This page describes the different variables used by the %hx. They can be roughly classified into major switches, informational variables and miscellaneous variables. %index
Here are the major switches (i.e. variables influencing the HEPiX X11 scripts behaviour) that can be set in the %xprofile files. They are used only by the HEPiX desktop (except %HX_START_MXCONNS and %HX_DESKTOP of course). Some of them are even only used by the HEPiX startup: %HX_FONT_PATH, %HX_LAST_CLIENT, %HX_ROOT_WINDOW and %HX_WM.
Note that the default values for these variables depend on many factors. For instance, if you work at CERN for the CHORUS experiment, the default value of a given variable can come either from the HEP level default, or from the CERN customisation, or from the CHORUS customisation or even from the machine level customisation! The best thing to do is to use an empty %xprofile, start an X session and look in %$HOME/.hepix/xsession.log ...
HX_DESKTOP
The name of the desktop to use. The HEPiX X session will execute
the program HEP_desktop.$HX_DESKTOP
that must exists at
hep level. This does not apply to the HEPiX desktop that is coded
inside the HEPiX X session.
The main desktops recognised are (availability depends on the machine of course):
CDE
: COSE Common Desktop Environment
DXSESSION
: Digital dxsession
HEPIX
: the HEPiX desktop (default)
HP-VUE
: HP Visual User Environment
OPENLOOK
: Sun Openlook
HX_FONT_PATH
The font path to append with the command `%xsetfp $HX_FONT_PATH'.
HX_LAST_CLIENT
The last client that is executed (a real exec
) by the
HEPiX X session. It can be either a full command or
"local" (i.e. a small xterm
) or
"window-manager" (i.e. we use the value of %HX_WM).
HX_ROOT_WINDOW
The command to run when the X session is started to set the root
window color and/or pattern. You can use for instance "xsetroot
-solid seagreen" (set color to green). See the man page of
xsetroot
for more information.
HX_SOURCEPROFILE
Whether or not to source the user's shell "profile"
(.login
, .profile
...) to get his private
environment variables settings (like $PRINTER
). Can be
"yes" or "no".
Although the program used to get these environment variables (%dump_shell_env) is quite strong, users should be careful not to put in their files things that could block the X session...
HX_START_MXCONNS
Whether or not to start the program mxconns
and set
the variable %XDISPLAY. It can be either "yes" or
"no" or the full command line with the appropriate
options, for instance "mxconns -iconic -fork -verbose -hunt".
mxconns
will be started just after loading the X
resources, before handling %HX_DESKTOP. The recommended way to
customise mxconns
is to set some X resources, for
instance:
mxconns*iconic: true mxconns*geometry: +0-0
Warning: the program must put itself in the
background (this is the purpose of the "-fork" flag of
mxconns
) otherwise the X session will hang.
HX_STARTUP
The startup file to use. It can be either a full command or "HEPiX" or "dot-xsession" (which is the same as "$HOME/.xsession").
Warning: if a %$HOME/.xsession file exists and is executable then it is always used, regardless of the value of %HX_STARTUP.
HX_WM
The window manager to use. It can be either a full command or "local" (i.e. no window manager is started) or "last-client" (i.e. no window manager is started, hoping that the last client is the window manager...).
It can also be of the form "local-foo args". In this case, the tool %local-client will be used to try to start a local client named "foo".
Finally, if the string "-prepare" appears, the tool %prepare-wmrc will be used to prepare the window manager configuration file. "foowm -prepare args" is equivalent to "foowm `prepare-wmrc foowm` args". See also, %$HOME/.hepix/wm/generated_wmrc.
They give some information on the X environment of the X session. Most of them are set by the HEPiX X session and not meant to be changed.
They are all set by the program %xinfo except:
HX_COLOR
The color type of the screen: `black'(?), `monochrom', `greyscale' or `color'
HX_EXTENSIONS
The list of extensions in a string separated by spaces, e.g. `HPExtension XTestExtension1 SHAPE MIT-SHM'
HX_HEIGHT
The height of the screen in pixels
HX_KBD_MISC
Misc information about the keyboard, usually depending on the X server vendor; e.g. on NCDs we can find the model name: `N-101'
HX_KEYBOARD
The "official" name of the keyboard as known by the X program xkeycaps
,
e.g. `LK201'
HX_PLANES
The number of planes, usually 2, 8 or 16
HX_RELEASE
The vendor release number, e.g. `507000'
HX_RESOLUTION
The average resolution in dpi, as known by the X server: (x_dpi + y_dpi) / 2
HX_RESPONSE
An indication of the X connectivity speed: the time spent to run the %xinfo program itself, in milliseconds
HX_SERVER_HOST
The hostname of the X server, useful when the display is only :0
HX_SERVER_TYPE
The "type" of the X server, mainly derived from the vendor string: workstation (ws), X terminal (xt), Macintosh (mac) or PC-compatible (pc)
HX_SIZE
The "simple" size of the screen: `small', `medium' or `big'; the algorithm is (with pixels = width * height):
HX_SIZE
=big
HX_SIZE
=medium
HX_SIZE
=small
HX_VENDOR
The vendor derived from the vendor string with a table, e.g. `hp'
HX_VENDOR_STRING
The exact vendor string, e.g. `Hewlett-Packard Company'
HX_VERSION
The version of the HEPiX X11 scripts used, e.g. `3.1.2'
HX_WIDTH
The width of the screen in pixels
Many environment variables are set by the %hs, they are described elsewhere.
DOT_XSESSION
Whether or not we are running the user's %$HOME/.xsession .
It is set by the HEPiX X session before executing the user's
.xsession
to detect loops if the .xsession
calls the HEPiX X session (used when the %xdm wrappers are
not installed).
GROUP_DIR
The old location of the group level customisations. Starting with the version 3.2, it is now replaced by %HX_GROUP_DIR.
HX_GROUP_DIR
The location of the group level customisations for the %hx. It is normally set in the site-level %xprofile file.
XDISPLAY
The pseudo display created by mxconns
. This is the
value to use (instead of $DISPLAY
) when you want the X
client to go through mxconns
. Some tools like
xrsh
(modified at CERN) use this variable.
Lionel Cons, 1-Oct-1997