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.

       -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 fol-
	       lowed 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  start-
	       ing  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	 set-
	       ting 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 use-
       ful 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(7x), echo(1), cat(1)

AUTHORS
       Chris Peterson, MIT Project Athena
       Stephen Gildea, X Consortium



								  XMESSAGE(1)

UNIX/Linux commands referenced on this page:

1. display
2. file
3. make
4. size
5. write
6. as
7. which
8. at
9. time