XSHELL(1X11) COMMAND REFERENCE XSHELL(1X11)
NAME
xshell - X Window System, key/button command execution
SYNOPSIS
xshell [ options ] [ host:display ] ...
This is a user-contributed client.
DESCRIPTION
The xshell program is a program for starting up X
applications with a single key or button stroke. It
displays a scallop shell icon in which button and key
presses stand for different commands.
You can bind a command string to any key or button by
inserting a line like this in your .Xdefaults file:
xshell.action.keyname: command to be executed
EXAMPLES
Keynames are simply letters, numbers, and symbols as they
appear on the keyboard (e.g., a, $, 9), or one of the
following special names:
BackSpace Clear Formfeed
Space Linefeed Enter
Tab Newline Escape
R1 L1 F1
R2 L2 F2
R3 L3 F3
R4 L4 F4
R5 L5 F5
R6 L6 F6
R7 L7 F7
R8 L8 F8
R9 L9 F9
R10 L10 Prior
R11 Home Next
R12 LeftArrow Begin
R13 UpArrow End
R14 RightArrow Pause
R15 DownArrow Delete
Select Print Execute
Insert Undo Redo
Menu Find Cancel
KeypadSpace Keypad- Keypad4
KeypadTab Keypad. Keypad5
KeypadEnter Keypad/ Keypad6
Keypad= Keypad0 Keypad7
Keypad* Keypad1 Keypad8
Keypad+ Keypad2 Keypad9
Keypad, Keypad3 Pf1
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XSHELL(1X11) COMMAND REFERENCE XSHELL(1X11)
Pf2 Pf3 Pf4
Help Break ScriptSwitch
NumLock LeftButton MiddleButton
RightButton Button4 Button5
Colon
Thus, the following .Xdefaults definitions specify that the
Left Button will spawn a terminal window, the Middle Button
an editor, the Right Button a calculator, $ a Bourne shell,
and # a superuser shell:
xshell.action.LeftButton: xterm =80x65-0+0 -fn 6x10
xshell.action.MiddleButton: gnuemacs -w =80x65+0-0
xshell.action.RightButton: xterm =20x20-0-0 -fn 6x10 -e dc
xshell.action.$: xterm =80x65+0+0 -fn 6x10 -e sh
xshell.action.#: xterm =80x65+0+0 -fn 6x10 -e su
The xshell program breaks the command string up into words
by removing all white space (i.e., tabs and spaces) and uses
the vfork() and execvp() system calls to spawn off the
command.
A more complicated parsing algorithm could easily be added,
but the current method is adequate (and fast and memory
efficient).
One thing to keep in mind is that xshell is NOT a window
manager. It was written to make popping up frequently used
utilities as painless as possible. (How many times have you
found that you need just 1 more window?)
OPTIONS
Designed to be somewhat compatible with xclock in the
arguments that it takes xshell will allow you to abbreviate
its longer flags to any length you chose. Thus, the
-reverse flag can be spelled out, given as -rev, or even
just -r.
-fg color On color displays, determines the color
of the foreground.
-bg color On color displays, determines the color
of the background.
-bd color On color displays, determines the color
of the border.
-bw pixels Specify the width in pixels of the
border around the xshell window.
-v[olume] n Volume for calls to XBeep, used when
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XSHELL(1X11) COMMAND REFERENCE XSHELL(1X11)
errors (such as unbound key) are found.
-f[lash] n Number of times to flash the shell
window to acknowledge a button or key
press.
-d[elay] n One-hundredths of a second to wait
between flashes (default is 5).
-r[everse] Reverse video (swap foreground and
background).
+r[everse] Normal video (good for overriding values
in the .Xdefaults).
-q[uiet] Do not `beep' on errors (see volume).
+q[uiet] Do `beep' on errors (see volume).
-s[mall] Use a smaller (48x48) version of the
shell icon. The default icon is 96x96.
+s[mall] Use the larger (96x96) version of the
shell icon.
=geometry By default xshell will create a window
the size of whatever icon you select;
the standard X window geometry argument
will override this. See X(1x11) for
details.
host:display Specifies the display on which to put
the xshell window. This overrides the
DISPLAY environment variable.
X DEFAULTS
To make invoking xshell easier, each of the flags listed
above may be specified in the user's
Foreground gives the foreground color.
Background gives the background color.
Border gives the border color.
BorderWidth gives the border width.
ReverseVideo if "on", the shell icon should be white
on black instead of black on white.
Volume gives the volume to use in calls to
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XSHELL(1X11) COMMAND REFERENCE XSHELL(1X11)
XBeep().
Flash gives the number of times to flash the
shell window to acknowledge key or
button presses.
Delay gives hundredths of a second to wait in
between flashes.
Quiet prevents xshell from beeping at you when
you mistype.
IconSize if "small", a halfsize (48x48) version
of the scallop shell is used.
WindowGeometry gives the shell window size using
standard X =WxH+X+Y notation.
ENVIRONMENT
DISPLAY To get the default host and display
number.
DIAGNOSTICS
If -quiet is not given on the command line or
``xshell.Quiet: on'' does not appear in the user's
.Xdefaults, xshell will `beep' if a key or button is pressed
for which there is no definition in the .Xdefaults file.
CAVEATS
The xshell program uses the XGetDefault call to fetch the
command string for a given key. Thus, in order to bind the
colon (``:'') character to a command you must use the Colon
keyword.
This program has mostly been superceded by uwm(1x11).
However, it is still very handy to use.
SEE ALSO
uwm(1x11), wm(1x11), X(1x11), vfork(2), and execl(3).
AUTHOR
Mark D. Baushke
This work is based upon Jim Fulton's X.V10R4 version of
xshell.
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