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<a name="gtk-x11"></a><div class="titlepage"></div>
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<h2><span class="refentrytitle">Using GTK+ on the X Window System</span></h2>
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<p>Using GTK+ on the X Window System —
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X11 aspects of using GTK+
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<td valign="top" align="right"></td>
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<div class="refsect1" lang="en">
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<a name="id2622055"></a><h2>GTK+ for the X Window System</h2>
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On UNIX, the X backend is the default build for GTK+. So
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you don't need to do anything special when compiling it,
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and everything should "just work."
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To mix low-level Xlib routines into a GTK program,
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href="../gdk/gdk-X-Window-System-Interaction.html"
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System interaction</a> in the GDK manual.
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<div class="refsect2" lang="en">
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<a name="x11-cmdline"></a><h3>X11-specific commandline options</h3>
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The X backend understands some additional command line
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<p><b><code class="systemitem">--display <em class="replaceable"><code>display</code></em></code>. </b>
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The name of the X display to open instead of the one specified
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in the <code class="envar">DISPLAY</code> environment variable.
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<p><b><code class="systemitem">--screen <em class="replaceable"><code>screen_number</code></em></code>. </b>
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The number of the screen within the default display. This overrides
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any screen number specified in the display name specified by
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by he <code class="systemitem">--display</code> command line option or
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the <code class="envar">DISPLAY</code> environment variable. If this screen
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cannot be opened, then GTK+ will fall back to the screen
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specified in the display name. This option is not useful
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interactively; the intended purposes is that when a program
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registers its command line with a <em class="firstterm">session
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manager</em> for later restarting, it can save the
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screen it is on, without having to worry if it might be
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restarted on a different display.
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<p><b><code class="systemitem">--sync</code>. </b>
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Makes all X requests synchronously. This is a useful option for
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debugging, but it will slow down the performance considerably.
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<p><b><code class="systemitem">--gxid-host <em class="replaceable"><code>host</code></em></code>. </b>
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The host to contact the <span class="application">gxid</span> daemon on; overrides
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the <a href="gtk-x11.html#GXID" title="GXID_HOST, GXID_PORT"><code class="envar">GXID_HOST</code></a> environment variable.
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<p><b><code class="systemitem">--gxid-port <em class="replaceable"><code>port</code></em></code>. </b>
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The port for the connection to <span class="application">gxid</span>; overrides
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the <a href="gtk-x11.html#GXID" title="GXID_HOST, GXID_PORT"><code class="envar">GXID_PORT</code></a> environment variable.
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This option is only available if GTK+ has been configured with
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<code class="option">--gdk-target=x11</code>.
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<div class="refsect2" lang="en">
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<a name="x11-envar"></a><h3>X11-specific environment variables</h3>
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The X backend can be influenced with some
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additional environment variables.
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<p><a name="GXID"></a><b><code class="envar">GXID_HOST</code>, <code class="envar">GXID_PORT</code>. </b>
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The host and port to contact the <span class="application">gxid</span> daemon
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on. <span class="application">gxid</span> is only necessary on X servers which
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don't support using the pointer and extension devices at once, and is
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only built if GTK+ is configured with <code class="option">--with-xinput=gxi</code>.
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The <span class="application">XFree86</span> and <span class="application">Xorg</span>
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X servers don't have this
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<p><b><code class="envar">GDK_USE_XFT</code>. </b>
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If this variable is set to 1, GTK+ will use the Pango Xft backend instead
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of the X backend when possible (i.e. when the X server supports the XRender
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extension and Pango has been built with Xft support).
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<div class="refsect1" lang="en">
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<a name="gtk-X11-arch"></a><h2>Understanding the X11 architecture</h2>
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People coming from a Windows or MacOS background often find certain
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aspects of the X Window System surprising. This section introduces
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some basic X concepts at a high level. For more details, the book most
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people use is called the <em class="citetitle">Xlib Programming
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Manual</em> by Adrian Nye; this book is volume one in the
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O'Reilly X Window System series.
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Standards are another important resource if you're poking in low-level
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X11 details, in particular the ICCCM and the Extended Window Manager
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Hints specifications. <a href="http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/" target="_top">freedesktop.org</a>
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has links to many relevant specifications.
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The GDK manual covers <a
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href="../gdk/gdk-X-Window-System-Interaction.html"
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<div class="refsect2" lang="en">
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<a name="id2622972"></a><h3>Server, client, window manager</h3>
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Other window systems typically put all their functionality in the
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application itself. With X, each application involves three different
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programs: the <em class="firstterm">X server</em>, the application (called
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a <em class="firstterm">client</em> because it's a client of the X
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server), and a special client called the <em class="firstterm">window
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The X server is in charge of managing resources, processing drawing
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requests, and dispatching events such as keyboard and mouse events to
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interested applications. So client applications can ask the X server
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to create a window, draw a circle, or move windows around.
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The window manager is in charge of rendering the frame or borders
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around windows; it also has final say on the size of each window,
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and window states such as minimized, maximized, and so forth.
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On Windows and MacOS the application handles most of this.
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On X11, if you wish to modify the window's state, or
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change its frame, you must ask the window manager to do so on your
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behalf, using an established <a href="http://www.freedesktop.org/standards/" target="_top">convention</a>.
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GTK+ has functions for asking the window manager to do various things;
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see for example <a href="GtkWindow.html#gtk-window-iconify">gtk_window_iconify()</a> or <a href="GtkWindow.html#gtk-window-maximize">gtk_window_maximize()</a> or <a href="GtkWindow.html#gtk-window-set-decorated">gtk_window_set_decorated()</a>.
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Keep in mind that <a href="GtkWindow.html#gtk-window-move">gtk_window_move()</a> and window sizing
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are ultimately controlled by the window manager as well and most
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window managers <span class="emphasis"><em>will</em></span> ignore certain requests from
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time to time, in the interests of good user interface.