NAME
gxmessage - a GTK-based xmessage clone
SYNOPSIS
gxmessage [OPTIONS] message ...
gxmessage [OPTIONS] -file FILENAME
DESCRIPTION
gxmessage opens a window to display a message obtained from the command
line, from a file, or from stdin. The window includes a row of buttons,
each of which causes the program to exit with a different return code.
The GNU Info entry for gxmessage contains detailed information and
examples.
OPTIONS
gxmessage should accept any option xmessage would, although some (such
as -bw and -xrm) are silently ignored. Options supported by gxmessage
are as follows:
-bg COLOR
Sets the background color of the message to COLOR. Examples:
red, "#c90", "#446a7e".
-borderless
Opens the gxmessage window without the usual window frame. This
option is not compatible with xmessage.
-buttons BUTTON_LIST
Defines the buttons to be created. BUTTON_LIST is a comma-
separated list of LABEL:VALUE pairs, one for each button. The
LABEL is the text that appears on the button. The VALUE (0..255)
is the code the program will exit with if that button is
pressed. Commas and colons can be escaped using backslashes (\).
As well as ordinary text, the LABEL can specify a GTK "stock"
button, like "GTK_STOCK_CANCEL", or it can include an underscore
(_) to specify a keyboard accelerator. If VALUEs are omitted,
they default to 101, 102, 103, etc., in order. If no -buttons
option is given, BUTTON_LIST defaults to "okay:0".
gxmessage -buttons "Foo:42,Bar:63" "Example"
echo $?
gxmessage -buttons "_Foo,_Bar" "Example"
echo $?
gxmessage "Example"
echo $?
gxmessage -buttons "GTK_STOCK_OK:0" "Example"
echo $?
gxmessage -buttons "Hello\, world" "Example"
-center
Opens the gxmessage window in the middle of the screen.
-default LABEL
Opens the gxmessage window with input focused on the specified
button. LABEL is one of the LABELs in BUTTON_LIST (see
-buttons, above).
-display DISPLAY
Specifies the X display to use.
-encoding CHARSET
Specifies the encoding of the message text. By default, the
message text is assumed to match the encoding of the current
locale. This option is not compatible with xmessage.
-entry
Adds a text entry box to the gxmessage window. When the window
closes, any text in the entry box will be copied to stdout. This
option is not compatible with xmessage and can’t be used at the
same time as the -print option.
-entrytext TEXT
Same as -entry, but sets the default entry box contents to TEXT.
This option is not compatible with xmessage.
-fg COLOR
Sets the message text color to COLOR.
-file FILENAME
Causes the named file to be used as the message source. If a
dash (-) is used in place of FILENAME, the message will be read
from stdin.
-fn | -font FONT
Specifies the message font, using GTK2’s font specification
system. For example, -font "serif italic 14". (GTK2’s font
system is not compatible with xmessage. See the Compatibility
section, below, for a workaround.)
-geometry GEOMETRY
Sets the window’s size (position is ignored by gxmessage).
Example: -geometry 400x200
-help
Displays basic usage information then exits.
-iconic
Opens the gxmessage window in its iconized (minimized) state.
-name NAME
Sets the gxmessage window’s name to NAME.
-nearmouse
Opens the gxmessage window near the mouse pointer.
-nofocus
Prevents the gxmessage window from receiving focus when it
opens. This option is not compatible with xmessage.
-print
Writes the LABEL of the selected button to stdout.
-timeout SECONDS
Automatically closes the gxmessage window with an exit code of 0
if no button is pressed within SECONDS seconds. (The -entry and
-entrytext options cause -timeout to be ignored.)
-title TITLE
Sets the gxmessage window’s title to TITLE.
-version
Displays the program’s version number and Copyright details,
then exits. This option is not compatible with xmessage.
-wrap
Causes lines to wrap rather than exceed the width of the window.
This option is not compatible with xmessage.
GTK DEFAULTS
The program’s default appearance can be adjusted using GTK resource
files. The main text display widget is named gxmessage-textview. The
text entry widget is named gxmessage-entry.
# Example: ~/.gtkrc-2.0
style "gxmsg" {
text[NORMAL] = "#cc9900"
base[NORMAL] = "#660000"
text[SELECTED] = "#660000"
base[SELECTED] = "#cc9900"
font_name = "monospace"
}
widget "*.gxmessage-textview" style "gxmsg"
widget "*.gxmessage-entry" style "gxmsg"
EXIT STATUS
If a button is pressed, the program returns the value assigned to that
button. The default "okay" button returns 0.
If a timeout event occurs, the program returns 0.
If an error occurs, or if the window is closed without a button-press
or timeout event, the program exits with code 1. Pressing the ESC key
also causes the program to exit with code 1.
COMPATIBILITY WITH XMESSAGE
Fall back to xmessage if gxmessage isn’t available:
#! /bin/sh
XMESSAGE=$(which gxmessage) || XMESSAGE=xmessage
$XMESSAGE "hello, world"
If you specify fonts, check which program you’re using:
font="monospace 14"
[ "$XMESSAGE" = xmessage ] && font="fixed"
$XMESSAGE ${font:+-fn "$font"} "hello, world"
Don’t use double-dashed command line options:
$XMESSAGE "hello, world" -buttons good
$XMESSAGE "hello, world" --buttons bad
Don’t use the gxmessage-specific options:
-entry, -entrytext, -borderless, -wrap,
-encoding, -nofocus, -version, -h, -?
BUGS
The position component of -geometry values is ignored by gxmessage.
For some reason, opening the gxmessage window with no button set to be
the default causes GTK to emit a "beep" sound.
If you discover other bugs in the most recent version of gxmessage,
please get in touch.
SEE ALSO
xmessage(1), zenity(1), dialog(1)
The GNU Info entry for gxmessage contains detailed information and
examples.
AUTHORS
Timothy Musson <trmusson@gmail.com>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Timothy Richard
Musson
Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification,
are permitted provided the copyright notice and this notice are
preserved.
September 18th, 2009 GXMESSAGE(1)