The joy of X: an overview of the X Window system (1993)

PREFACE PART 1...X IN A NUTSHELL1. A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE X SYSTEM 1.1 X is a client/server window system 1.2 The user interface is not built into the base X system 1.3 The unique features that make X so useful 1.4 How X compares with other systems 2. THE BENEFITS X GIVES YOU 2.1 X gives you all the usual benefits of a window system 2.2 X integrates applications on different hardware and operating systems 2.3 Benefits of a standard GUI throughout your organization 2.4 X allows distributed computing, or centralized, or both 2.5 X fundamentally changes software and hardware decisions 2.6 The financial benefits of using X 2.7 How X can help different categories of people >PART 2...HOW X WORKS, IN DETAIL, AND HOW THE USER SEES IT 3. THE SERVER -- THE DISPLAY CONTROL SOFTWARE 3.1 The role of the server 3.2 Implementations ofthe X server 3.3 How the server handles output to the screen 3.4 The server contans the only display hardware dependence in the system 3.5 Handling text and fonts 3.6 Handling colour 3.7 Pictures and images--bitmaps, cursors and pixmaps 3.8 Extras you may want or need: server extensions 4. COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE SERVER AND CLIENTS 4.1 Clients send high-level 'requests' to the server 4.2 The server uses 'events' to communicate input and status changes to the client 4.3 Intercepting input and requests for special handling 4.4 X can work over many different network types, as well as locally 4.5 What load does X impose on the network? 4.6 X Version and Release numbers, and compatibility issues 5. CLIENTS -- THE APPLICATION PROGRAMS 5.1 An overview of the client and its role 5.2 What X clients consist of, and how they are built 5.3 Internationalizing and localizing applications -- Xi18n 5.4 Examples of X application programs 6. 'LOOK AND FEEL' PART 1 -- TOOLKITS FOR APPLICATION PROGRAMS 6.1 'Look and feel' means how the user sees the system 6.2 X allows many different looks and feels 6.3 Motif and OPEN LOOK -- the standard look and feels 6.4 How look and feel is implemented: toolkits 7. THE STANDARD X TOOLKIT -- INTRINSICS AND WIDGETS 7.1 The standard X Toolkit, 'Xt' 7.2 Widgets and widget sets are building blocks 7.3 The 'Intrinsics' lets you manipulate wedges 7.4 Event handling and 'callbacks' 7.5 Some implementations of Motif and OPEN LOOK use Xt 7.6 Other X toolkits 8. 'LOOK AND FEEL' PART 2 -- WINDOW MANAGERS 8.1 What you need a 'window manager' for 8.2 Using the window manager 8.3 The window manager's look and feel 8.4 How a window manager works 9. USING MANY APPLICATIONS TOGETHER -- 'INTER-CLIENT COMMUNICATIONS' 9.1 Why applications need to communicate with each other 9.2 'Properties' -- the basic mechanism for inter-client communications >9.3 Advanced communications mechanisms 9.4 The Selections Service -- a high-lvel communications mechanism 9.5 ICCCM -- the rulebook for inter-client communications 9.6 Desktop managers PART 3...USING THE SYSTEM, SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION, PERFORMANCE, AND PROGRAMMING 10. USING THE X SYSTEM 10.1 What you need to get started 10.2 How you use the network facilities 10.3 Using character-based applications -- terminal emulators 10.4 Integrating X with other systems 10.5 Where to get the software 11. SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION 11.1 Starting up the system 11.2 Customizing server settings 11.3 Administering fonts 11.4 Security 11.5 A summary of X system administration 12. CUSTOMIZING APPLICATIONS 12.1 Customizing applications 12.2 The Resources mechanism for customizing applications 12.3 How the Toolkit uses resources 12.4 Translation tables resources and keyboard mapping 12.5 Tools for cusomizing resources 13. PERFORMANCE FACTORS 13.1 Server performance 13.2 Network performance 13.3 Client performance 13.4 Benchmarks and tests 14. WRITING X PROGRAMS 14.1 Programming the system, and development tools 14.2 User interface management systems and other development tools 14.3 Migrating old applications to X -- enhanced terminal emulators 14.4 Porting from other window systems, and multiple-platform applications 14.5 User interface design, and programming 15. EPILOGUE 15.1 The MIT X Consortium 15.2 The X standards 15.3 Sources of further information and assistance INDEX