xmessage
display a message or query in a window (X-based /bin/echo)
see also :
X - echo - cat
Synopsis
xmessage
[ -buttons
label1[:value1],label2[:value2],
... ] [ options ] -file filename
xmessage [ -buttons
label1[:value1],label2[:value2],
... ] [ options ] message ...
add an example, a script, a trick and tips
examples
source
xmessage 'Goodbye, World!'
source
sleep $1; xmessage $MESSAGE || echo $MESSAGE
source
if which xmessage >>
/dev/null 2>&1; then
xmessage -buttons reboot,halt "$@" "";
case "$?" in
101)
source
suggest_depends xmessage ""
"" "for basic
GUI"
source
depends xmessage &&
depends libgtop2
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, xmessage will display scroll bars.
options
These are the
command line options that xmessage understands.
-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 displayed 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 filename 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
printValue 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 timeout.
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.
resources
The program has a few top-level application resources that allow
customizations 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.
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)
.
.
.
see also
X ,
echo , cat
authors
Chris Peterson,
MIT Project Athena
Stephen Gildea, X Consortium