xmessage man page on ElementaryOS

Man page or keyword search:  
man Server   4994 pages
apropos Keyword Search (all sections)
Output format
ElementaryOS 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, in addi‐
       tion to the standard ones listed in X(7).

       -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 1.0.4			   XMESSAGE(1)
[top]

List of man pages available for ElementaryOS

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