
130       (_).
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132       Lines that begin with an exclamation mark (!) are ignored  and  may  be
133       used as comments.
134
135       Note  that  since  xrdb can read from standard input, it can be used to
136       the change the contents of properties directly from a terminal or  from
137       a shell script.
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OPTIONS

140       xrdb program accepts the following options:
141
142       -help   This  option  (or  any  unsupported  option) will cause a brief
143               description of the  allowable  options  and  parameters  to  be
144               printed.
145
146       -version
147               This  option  will cause the xrdb version to be printed and the
148               program to exit without performing any other operations.
149
150       -display display
151               This option specifies the X server to be used;  see  X(7).   It
152               also specifies the screen to use for the -screen option, and it
153               specifies  the  screen  from  which  preprocessor  symbols  are
154               derived for the -global option.
155
156       -all    This option indicates that operation should be performed on the
157               screen-independent  resource  property  (RESOURCE_MANAGER),  as
158               well  as  the  screen-specific  property  (SCREEN_RESOURCES) on
159               every screen of the display.  For example, when  used  in  con‐
160               junction  with  -query, the contents of all properties are out‐
161               put.  For -load, -override and -merge, the input file  is  pro‐
162               cessed once for each screen.  The resources which occur in com‐
163               mon in the output for every screen are collected, and these are
164               applied  as  the  screen-independent  resources.  The remaining
165               resources are applied for each individual per-screen  property.
166               This the default mode of operation.
167
168       -global This  option  indicates  that the operation should only be per‐
169               formed on the screen-independent RESOURCE_MANAGER property.
170
171       -screen This option indicates that the operation should  only  be  per‐
172               formed  on  the SCREEN_RESOURCES property of the default screen
173               of the display.
174
175       -screens
176               This option indicates that the operation should be performed on
177               the  SCREEN_RESOURCES  property  of each screen of the display.
178               For -load, -override and -merge, the input  file  is  processed
179               for each screen.
180
181       -n      This  option indicates that changes to the specified properties
182               (when used with -load, -override or -merge) or to the  resource
183               file  (when  used  with  -edit) should be shown on the standard
184               output, but should not be performed.
185
186       -quiet  This option indicates  that  warning  about  duplicate  entries
187               should not be displayed.
188
189       -cpp filename
190               This  option  specifies the pathname of the C preprocessor pro‐
191               gram to be used.  Although xrdb was designed to  use  CPP,  any
192               program  that  acts  as a filter and accepts the -D, -I, and -U
193               options may be used.
194
195       -nocpp  This option indicates that xrdb should not run the  input  file
196               through a preprocessor before loading it into properties.
197
198       -undef  This  option  is  passed to the C preprocessor if used. It pre‐
199               vents it from predefining any system specific macros.
200
201       -symbols
202               This option indicates that the symbols that are defined for the
203               preprocessor should be printed onto the standard output.
204
205       -query  This  option  indicates that the current contents of the speci‐
206               fied properties should be printed  onto  the  standard  output.
207               Note  that  since  preprocessor  commands in the input resource
208               file are part of the input file, not part of the property, they
209               won't  appear in the output from this option.  The -edit option
210               can be used to merge the contents of properties back  into  the
211               input resource file without damaging preprocessor commands.
212
213       -load   This  option  indicates  that the input should be loaded as the
214               new value of the specified properties, replacing  whatever  was
215               there  (i.e.   the  old  contents  are  removed).   This is the
216               default action.
217
218       -override
219               This option indicates  that  the  input  should  be  added  to,
220               instead  of  replacing,  the  current contents of the specified
221               properties.  New entries override previous entries.
222
223       -merge  This option indicates that the input should be merged and lexi‐
224               cographically  sorted  with,  instead of replacing, the current
225               contents of the specified properties.
226
227       -remove This option indicates that the specified properties  should  be
228               removed from the server.
229
230       -retain This  option indicates that the server should be instructed not
231               to reset if xrdb is the first client.   This  should  never  be
232               necessary  under  normal conditions, since xdm and xinit always
233               act as the first client.
234
235       -edit filename
236               This option indicates that the contents of the specified  prop‐
237               erties should be edited into the given file, replacing any val‐
238               ues already listed there.  This allows you to put changes  that
239               you  have  made  to your defaults back into your resource file,
240               preserving any comments or preprocessor lines.
241
242       -backup string
243               This option specifies a suffix to be appended to  the  filename
244               used with -edit to generate a backup file.
245
246       -Dname[=value]
247               This  option  is passed through to the preprocessor and is used
248               to define symbols for use with conditionals such as #ifdef.
249
250       -Uname  This option is passed through to the preprocessor and  is  used
251               to remove any definitions of this symbol.
252
253       -Idirectory
254               This  option  is passed through to the preprocessor and is used
255               to specify a directory to search for files that are  referenced
256               with #include.
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FILES

259       Xrdb  does not load any files on its own, but many desktop environments
260       use xrdb to load ~/.Xresources files on session startup  to  initialize
261       the  resource  database,  as a generalized replacement for ~/.Xdefaults
262       files.
263

SEE ALSO

265       X(7), appres(1), listres(1), Xlib Resource  Manager  documentation,  Xt
266       resource documentation
267

ENVIRONMENT

269       DISPLAY to figure out which display to use.
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BUGS

272       The  default  for no arguments should be to query, not to overwrite, so
273       that it is consistent with other programs.
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AUTHORS

276       Bob Scheifler, Phil Karlton, rewritten from the original by Jim Gettys
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280X Version 11                      xrdb 1.1.0                           XRDB(1)
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