CmdLine(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation CmdLine(3)NAMETk::CmdLine - Process standard X11 command line options and set initial
resources
SYNOPSIS
Tk::CmdLine::SetArguments([@argument]);
my $value = Tk::CmdLine::cget([$option]);
Tk::CmdLine::SetResources((\@resource ⎪ $resource) [, $priority]);
Tk::CmdLine::LoadResources(
[ -symbol => $symbol ]
[ -file => $fileSpec ]
[ -priority => $priority ]
[ -echo => $fileHandle ] );
DESCRIPTION
Process standard X11 command line options and set initial resources.
The X11R5 man page for X11 says: "Most X programs attempt to use the
same names for command line options and arguments. All applications
written with the X Toolkit Intrinsics automatically accept the follow‐
ing options: ...". This module processes these command line options
for perl/Tk applications using the "SetArguments" function.
This module can optionally be used to load initial resources explicitly
via function "SetResources", or from specified files (default: the
standard X11 application-specific resource files) via function "Load‐
Resources".
Command Line Options
-background Color ⎪ -bg Color
Specifies the color to be used for the window background.
-class Class
Specifies the class under which resources for the application
should be found. This option is useful in shell aliases to distin‐
guish between invocations of an application, without resorting to
creating links to alter the executable file name.
-display Display ⎪ -screen Display
Specifies the name of the X server to be used.
-font Font ⎪ -fn Font
Specifies the font to be used for displaying text.
-foreground Color ⎪ -fg Color
Specifies the color to be used for text or graphics.
-geometry Geometry
Specifies the initial size and location of the first MainWindow.
-iconic
Indicates that the user would prefer that the application's windows
initially not be visible as if the windows had been immediately
iconified by the user. Window managers may choose not to honor the
application's request.
-motif
Specifies that the application should adhere as closely as possible
to Motif look-and-feel standards. For example, active elements such
as buttons and scrollbar sliders will not change color when the
pointer passes over them.
-name Name
Specifies the name under which resources for the application should
be found. This option is useful in shell aliases to distinguish
between invocations of an application, without resorting to creat‐
ing links to alter the executable file name.
-synchronous
Indicates that requests to the X server should be sent syn‐
chronously, instead of asynchronously. Since Xlib normally buffers
requests to the server, errors do do not necessarily get reported
immediately after they occur. This option turns off the buffering
so that the application can be debugged. It should never be used
with a working program.
-title TitleString
This option specifies the title to be used for this window. This
information is sometimes used by a window manager to provide some
sort of header identifying the window.
-xrm ResourceString
Specifies a resource pattern and value to override any defaults. It
is also very useful for setting resources that do not have explicit
command line arguments.
The ResourceString is of the form <pattern>:<value>, that is (the
first) ':' is used to determine which part is pattern and which
part is value. The (<pattern>, <value>) pair is entered into the
options database with optionAdd (for each MainWindow configured),
with interactive priority.
Initial Resources
There are several mechanism for initializing the resource database to
be used by an X11 application. Resources may be defined in a
$"HOME"/.Xdefaults file, a system application defaults file (e.g.
/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/<CLASS>), or a user application defaults file
(e.g. $"HOME"/<CLASS>). The Tk::CmdLine functionality for setting ini‐
tial resources concerns itself with the latter two.
Resource files contain data lines of the form <pattern>:<value>. They
may also contain blank lines and comment lines (denoted by a ! charac‐
ter as the first non-blank character). Refer to option for a descrip‐
tion of <pattern>:<value>.
System Application Defaults Files
System application defaults files may be specified via environment
variable $"XFILESEARCHPATH" which, if set, contains a colon-sepa‐
rated list of file patterns.
User Application Defaults Files
User application defaults files may be specified via environment
variables $"XUSERFILESEARCHPATH", $"XAPPLRESDIR" or $"HOME".
METHODS
SetArguments
Extract the X11 options contained in a specified array (@ARGV by
default).
Tk::CmdLine::SetArguments([@argument])
The X11 options may be specified using a single dash - as per the
X11 convention, or using two dashes -- as per the POSIX standard
(e.g. -geometry 100x100, -geometry 100x100 or -geometry=100x100).
The options may be interspersed with other options or arguments. A
-- by itself terminates option processing.
By default, command line options are extracted from @ARGV the first
time a MainWindow is created. The Tk::MainWindow constructor indi‐
rectly invokes "SetArguments" to do this.
cget
Get the value of a configuration option specified via "SetArgu‐
ments". ("cget" first invokes "SetArguments" if it has not already
been invoked.)
Tk::CmdLine::cget([$option])
The valid options are: -class, -name, -screen and -title. If no
option is specified, -class is implied.
A typical use of "cget" might be to obtain the application class in
order to define the name of a resource file to be loaded in via
"LoadResources".
my $class = Tk::CmdLine::cget(); # process command line and return class
SetResources
Set the initial resources.
Tk::CmdLine::SetResources((\@resource ⎪ $resource) [, $priority])
A single resource may be specified using a string of the form
'<pattern>:<value>'. Multiple resources may be specified by passing
an array reference whose elements are either strings of the above
form, and/or anonymous arrays of the form [ <pattern>, <value> ].
The optional second argument specifies the priority, as defined in
option, to be associated with the resources (default: userDefault).
Note that "SetResources" first invokes "SetArguments" if it has not
already been invoked.
LoadResources
Load initial resources from one or more files.
Tk::CmdLine::LoadResources(
[ -symbol => $symbol ]
[ -file => $fileSpec ]
[ -priority => $priority ]
[ -echo => $fileHandle ] );
[ -symbol => $symbol ] specifies the name of an environment vari‐
able that, if set, defines a colon-separated list of one or more
directories and/or file patterns. $"XUSERFILESEARCHPATH" is a spe‐
cial case. If $"XUSERFILESEARCHPATH" is not set, $"XAPPLRESDIR" is
checked instead. If $"XAPPLRESDIR" is not set, $"HOME" is checked
instead.
An item is identified as a file pattern if it contains one or more
/%[A-Za-z]/ patterns. Only patterns %L, %T and %N are currently
recognized. All others are replaced with the null string. Pattern
%L is translated into $"LANG". Pattern %T is translated into app-
defaults. Pattern %N is translated into the application class name.
Each file pattern, after substitutions are applied, is assumed to
define a FileSpec to be examined.
When a directory is specified, FileSpecs <DIRECTORY>/<LANG>/<CLASS>
and <DIRECTORY>/<CLASS> are defined, in that order.
[ -file => $fileSpec ] specifies a resource file to be loaded in.
The file is silently skipped if if does not exist, or if it is not
readable.
[ -priority => $priority ] specifies the priority, as defined in
option, to be associated with the resources (default: userDefault).
[ -echo => $fileHandle ] may be used to specify that a line should
be printed to the corresponding FileHandle (default: \*STDOUT)
everytime a file is examined / loaded.
If no -symbol or -file options are specified, "LoadResources" pro‐
cesses symbol $"XFILESEARCHPATH" with priority startupFile and
$"XUSERFILESEARCHPATH" with priority userDefault. (Note that
$"XFILESEARCHPATH" and $"XUSERFILESEARCHPATH" are supposed to con‐
tain only patterns. $"XAPPLRESDIR" and $"HOME" are supposed to be a
single directory. "LoadResources" does not check/care whether this
is the case.)
For each set of FileSpecs, "LoadResources" examines each FileSpec
to determine if the file exists and is readable. The first file
that meets this criteria is read in and "SetResources" is invoked.
Note that "LoadResources" first invokes "SetArguments" if it has
not already been invoked.
NOTES
This module is an object-oriented module whose methods can be invoked
as object methods, class methods or regular functions. This is accom‐
plished via an internally-maintained object reference which is created
as necessary, and which always points to the last object used. "SetAr‐
guments", "SetResources" and "LoadResources" return the object refer‐
ence.
EXAMPLES
1 @ARGV is processed by Tk::CmdLine at MainWindow creation.
use Tk;
# <Process @ARGV - ignoring all X11-specific options>
my $mw = MainWindow->new();
MainLoop();
2 @ARGV is processed by Tk::CmdLine before MainWindow creation. An
@ARGV of (--geometry=100x100 -opt1 a b c -bg red) is equal to
(-opt1 a b c) after "SetArguments" is invoked.
use Tk;
Tk::CmdLine::SetArguments(); # Tk::CmdLine->SetArguments() works too
# <Process @ARGV - not worrying about X11-specific options>
my $mw = MainWindow->new();
MainLoop();
3 Just like 2) except that default arguments are loaded first.
use Tk;
Tk::CmdLine::SetArguments(qw(-name test -iconic));
Tk::CmdLine::SetArguments();
# <Process @ARGV - not worrying about X11-specific options>
my $mw = MainWindow->new();
MainLoop();
4 @ARGV is processed by Tk::CmdLine before MainWindow creation.
Standard resource files are loaded in before MainWindow creation.
use Tk;
Tk::CmdLine::SetArguments();
# <Process @ARGV - not worrying about X11-specific options>
Tk::CmdLine::LoadResources();
my $mw = MainWindow->new();
MainLoop();
5 @ARGV is processed by Tk::CmdLine before MainWindow creation.
Standard resource files are loaded in before MainWindow creation
using non-default priorities.
use Tk;
Tk::CmdLine::SetArguments();
# <Process @ARGV - not worrying about X11-specific options>
Tk::CmdLine::LoadResources(-echo => \*STDOUT,
-priority => 65, -symbol => 'XFILESEARCHPATH' );
Tk::CmdLine::LoadResources(-echo => \*STDOUT,
-priority => 75, -symbol => 'XUSERFILESEARCHPATH' );
my $mw = MainWindow->new();
MainLoop();
6 @ARGV is processed by Tk::CmdLine before MainWindow creation.
Standard resource files are loaded in before MainWindow creation.
Individual resources are also loaded in before MainWindow creation.
use Tk;
Tk::CmdLine::SetArguments();
# <Process @ARGV - not worrying about X11-specific options>
Tk::CmdLine::LoadResources();
Tk::CmdLine::SetResources( # set a single resource
'*Button*background: red',
'widgetDefault' );
Tk::CmdLine::SetResources( # set multiple resources
[ '*Button*background: red', '*Button*foreground: blue' ],
'widgetDefault' );
my $mw = MainWindow->new();
MainLoop();
ENVIRONMENT
HOME (optional)
Home directory which may contain user application defaults files as
$"HOME"/$"LANG"/<CLASS> or $"HOME"/<CLASS>.
LANG (optional)
The current language (default: C).
XFILESEARCHPATH (optional)
Colon-separated list of FileSpec patterns used in defining system
application defaults files.
XUSERFILESEARCHPATH (optional)
Colon-separated list of FileSpec patterns used in defining user
application defaults files.
XAPPLRESDIR (optional)
Directory containing user application defaults files as $"XAPPLRES‐
DIR"/$"LANG"/<CLASS> or $"XAPPLRESDIR"/<CLASS>.
SEE ALSO
MainWindow option
HISTORY
· 1999.03.04 Ben Pavon <ben.pavon@hsc.hac.com>
Rewritten as an object-oriented module.
Allow one to process command line options in a specified array
(@ARGV by default). Eliminate restrictions on the format and loca‐
tion of the options within the array (previously the X11 options
could not be specified in POSIX format and had to be at the begin‐
ning of the array).
Added the "SetResources" and "LoadResources" functions to allow the
definition of resources prior to MainWindow creation.
perl v5.8.8 2004-02-28 CmdLine(3)
