gxmessage - a GTK-based xmessage clone
gxmessage [
OPTIONS]
message ...
gxmessage [
OPTIONS] -file
FILENAME
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.
gxmessage accepts any option
xmessage would, although some (such
as
-bw and
-xrm) are silently ignored.
-
-bg COLOR
-
Sets the background color of the message to COLOR. Examples: red,
"#c90", "#446a7e".
-
-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.
-
-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 GTK's font specification system. For
example, -font "serif italic 14". (GTK's font system is
not compatible with xmessage. See the Compatibility section, below,
for a workaround.)
-
-geometry GEOMETRY
-
Sets the window's size and/or position. Examples:
-geometry 400x200
-geometry 400x200+600+100
-geometry +600+100
- -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.
- -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.
The following options are specific to
gxmessage and are not compatible
with
xmessage.
- -borderless
-
Opens the gxmessage window without the usual window frame.
-
-encoding CHARSET
-
Specifies the encoding of the message text. By default, the message text is
assumed to match the encoding of the current locale.
- -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 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.
- -noescape
-
Prevents the window closing if the ESC key is pressed. This option only
works if a file named /usr/share/gxmessage/allow_noescape exists.
- -nofocus
-
Prevents the gxmessage window from receiving focus when it
opens.
- -ontop
-
Attempts to keep the gxmessage window in front of other windows.
- -sticky
-
Causes the gxmessage window to appear on all workspaces.
- -version
-
Displays the program's version number and Copyright details, then
exits.
- -wrap
-
Causes lines to wrap rather than exceed the width of the window.
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"
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.
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, -noescape, -ontop,
-sticky, -version, -h, -?
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.
xmessage(1),
zenity(1),
dialog(1)
The GNU Info entry for gxmessage contains detailed information and examples.
Timothy Musson <
[email protected]>
Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2015 Timothy
Richard Musson
Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification, are
permitted provided the copyright notice and this notice are preserved.