dtfpfile(4) UNIX System V (1 August 1995) dtfpfile(4)
NAME
dtfpfile - format and locations of front panel configuration
files
SYNOPSIS
set DtDbVersion=version_number
set VariableName=variable_value
RecordType record_name
{
# Comment
Keyword Value
Keyword Value
.
.
.
}
DESCRIPTION
The dtfpfile front panel database provides definitions for
the components that define the content and functionality of
the front panel. Files containing front panel definitions
must end with the .fp suffix. Like the action and data type
database, the front panel database is constructed by reading
all files ending in the .fp suffix found in the search path
specified by the DTDATABASESEARCHPATH environment variable.
See dtdtfile(4) for a complete description of the directory
locations where these database files are found and for a
description of the specific syntax for the database files.
File Format
The general syntax of the front panel configuration files is
as described above in the SYNOPSIS section of this man page.
The Comments, Versions and Variables fields are described in
dtdtfile(4).
The front panel record types each have a set of Keyword and
Value pairs. There are six record types defined: PANEL,
BOX, SUBPANEL, SWITCH, CONTROL and ANIMATION. Each record
type has a set of keywords defined for it. Many of the
keywords are used for multiple record types.
Record Types
PANEL front panel name
The PANEL record type defines the outermost
container of the front panel. It can contain one
or more BOXes and optionally repositioning handles,
a menu and a minimize button. The keywords defined
for PANEL are described in the following table.
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PANEL Record Type Keywords and Values
________________________________________________________________________
Keyword Value Default
________________________________________________________________________
CONTROL_BEHAVIOR (double_click/single_click) single_click
DISPLAY_CONTROL_LABELS (True/False) False
DISPLAY_HANDLES (True/False) True
DISPLAY_MENU (True/False) True
DISPLAY_MINIMIZE (True/False) True
HELP_STRING string NULL
HELP_TOPIC topic name NULL
HELP_VOLUME volume name FPanel
LOCKED (True/False) False
PANEL_GEOMETRY {+-}xoffset[{+-}yoffset] NULL
RESOLUTION (high/medium/low/match_display) match_display
SUBPANEL_UNPOST (True/False) True
BOX box name
The BOX record type defines a container within a
PANEL that can hold a row of CONTROLS and at most
one SWITCH container. Multiple BOXes within a
PANEL are stacked vertically. The keywords defined
for BOX are described in the following table.
BOX Record Type Keywords and Values
___________________________________________________________
Keyword Value Default
___________________________________________________________
CONTAINER_NAME front panel name NULL (required)
DELETE (True/False) False
HELP_STRING string NULL
HELP_TOPIC topic name NULL
HELP_VOLUME volume name FPanel
LOCKED (True/False) False
POSITION_HINTS (first/last/integer > 1) first
SUBPANEL subpanel name
The SUBPANEL record type defines a secondary
container for CONTROLs that slide up from the front
panel. SUBPANELs can also contain a drop zone
where new controls can be dynamically added. The
keywords defined for SUBPANEL are described in the
following table.
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SUBPANEL Record Type Keywords and Values
________________________________________________
Keyword Value Default
________________________________________________
CONTAINER_NAME control name NULL (required)
CONTROL_INSTALL (True/False) True
DELETE (True/False) False
HELP_STRING string NULL
HELP_TOPIC topic name NULL
HELP_VOLUME volume name FPanel
LOCKED (True/False) False
TITLE string NULL
SWITCH switch name
The SWITCH record type defines a container within a
BOX that contains a set of push buttons, each of
which give access to a corresponding workspace.
See dtwm(1) for a description of the multiple
workspace capabilities. Also contained within the
SWITCH container is an optional set of CONTROLs.
These are presented in a column on each side of the
push buttons. The keywords defined for SWITCH are
described in the following table.
SWITCH Record Type Keywords and Values
___________________________________________________________
Keyword Value Default
___________________________________________________________
CONTAINER_NAME box name NULL (required)
DELETE (True/False) False
HELP_STRING string NULL
HELP_TOPIC topic name NULL
HELP_VOLUME volume name FPanel
LOCKED (True/False) False
NUMBER_OF_ROWS integer 2
POSITION_HINTS (first/last/integer > 1) first
CONTROL control name
The CONTROL record type defines the main functional
component of the front panel. CONTROLs typically
have actions defined for them that are invoked on
selection or drag and drop or both. CONTROLs are
displayed with icons or labels or both and can have
iconic animations associated with them. The
keywords defined for CONTROL are described in the
following table.
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CONTROL Record Type Keywords and Values
____________________________________________________________________________
Keyword Value Default
____________________________________________________________________________
ALTERNATE_ICON image name NULL
CLIENT_GEOMETRY width x height NULL
CLIENT_NAME client name NULL
CONTAINER_NAME (box name/switch name/subpanel name) NULL (required)
CONTAINER_TYPE (BOX/SWITCH/SUBPANEL) NULL (required)
DATE_FORMAT format string %b%n%e
DELETE (True/False) False
DROP_ACTION action_name NULL
DROP_ANIMATION animation name NULL
FILE_NAME pathname NULL
HELP_STRING string NULL
HELP_TOPIC topic name NULL
HELP_VOLUME volume name FPanel
ICON image name NULL
LABEL string NULL
LOCKED (True/False) False
MONITOR_TYPE (none/mail/file) none
POSITION_HINTS (first/last/integer > 1) first
PUSH_ACTION action_name NULL
PUSH_ANIMATION animation name NULL
PUSH_RECALL (True/False) False
TYPE (blank/busy/client/clock/date/file/icon) icon
ANIMATION animation name
The ANIMATION record types are a sequence of image
name and time delay pairs that are displayed by a
CONTROL on a PUSH_ACTION or DROP_ACTION.
ANIMATION Record Type Keywords and Values
_______________________________________________________
Keyword Value Default
_______________________________________________________
ANIMATION image name [millisecond delay] None [200]
Keyword and Value Descriptions
The following list contains a description of each of the
keywords defined by the front panel.
ALTERNATE_ICON
Used with record types of: CONTROL.
Used with control types of: busy and icon.
ALTERNATE_ICON defines an image to be used to
replace the normal image within a control with a
mail or file value for the MONITOR_TYPE. The image
is displayed when the file being monitored changes.
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For the busy control, ALTERNATE_ICON is cycled with
ICON to give the blinking effect.
ANIMATION
Used with record types of: ANIMATION.
Used with control keywords of: PUSH_ANIMATION and
DROP_ANIMATION.
ANIMATION defines a sequence of images to be
displayed for either a PUSH_ACTION or DROP_ACTION.
Each animation within the list is displayed in
order with a default time separation of 200
milliseconds. For a slower or faster sequence, the
image name value can be followed by the amount of
time to display the image. If no time value is
specified, the previously specified value is used.
CLIENT_GEOMETRY
Used with record types of: CONTROL.
Used with control type of: client.
Used with control keywords of: CLIENT_NAME.
CLIENT_GEOMETRY specifies the size (in pixels)
needed for the window of a client displayed within
the front panel.
CLIENT_NAME
Used with record types of: CONTROL.
Used with control types of: client or icon.
Used with control keywords of: PUSH_RECALL.
CLIENT_NAME specifies a name used to associate a
control with an executable. It is necessary for
control types of client (an X client running within
the front panel) and for icon when the keyword
PUSH_RECALL is True. The value client name is the
name of the executable or can be set via a
command-line argument for some clients (such as
xterm -name panelterm). The client name for a
running client can be found by executing xprop.
The first string of the WM_CLASS property is the
value used.
CONTAINER_NAME
Used with record types of: BOX, SUBPANEL, SWITCH
and CONTROL.
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CONTAINER_NAME associates a component with its
parent. For example, the CONTAINER_NAME value for
a SWITCH tells the front panel into which BOX it
should be placed. Since controls can reside in
several different component types, CONTAINER_NAME
is used in conjunction with CONTAINER_TYPE to
define a control's parent.
CONTAINER_TYPE
Used with record types of: CONTROL.
CONTAINER_TYPE defines a control's parent type.
This is used to identify a control uniquely so that
it can be created within the proper parent.
CONTROL_BEHAVIOR
Used with record types of: PANEL.
CONTROL_BEHAVIOR provides the mechanism for setting
the user model for front panel controls. Controls
can be set to invoke their PUSH_ACTION by either a
single or double click.
CONTROL_INSTALL
Used with record types of: SUBPANEL.
CONTROL_INSTALL enables or disables dynamic control
installation into subpanels. A value of True
causes the control installation area to be
displayed within the subpanel.
DATE_FORMAT
Used with record types of: CONTROL.
Used with control types of: date.
DATE_FORMAT specifies the layout of the date string
for a control of type date. The format is the same
used by the UNIX strftime(3) function.
DELETE
Used with record types of: BOX, SUBPANEL, SWITCH
and CONTROL.
DELETE is used to override and remove a non-locked
component from the front panel. This is necessary
to eliminate system default front panel components
without replacing the default files. To use
DELETE, a copy of the component definition with the
additional DELETE keyword is stored in a file with
an .fp suffix in the user's or application type's
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directory.
DISPLAY_CONTROL_LABELS
Used with record types of: PANEL.
DISPLAY_CONTROL_LABELS specifies whether the
controls contained within the front panel's boxes
have their labels displayed.
DISPLAY_HANDLES
Used with record types of: PANEL.
If DISPLAY_HANDLES is set to True, the move handles
are displayed along the left and right edges of the
front panel.
DISPLAY_MENU
Used with record types of: PANEL.
If DISPLAY_MENU is set to True, and DISPLAY_HANDLES
is also set to True, the system menu button is
displayed in the upper left hand corner of the
front panel.
DISPLAY_MINIMIZE
Used with record types of: PANEL.
If DISPLAY_MINIMIZE is set to True, and
DISPLAY_HANDLES is also set to True, the minimize
button is displayed in the upper right hand corner
of the front panel.
DROP_ACTION
Used with record types of: CONTROL.
DROP_ACTION specifies the function that is invoked
when a drop occurs on the control.
DROP_ANIMATION
Used with record types of: CONTROL.
Used with all control types except: client.
DROP_ANIMATION specifies the name of an animation
record to be displayed when a drop occurs on the
control. The control must have a DROP_ACTION
defined for the animation to be used.
FILE_NAME
Used with record types of: CONTROL.
Used with control types of: icon and file.
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For the control type of file, FILE_NAME is the
pathname of the file to be used for the control.
The file's file type, actions and images are
extracted from the action database for the control.
For MONITOR_TYPE mail and file, FILE_NAME specifies
the pathname of the file the front panel monitors
for either mail arrival or some other user-defined
data.
For MONITOR_TYPE file, the ALTERNATE_ICON image is
displayed when the monitored file is non-empty.
The ICON image is displayed if the file is empty or
non-existent.
For MONITOR_TYPE mail, the ALTERNATE_ICON image is
displayed when the file increases in size.
HELP_STRING
Used with record types of: PANEL, BOX, SUBPANEL,
SWITCH and CONTROL.
HELP_STRING specifies an on-line help string to
display when help is requested over a front panel
component. Since each component type can have a
help string associated with it, there is a
precedence used in deciding which help string to
display. Control help takes precedence over box
help, switch help and subpanel help. Box help
takes precedence over subpanel help. The
HELP_STRING value is used only if no HELP_TOPIC
value is defined.
HELP_TOPIC
Used with record types of: PANEL, BOX, SUBPANEL,
SWITCH and CONTROL.
HELP_TOPIC specifies an on-line help topic that is
used with either the default help volume or a help
volume specified by the HELP_VOLUME keyword to
display help information when requested over a
front panel component. Like the HELP_STRING
keyword, each component type can have a help topic
associated with it and the same precedence rules
are used.
HELP_VOLUME
Used with record types of: PANEL, BOX, SUBPANEL,
SWITCH and CONTROL.
When HELP_VOLUME is used in conjunction with
HELP_TOPIC, it defines the help information to be
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displayed for a front panel component.
ICON
Used with record types of: CONTROL.
Used with control types of: icon, file and busy.
ICON specifies the image to be displayed within a
control.
LABEL
Used with record types of: CONTROL.
Used with control types of: icon, file, clock and
busy.
LABEL specifies the string to be displayed when a
control is in a subpanel.
LOCKED
Used with record types of: PANEL, BOX, SUBPANEL,
SWITCH and CONTROL.
LOCKED provides the mechanism to prevent a
component definition of identical type, name and
parent from overriding (replacing) this definition.
Since the front panel can be defined within
multiple configuration files, it provides the
flexibility to override components found earlier in
the search path. Like actions and file types, this
allows the front panel to be customized at several
levels.
MONITOR_TYPE
Used with record types of: CONTROL.
Used with control types of: icon and file
MONITOR_TYPE specifies the method of checking the
file being monitored, specified by the keyword
FILE_NAME.
NUMBER_OF_ROWS
Used with record types of: SWITCH.
NUMBER_OF_ROWS provides control over the layout of
the workspace switch buttons. The switch buttons
are arranged in a row and column layout with the
NUMBER_OF_ROWS keyword defining the number of rows
in the layout. The number of columns is derived
from this value and the total number of switch
buttons.
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PANEL_GEOMETRY
Used with record types of: PANEL.
PANEL_GEOMETRY specifies a non-default location to
position the front panel when it is created. By
default, the front panel is centered along the
bottom of the display.
POSITION_HINTS
Used with record types of: BOX, SWITCH and
CONTROL.
POSITION_HINTS specifies the ordering of boxes in
the front panel, the switch and controls in boxes,
and controls in subpanels. When two components
have the same value for POSITION_HINTS, the first
one read from the configuration file is placed
first.
PUSH_ACTION
Used with record types of: CONTROL.
PUSH_ACTION specifies the function that is invoked
when a selection occurs on the control.
PUSH_ANIMATION
Used with record types of: CONTROL.
Used with all control types except: client.
PUSH_ANIMATION specifies the name of an animation
record to be displayed when a selection occurs on
the control. The control must have a PUSH_ACTION
defined for the animation to be used.
PUSH_RECALL
Used with record types of: CONTROL.
Used with control keywords of: CLIENT_NAME.
When PUSH_RECALL is set to True, it specifies that
only one process can be started by the control. If
the process is already running, it is displayed
within the current workspace and shuffled to the
top of the window stack. The value for the
CLIENT_NAME keyword is used to identify the process
for push recall behavior.
RESOLUTION
Used with record types of: PANEL.
RESOLUTION allows the icon set for the front panel
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to be forced to a particular set. By default, the
front panel determines the display resolution at
runtime and chooses the high resolution icon set if
the display width is 1024 pixels or wider.
SUBPANEL_UNPOST
Used with record types of: PANEL.
When SUBPANEL_UNPOST is set to True, it causes a
subpanel to hide itself whenever a PUSH_ACTION
occurs on one of the subpanel controls. If the
subpanel has been torn off of the front panel, the
behavior of the subpanel is forced to remain posted
on PUSH_ACTION.
TITLE
Used with record types of: SUBPANEL.
TITLE specifies the string to be displayed in the
title area of the subpanel.
TYPE
Used with record types of: CONTROL.
A number of different control types are defined by
the front panel:
blank Space-holder control
busy Busy light
client A client window
clock Front panel clock
date Front panel date
file References a file on the file system
and uses that file's actions and
image
icon Front panel general control
FILES
The default front panel configuration file is
/usr/dt/appconfig/types/C/dtwm.fp.
Files containing the attributes of dynamically created front
panel components are in the directory
$HOME/.dt/types/fp_dynamic.
APPLICATION USAGE
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Errors encountered when loading front panel database files
are written to the user's $HOME/.dt/errorlog file.
SEE ALSO
dtwm(1), strftime(3), dtdtfile(4).
Page 12 (printed 9/3/04)
