xug@lta.com (X User's Group) (04/03/91)
[Last changed: 02 Apr 91] This article contains the third of four parts of a set of answers to some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) often seen in comp.windows.x. It is posted to help reduce volume in this newsgroup and to provide hard-to-find information of general interest. Please redistribute this article! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 54)* Where can I get an X server on a PC? AGE (619-565-7373) offers the XoftWare TIGA. Bell Technologies (Fremont, CA: 415-659-9097) PC DECWindows 3.0 is an MS-DOS application that turns your PC into an X11R4 terminal. It supports DECnet and TCP/IP. Available from DEC. [Dennis Giokas (giokas@mosaic.enet.dec.com), 3/91] HP (800-752-0900) has the "HP Accelerated X Window Display Server" (HP AXDS/PC; HP part D2300B) which will run on any AT-class DOS machine with 640KB, MSDOS 3.1 or higher, and the HP Intelligent Graphics Controller 10 card, to which the X11R3-based server is downloaded (avoiding performance-limitations from PC RAM-size and processor speed). [from John Kempff (kempff@hppad.hp.com), 3/90] Hummingbird Communications (Canada 416-470-1203) produces the HCL-eXceed and HCL-eXceed Plus for EGA, VGA, and VGA+ controllers. Information Network Solutions also offers a product called HCL-eXceed for the *86. The fax is 02-4122079 inside Australia, 612-4122079 from overseas. Integrated Inference Machines (714-978-6201 or -6776) is shipping X11/AT, an X server that runs under MS-windows. The server converts an IBM-AT into an X terminal which can simultaneously run MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Intelligent Decisions, Inc. (Sunnyvale, CA: 408-734-3730) IBM is rumored to offer a product; part #5709-029. Locus Computing (800-955-6287; CA: 213-670-6500; UK: +44 296 89911) has a server called PC-Xsight which also appears in Acer's X terminal. Metrolink Inc. (+1-305-566-9586, sales@metrolink.com; in Europe contact ADNT, (33 1) 3956 5333) ships an implementation of X11R4 for several 386 systems. Pericom's TeemTalk-X for IBM clones allows toggling between X and DOS. Information: +44 (0908) 560022. [5/90] DESQview/X from Quarterdeck (213-392-9851; 213-399-3802 FAX) incorporates X into the DESQview multi-tasking DOS environment. SpectraGraphics/GSS (503-641-2200) makes PC-Xview, an MSDOS-based X server which interfaces with PC/TCP Plus networking software from FTP Software and Excelan's LAN WorkPlace for DOS. The server works with (a) 286, 386, 486 (b) EGA, VGA, DGIS displays. (c) DOS 3.2 and above (d) Microsoft, Logitech, Mouse Systems Mice (e) 640k memory up to 16 MB memory [the PC-Xview/16 is available for PCs with extended memory]. VisionWare's XVision is a Microsoft Windows-based X server which allows an IBM-compatible PC or PS/2 to display X clients running on a networked computer at the same time as local DOS programs. VisionWare is at 612-377-3627 or vision@vware.mn.org (UK: +44 532 788858 and vware@vision.uucp). Xnth is an implementation of X11 R4 which runs on AT-bus PCs running DOS 3.3 or higher. It currently supports 1280X1024 or 1024X768 resolution monitors at 256 colors (out of 16M) with hardware accelleration for graphics and text operations. It currently utilizes a TCP/IP byte stream over Ethernet. Information: Jerry Norman, Nth Graphics, Ltd., 1-800-624-7552. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 55) Where can I get an X server on a Macintosh running MacOS? eXodus from White Pine Software (603-886-9050) runs on any Mac with at least 1MB of memory and runs the X server within a standard Macintosh window. eXodus II uses the math co-processor and other features of high-end Macs. [info current as of 6/89] Version 2.0 supports DECWindows colors, fonts, and cursors, and session management, and supports color and multiple screens. [5/90] Apple's MacX runs on MacPlus or newer machines with >= 2MB of memory and system software 6.0.4 or later. Version 1.1 is fully X11R4-based. It supports full ICCCM-compatible cut and paste of text AND graphics between the Macintosh and X11 worlds, the SHAPE extension (including SHAPEd windows on the Macintosh desktop), an optional built-in ICCCM-compliant window manager, X11R4 fonts and colors, a built-in BDF font compiler, and built-in standard colormaps. [courtesy Alan Mimms (alan@apple.com], 2/91] "X for the rest of us." [Note: MacX is also the name of a vax-mac xmodem transfer utility.] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 56) Where can I get X for the Amiga? The new Amiga 3000 machines offer an X server and Open Look tools and libraries on a full SVR4 implementation. GfxBase, Inc. provides "X11 R3.5" for the AmigaDos computer; it contains X11R4 clients, fonts, etc., and a Release 3 server. An optional programmer's toolkit includes the header files, libraries, and sample programs. Info from GfxBase, 408-262-1469. [Dale Luck (amiga!boing!dale@bloom-beacon.mit.edu); 2/91] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 57) Where can I get a fast X server for a workstation? The R4 server should be among the fastest available for most machines. The "Purdue" speedups significantly speed up the X11R3 server. Look on export.lcs.mit.edu:contrib/Purdue.2.[01]-tar.Z. (You'll also need gcc.) International Quest Corporation (408-988-8289) has an optimized R3 server for Sun3/4/386i under SunOS 4.0 and also an optimized R4 server. Unipalm XTech (+44 954 211244) makes several R3-based and R4-based tuned servers, most notably for Sun 3 and Sun 4. (Note: the original work was inherited from Torch Technology.) Xgraph's Xtool (408-492-9031) is an X server implemented in SunView which boasts impressive results on Sun 3 and SPARC systems. [6/90] Several companies are making hardware accellerator boards: Dupont Pixel Systems (302-992-6911), for Sun. Megatek's (619-455-5590) X-cellerator board for the Sun 3 and Sun 4 is based on the TI 34020; the company claims performance improvements of 5x to 10x over the sample X11R3 server. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 58)* Where can I get a server for my high-end Sun graphics board? Takahashi Naoto of the University of Tsukuba (ntakahas@is.tsukuba.ac.jp) posted a set of diffs to the MIT X11R4 server to support the Sun CG8 and CG9 boards. These are available in the comp.sources.x archives for October 1990 and from alw.nih.gov (128.231.128.251) in pub/cg9_cg8.tar.Z. Version 1.2 of the "Xsun24" server became available 3/91 and offers faster speed and DirectColor support. Note that the CG12 is not yet supported. [thanks to John Powell (jip@alw.nih.gov)] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 59)+ Where can I get an "X terminal" server for my low-end Sun 3/50? Seth Robertson (seth@ctr.columbia.edu) has written Xkernel; the current version [1.2 gamma as of 3/91, 2.0 expected RSN] is on sol.ctr.columbia.edu [128.59.64.40] in /pub/Xkernel.gamma. It turns a Sun 3/50 into a pseudo- X terminal; most of the overhead of the operating system is side-stepped, so it is fairly fast and needs little disk space. A similar approach is to run the regular X server by making /etc/init a shell script which does the minimal setup and then invokes Xsun. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 60) What terminal emulators other than xterm are available? PCS has rewritten xterm from scratch using a multi-widget approach that can be used by applications. The *alpha* distribution is available [1/91] on export in contrib/emu.tar.Z. More information is available from emu@pcsbst.pcs.com. Century Software (801-268-3088) sells a VT220 terminal emulator for X. VT102, Wyse 50 and SCO Color Console emulation are also available. Grafpoint's TGRAF-X provides emulation of the Tektronix 41xx and 42xx series. Information: 408-446-1919. [5/90] IXI's X.deskterm, a package for integrating character-based applications into an X environment, includes a number of terminal-emulation modules. Information: +44 (0223) 462131. [5/90] Pericom produces Teem-X, a set of several emulation packages for a number of Tek, DEC, Westward, and Data General terminals. The software runs on Sun 3, Sun 4, Apollo, DEC, ISC, IBM/AIX. Information: US: 609-895-0404, UK: +44 (0908) 560022. [5/90] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 61)* Where can I obtain an X-based editor or word-processor? You can ftp the latest version of emacs, including X11 support, from prep.ai.mit.edu [18.71.0.38]. The file you probably want is ~ftp/pub/gnu/emacs-18.55.tar.Z, or similarly-named files. Epoch is a modified version of Gnu Emacs with additional facilities useful in an X environment. Current sources are on cs.uiuc.edu (128.174.252.1) in ~ftp/pub/epoch-files/epoch; the current [2/91] version is 3.2. [In Europe, try unido.informatik.uni-dortmund.de]. There are two subdirectories: epoch contains the epoch source, and gwm contains the source to the programmable window manager GWM, with which epoch works well. You can get on the Epoch mailing list by sending a request to epoch-request@cs.uiuc.edu. The Andrew system on the X11R4 tape has been described as one of the best word-processing packages available. It supports word processing with multi-media embedded objects: rasters, tables/spread sheets, drawings, style editor, application builder, embedded programming language, &c. [Fred Hansen (wjh+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU)] In addition: Elan Computer Group (Mountain View, CA; 415-964-2200) has announced the Avalon Publisher, an X11/OpenLook WYSIWYG electronic publishing system. FrameMaker and FrameWriter are available as X-based binary products for several machines. Frame is at 800-843-7263 (CA: 408-433-3311). WX2 (formerly InDepthEdit) is available from Non Standard Logics (+33 (1) 43 36 77 50; requests@nsl.fr). DECwrite is available from DEC for some DEC hardware and SunWrite is available from Sun. IslandWrite will soon be available from Island Graphics (415-491-1000) for some HP & Apollo platforms. Interleaf is currently available from Interleaf (800-241-7700, MA: 617-577-9800) on all Sun and DEC platforms; others are under development. The Alis and Asterix office-productivity tools from Applix (1-800-8APPLIX, MA: 508-870-0300) include a multi-font WYSIWG document composer; for several systems. ArborText, Inc. provides an X11 version of its Electronic Publishing program called "The Publisher". The Publisher is available on Sun, HP and Apollo workstations. Contact Arbortext at 313-996-3566. [5/90] Iris Computing Laboratories (615-886-3429) makes the "ie" editor. BBN/Slate from BBN Software Products includes a menu-driven word processor with multiple fonts and style sheets. It supports X on multiple platforms. (617-873-5000 or slate-offer@bbn.com) [11/90] The powerful "sam" editor by Rob Pike is split into a host portion and a front-end graphics portion, which now has an X implementation. Sam is available from the AT&T Toolchest; additional X support is available from Doug Gwyn (gwyn@brl.mil). [1/91] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 62) Where can I obtain an X-based paint/draw program? xpic is an object-oriented drawing program. It supports multiple font styles and sizes and variable line widths; there are no rotations or zooms. xpic is quite suitable as an interactive front-end to pic, though the xpic-format produced can be converted into PostScript. (The latest version is on the R4 contrib tape in clients/xpic.) xfig is an object-oriented drawing program supporting compound objects. The text-handling is limited. The xfig-format can be converted in PostScript or other formats. One version is on the R4 contrib tape in clients/xfig; it is one of the several 'xfig' programs which several groups independently developed parallel versions of from the R3 xfig. idraw 2.5 supports numerous fonts and various line styles and arbitrary rotations. It supports zoom and scroll and color draws and fills. On the R4 tape; see also interviews-request@interviews.stanford.edu. [courtesy Jim Helman (jim@kaos.Stanford.EDU) 7/89] A new OpenWindows PostScript-based graphical editor named 'ice' is now [2/91] available for anonymous ftp from Internet host lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu (129.236.10.30). ice (Image Composition Environment) is an imaging tool that allows raster images to be combined with a wide variety of PostScript annotations in WYSIWYG fashion via X11 imaging routines and NeWS PostScript rasterizing. It may require OpenWindows 2.0 and Sun C++ 2.0. tgif (???) is available from most uucp sites. In addition: dxpaint is a bitmap-oriented drawing program most like MacPaint; it's good for use by artists but commonly held to be bad for drawing figures or drafting. dxpaint is part of the Ultrix 3.x release. FrameMaker has some draw capabilities. [4/90] ArborText (313-996-3566) offers PubDraw, an X11-based drawing program, on Sun, HP and Apollo workstations. BBN/Slate from BBN Software Products includes a full-featured draw and paint program with object grouping and multiple patterns; multiple X platforms. (617-873-5000 or slate-offer@bbn.com). [11/90] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 63)* Where can I obtain an X-based plotting program? These are mostly available from uucp sites such as uunet or other sites as marked. gnuplot X (xplot), PostScript and a bunch of other drivers. cs.duke.edu:/dist/sources/gnuplot/gnuplot2.02.tar.Z [128.109.140.1] monu1.cc.monash.edu.au:/pub/gnuplot2.02.tar.Z [130.194.1.101] irisa.irisa.fr:/pub/gnuplot2.02.tar.Z [131.254.2.3] comp.sources.misc/volume8 gl_plot X output only [?] comp.sources.unix/volume18 graph+ yallara.cs.rmit.oz.au:/pub/graph+.tar.Z [131.170.24.42] comp.sources.unix/volume8 pdraw,drawplot 2D and 3D X,PS scam.berkeley.edu:/src/local/3dplot.tar.Z [128.32.138.1] scam.berkeley.edu:/src/local/contour.tar.Z [128.32.138.1] scam.berkeley.edu:/src/local/drawplot.tar.Z [128.32.138.1] uunet:~ftp/contrib/drawplot.tar.Z xgraph plot, zoom. Outputs PS or HPGL. shambhala.berkeley.edu:/pub/xgraph-11.tar.Z [128.32.132.54] sun1.ruf.uni-freiburg.de:X11/contrib/xgraph-11.tar.Z [132.230.1.1] nisc.jvnc.net:pub/xgraph-11.tar.Z [128.121.50.7] comp.sources.x/volume3 or many other sites xvgr An XView xgraph++ program. sun.soe.clarkson.edu:pub/src/xvgr-1.06alpha.tar.Z [128.153.12.3] uvax.rrz.uni-koeln.de:pub/windows/xcontrib/xvgr-1.06alpha.tar.Z [2/91. Thanks to: emv@ox.com (Ed Vielmetti) ; geoff@Veritas.COM (Geoffrey Leach) ; Paul A. Scowen (uk1@spacsun.rice.edu) ; black@beno.CSS.GOV (Mike Black)] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 64) Where can I obtain an X-based spreadsheet? Vendor Product Phone ------ ------- ----- Access Technology 20/20 (508) 655-9191 Informix WingZ (800) 331-1763 Quality Software Products Q-Calc/eXclaim 800-628-3999 (CA:213-410-0303) Unipress Q-Calc (201) 985-8000 Uniplex Uniplex (214) 717-0068, (800) 356-8063 [above from Walter E. Gillett (gillett@AI.MIT.EDU)] Digital DECdecision 1-800-DIGITAL BBN Software Products BBN/Slate 617-873-5000 slate-offer@bbn.com (the product includes WordProcessing, Spreadsheet, Graphics, Image Processing, Foreign Language WordProcessing, Electronic Mail, and Elecronic Conferencing) AIS's (919-942-7801) XESS spreadsheet for VMS/Ultrix has either DECWindows or Motif look/feel. The Alis and Asterix office-productivity tools from Applix (1-800-8APPLIX, MA: 508-870-0300) include a spreadsheet. There is a spreadsheet program in the Andrew Toolkit on the R4 contrib tape. Applied Information Systems (Chapel Hill, North Carolina; 1 800 334 5510) will begin shipping in mid-October an X11/Motif spreadsheet called Xess. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 65)* Where can I get an X-based PostScript previewer? xps is available from almost everywhere that the X11 contributed source can be found. The version currently on export is based on Crispin Goswell's PostScript interpreter with fixes and speedups by John Myers and Barry Shein and an X11 driver by Terry Weissman. There are known problems with fonts. The package is good for lowering the edit-print-edit cycle in experimenting with particular PostScript effects. [ralpage, also widely available, apparently shares with xps a common ancestor, and should also be considered.] Ghostscript is distributed by the Free Software Foundation (617-876-3296) and includes a PostScript interpreter and a library of graphics primitives. Version 2.1.1 is now available. The major site is prep.ai.mit.edu. [2/91] 2.2 very soon, maybe yesterday. In addition: ScriptWorks is Harlequin's software package for previewing and printing PostScript(R) descriptions of text and graphics images; previewers for X are available. For information call +44-223-872522 or send email to scriptworks-request@uk.co.harlqn. Digital's dxpsview runs on UWS 2.1 and 2.2. Sun's pageview runs with the X11/NeWS server. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 66) Where can I get an X-based GKS package? The latest freely-available XGKS can be obtained from xgks-request@unidata.ucar.edu; this is a 2c implementation derived from the X11R4 contrib XGKS from IBM and the University of Illinois. Release 2.2 is on unidata.ucar.edu [128.117.140.3] as pub/xgks.tar.Z. [12/90] In addition, Grafpak-GKS is available from Advanced Technology Center (714-583-9119). GKSUL is available from gks@ulowell.edu (ULowell CS department). It is a 2b implementation which includes drivers for a variety of devices. It can be passed an X window ID to use. The package includes both C and Fortran bindings. [11/90; from dsrand@mitre.org and from stew@hanauma.stanford.edu] An XgksWidget is produced by Neil Bowers (neilb@leeds.dcs; neilb@dcs.leeds.ac.uk); the latest [2/91] conforms with the new version of XGKS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 67) Where can I get an X-based PEX package? The "official" release of PEX will be with X11R5. There is now available from the University of Illinois an implementation of the PEX 4.0 specification called UIPEX. It contains a "near- complete" implementation of PHIGS and PHIGS PLUS. The file pub/uipex/uipex.tar.Z is on a.cs.uiuc.edu (128.174.252.1); the porting platform was an RT running 4.3. Questions and comments can to go uipex@cs.uiuc.edu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 68)* Where can I get an X-based TeX or DVI previewer? The xtex previewer for TeX files is available from a number of archive sites, including uunet; the current version is usually on foobar.colorado.edu (128.138.243.105) in SeeTeX-2.17.0.tar.Z; pre-converted fonts are also on that machine. Xtex 2.17 was announced 3/1/91. The xdvi dvi-previewer is fairly comprehensive and easy to use. It is also available from a number of sites, including uunet and export.lcs.mit.edu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 69) Where can I get an X-based troff previewer? X11R4 has two previewers for device-independent troff: the supported client xditview, and the contributed-but-well-maintained xtroff. An earlier version of xtroff also appeared on the R3 contributed source. In addition, the xman client can be used to preview troff documents using the -man macros. In addition: xproof, an X previewer for ditroff has been contributed by Marvin Solomon (solomon@cs.wisc.edu); version 3.5 is available on export in contrib/xproof*. [8/90] Elan Computer Group (CA: 415-964-2200) produces eroff, a modified troff implementation, and Elan/Express, an X11 eroff previewer. SoftQuad (416-963-8337; USA only 800-387-2777, mail@sq.uu.net or mail@sq.com) offers SoftQuad Publishing Software, including a substantially- rewritten troff formatter, a better intermediate language with backwards compatibility, and an X11[R3,R4] previewer. (This is the package adopted by AT&T's own MIS department, and used in and re-sold by many parts of AT&T). [information from Ian Darwin, SoftQuad (ian@sq.com) 3/90] Image Network (1-800-TOXROFF; CA: 415-967-0542) offers the Xroff package, which includes a fine modified troff implementation and a set of X11-based page previewers. (This is the package OEM'ed by several hardware vendors.) [mostly courtesy moraes@cs.toronto.edu (Mark Moraes)] [2/90] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 70)* Where can I obtain a WYSIWYG interface builder? Preliminary verions of the Xt application builder DIRT by Richard Hesketh are available on export.lcs.mit.edu (18.30.0.238) as contrib/dirt* and ftp.Adelaide.EDU.AU (129.127.40.3) under /pub/X/R4/contrib/dirt.*. It is often updated. Dirt requires X11R4 through patch 18. From the README: This builder allows the interactive creation and rapid prototyping of X user interfaces using the X Toolkit and a number of Widget Sets. Dirt generates "Wc - Widget Creation" resource files and this distribution also includes the Widget Creation Library (version 1.04, with the exception of the demos and Mri/Ari source code) with the kind permission of its author David E. Smyth. [Note: get it from export; the version on uunet may be old (level as of 2/91 is Alpha 1 pathlevel 8).] In addition, these commercial products (unsorted) are available in final or prerelease form [the * following the product name indicates that the product is known to allow the designer to specify for each widget whether a particular resource is hard-coded or written to an application defaults file, for at least one form of output]. Some are much more than user-interface tools; some are full user interface management systems: Product Name Look/Feel Code Output Vendor HP Interface Motif 1.0 C(Xm) HP/Visual Edge Architect/ UIMX Open Look Express Open Look C(Xol+ helper lib) AT&T/Visual Edge UIMX [Sun version] Motif 1.0 C(Xm+ helper lib) Quest (408-988-8880) Visual Edge 514-332-6430 VUIT 1.0 Motif 1.1 UIL[r/w] DEC (1-800-DIGITAL) X-Designer 1.1 * Motif 1.0 C(Xm); C/UIL Imperial Software Technology, Ltd (+44 734 587055) sales@ist.co.uk XFaceMaker2 (XFM2) * Motif 1.0 C;C/script (C-like procedural language) NSL (33 1 43 36 77 50) requests@nsl.fr Builder Xcessory 1.0 * Motif 1.0 C(Xm); C/UIL[r/w] ICS (617-621-0060) info@ics.com XBUILD 1.1 * Motif 1.0 C(Xm); C/UIL Nixdorf (617-864-0066) xbuild@nixdorf.com TeleUSE 1.1 Motif 1.0 PCD (like UIL);C + helper lib Telesoft (619-457-2700) ezX Motif 1.0 C(Xm +helper lib) Sunrise (401-847-7888) /dev/GUIDE Open Look GIL [-> XView] Sun ExoCode/SXM Motif C(Xm) Expert Object ExoCode/Plus OpenLook XView 708-676-5555 TAE+ Xw;Motif C(Xw,Xm); C/TCL (TAE Control Language, like UIL[needs helper library]); VAX Fortran; Ada Nasa Goddard (301) 286-6034 PSM PM, MSW 3.0, C/UIL LanCorp Motif 1.0.3,Mac Technologies +61 3 606 3801 (Australia) [Future versions of this table may include information on the meta-file format used and will probably be more specific about the portability and completeness of output code and will probably look more like a Consumer Reports summary of features.] In addition, these non-WYSIWYG but related products may help for goals of rapid prototyping of the application interface: WCL: the Widget Creation Library. Basically describes the widget hierarchy and actions in a resources file; available from fine archive servers everywhere, including devvax.jpl.nasa.gov (128.149.1.143) in pub/. WINTERP: an Xlisp-based Motif toolkit allows for interpretive programming. The copy on the R4 tape is outdated; get a copy off export or email to winterp-source%hplnpm@hplabs.hp.com. The Serpent UIMS permits the building of user-interfaces without specific knowledge of coding but with an understanding of attributes being set on a particular [Motif] widget. More information is available from Erik Hardy (erik@sei.cmu.edu) Garnet is a Common Lisp-based GUI toolkit. Information is available from garnet@cs.cmu.edu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 71) Where can I find X tools callable from shell scripts? I want to have a shell script pop up menus and yes/no dialog boxes if the user is running X. Several tools in the R3 contrib/ area were developed to satisfy these needs: yorn pops up a yes/no box, xmessage displays a string, etc. There are several versions of these tools; few, if any, have made it to the R4 contrib/ area, though they may still be available on various archive sites. In addition, Richard Hesketh (rlh2@ukc.ac.uk) has posted the xmenu package to comp.sources.x ("v08i008: xmenu") for 1-of-n choices. [7/90] Two versions of XPrompt have been posted to comp.sources.x, the latter being an unauthorized rewrite. [R. Forsman (thoth@reef.cis.ufl.edu), 1/91] There is a version of XMenu available from comp.sources.x; it is being worked on and will likely be re-released. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 72) Where can I get an X-based debugger? xdbx, an X interface to the dbx debugger, is available via ftp from export. The current [1/91] version is 2.1 patchlevel 2. An X interface to gdb called xgdb is also available, from ??? Also, an X interface to gdb called xxgdb is more like xdbx 2.1.2. It is part of comp.sources.x volume 11 [2/91]. Also: MIPS produces a highly-customizable (WCL-based) Visual Debugger. You should be able to use Sun's dbxtool with its X11/NeWS server. The Saber-C (617-876-7636) source-level debugger includes an X-based interface. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 73)* How can I "tee" an X program identically to several displays? There are several protocol multiplexer tools which provide for the simultaneous display of X clients on any number of machines. XMX (an X Protocol Multiplexor) is available from wilma.cs.brown.edu (128.148.31.66) as pub/xmx.tar.Z SHX from Michael Altenhofen of Digital Equipment GmbH CEC Karlsruhe also does this; it is a "WYSIWIS" (What You See Is What I See) package in the context of a computer-based learning/training tool to provide online help from remote tutors but is also useful for general window sharing. Information: shX@nestvx.enet.dec.com. SHX can be found on export and gatekeeper.dec.com:/pub/X11/contrib/shX.tar.Z, crl.dec.com:/pub/X11/contrib/shX.tar.Z XTrap is implemented as a server/library extension. It is available as: gatekeeper.dec.com pub/X11/contrib/XTrap_v31.tar.Z export.lcs.mit.edu contrib/XTrap_v31.tar.Z ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 74) TOPIC: BUILDING THE X DISTRIBUTION ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 75) How do I build X with gcc? MIT is now using regularly the Free Software Foundation's GNU-CC to build the X distribution and uses gcc-built servers to test performance increases. [These options are gathered from several descriptions of building X with gcc 1.34, 1.35, and 1.36]: Use the options -O -fstrength-reduce -fpcc-struct-return -traditional may also be necessary if your version of gcc is sufficiently old (but don't use with 1.38). Do not use -finline-functions, particularly on the R4 server. ---> Make sure to run 'fixincludes' from the gcc distribution ---> before doing anything, or you will get fatal errors such as: ---> xterm: Error 15, errno 25: Inappropriate ioctl for device. HOWEVER, there is a bug in gcc 1.34 and 1.36 (but not in 1.35 or 1.37) which miscompiles things of the form (expr == 0 ? exp1 : exp2). The fix needed in X11R4 (and probably X11R3) is to change the definition of XtNewString in Intrinsic.h to: #define XtNewString(str) \ ((str) != NULL ? (strcpy(XtMalloc((unsigned)strlen(str) + 1), str)) : NULL) A work-around is also in fix-2 to X11R4. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 76) Why can't gcc compile X11R4 on my SPARC? I used gcc to compile the whole distribution, but I get several segmentation faults when running X. Note first that gcc on RISC machines does not necessarily result in any performance increase; it certainly is not as noticeable as it is on the 680x0 or VAX platforms. Here is the problem: gcc and cc use incompatible methods of passing structures as arguments and returning them as function values, so when gcc-compiled parts of X are linked with Sun-supplied functions that pass or return structs, run-time errors occur. Affected programs include rgb and the server. This is from the GCC manual: On the Sparc, GNU CC uses an incompatible calling convention for structures. It passes them by including their contents in the argument list, whereas the standard compiler passes them effectively by reference. This really ought to be fixed, but such calling conventions are not yet supported in GNU CC, so it isn't straightforward to fix it. The convention for structure returning is also incompatible, and `-fpcc-struct-return' does not help. You can duck the problem either by using cc throughout or by using it for just the routines which cause incompatibilities; the problem cannot be solved with compilation flags. Files which need to be compiled using cc include: server/os/4.2bsd/oscolor.c rgb/rgb.c In addition, several of the "init_" functions use structs as args or return values: clients/xhost/xhost.c clients/xauth/gethost.c. Calls to inet_addr in /lib/CLX/socket.c and lib/X/XConnDis.c are possibly harmless as they don't involve structs. [collected by bashford@scripps.edu (Don Bashford); 8/90] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 77) What are these I/O errors running X built with gcc? When I try to run xinit or the Xsun server I get the error "Getting interface configuration: Operation not supported on socket. Fatal server bug! no screens found." Running the gcc fixincludes script apparently didn't work. You can do this simple test: #include <sys/ioctl.h> SIOCGIFCONF Run that through cc -E and gcc -E. The last line of output is the piece of interest; it should be identical (modulo irrelevant differences like whitespace). If the gcc version has 'x' where the cc version has 'i', your fixincludes run didn't work for some reason or other; go back to your gcc sources and run `fixincludes`; then rebuild the X distribution. If they are identical, try running a make clean in mit/server and rebuilding, just to make sure everything gets compiled with the proper include files. [courtesy der Mouse, mouse@LARRY.MCRCIM.MCGILL.EDU; 9/90] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 78) What are these problems compiling X11R4 with "gcc -traditional"? There are known problems with gcc 1.38 which cause use of the -traditional to produce errors along the lines of "gcc: Program cpp got fatal signal 6". The fix is to upgrade to 1.39. [from Darryl Okahata (darrylo%hpnmd@relay.hp.com); 2/91] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 79) What are these problems compiling X11R4 on the older Sun3? In mit/server/ddx/sun/sunCG3C.c, we have found "missing" defines for CG3AC_MONOLEN, CG3BC_MONOLEN, CG3AC_ENBLEN, CG3BC_ENBLEN. What should these be? The R4 Errata list distributed after X11R4 mentions that you can add these lines to the file on older SunOS versions (e.g. 3.5) to compile: #define CG3AC_MONOLEN (128*1024) #define CG3AC_ENBLEN CG3AC_MONOLEN #define CG3BC_MONOLEN CG3AC_MONOLEN #define CG3BC_ENBLEN CG3AC_MONOLEN However, the Sun3 should not actually ever have the CG3 device, and so references to it can be removed from mit/server/ddx/sun/sunInit.c and the Imakefile. [11/90] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 80)* What are these problems compiling X11R4 on SunOS 4.1.1? Sun omitted <sundev/cg6reg.h> from SunOS 4.1.1. You can optimally copy the file from a machine running 4.1.0; or remove the #include from sunCG6C.c and replace it with the line #define CG6_VADDR_COLOR 0x70016000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 81) What are these problems using R4 shared libraries on SunOS 4? All of the executables that I try to run have the following results: ld.so: libXmu.so.4: not found or even: ld.so: call to undefined procedure __GetHostname from 0xf776a96c If you are building with shared libraries on a Sun, remember that you need to run "ldconfig" as root after installing the shared libraries (if you've installed X on a file-server, run it on the server's clients, too). While building and installing the distribution, you need to be careful to avoid linking against any existing X shared libraries you might have (e.g. those distributed with OpenWindows). You should make sure you do not have LD_LIBRARY_PATH set in your environment during the build or the installation. If you are going to keep xterm and xload as setuid programs, please note that the shared libraries must be installed in /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib, or /usr/5lib for these programs to work (or else those programs must be linked statically). [courtesy MIT X Consortium] Note also that the program mkfontdir is run as part of the build; it attempts, however, to use the shared libraries before they have been installed. You can avoid the errors by building mkfontdir statically (pass -Bstatic to most C compilers). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 82) How do I get around the SunOS 4.1 security hole? There is a security problem with certain X clients running under SunOS 4.1 that have been installed setuid root and are using shared libraries; to avoid the problem, do one of these: 1) make the program non-setuid. You should consult your system administrator concerning protection of resources (e.g. ptys and /dev/kmem) used by these programs, to make sure that you do not create additional security problems at your site. 2) relink the programs statically (using -Bstatic). 3) install the libraries before linking and link with absolute paths to the libraries. [from rws@EXPO.LCS.MIT.EDU (Bob Scheifler), 12/90] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 83) What are these funny problems compiling X11R3 on the Sun4? cc -c -O -I. -I../../include -I../../.././X11 -I../mfb cfbbitblt.c cc: Fatal error in iropt: Illegal instruction (core dumped) Known problems with the Sun4 optimizer render the -O flag unusable on this file. In addition, there is a problem in all of the procedures that return a parameter that was never referenced. Instead of returning the string, the compiler with optimization seems to be returning the last value computed. You can compile lib/Xt/TMparse.c without optimization; alternatively, you can replace the "return str" in various routines to use that parameter [courtesy of Jim Fulton, MIT X Consortium]: #ifdef sparc /* * The silly optimizer in SunOS 4.0.3 and below generates bogus code that * causes the value of the most recently used variable to be returned instead * of the value passed in. */ static String silly_optimizer_kludge; #define BROKEN_OPTIMIZER_HACK(val) silly_optimizer_kludge = (val) #else #define BROKEN_OPTIMIZER_HACK(val) val #endif and have routines end with return BROKEN_OPTIMIZER_HACK(str); Note also that the SPARCstation1 has a bug in its use of -misalign; a fix to cc should be obtained from Sun. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 84) TOPIC: BUILDING X PROGRAMS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 85) What is Imake? Imake is not a replacement for the make program; instead, it is a makefile-generator that takes advantages of the include-file and macro- processing capabilities of the C preprocessor cpp to generate makefiles suitable for building software on a particular system. Although it is not specific to X, the X release uses it to help solve a number of the configuration issues that arise in making such a large system widely portable. Imake has a fairly steep learning curve, in part because the process by which the system-specific configuration files, system-independent configuration files, and individual Imakefiles are melded to produce a Makefile is not obvious. You can obtain information on imake from these sources: - Paul Dubois (dubois@primate.wisc.edu) has written a useful explanation of how Imake works and how to use it in configuring X for non- supported systems; the document is available from indri.primate.wisc.edu (128.104.230.11) in the directory ~ftp/pub/imake-stuff; look for config-X11R4.ms (troff) and config-X11R4.ps (PostScript). Some supplemental appendices are nearby. - the R4 release notes and imake man page include information on using Imake to build X - on the R4 tapes, contrib/doc/imake/imake.tex is Mark Moraes' R3/R4 guide to imake. - and check the R4 mit/config directory for the source files [1/91] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 86) Where can I get imake? A version is distributed with the X11R4 release. An earlier version is distributed with the X11R3 release; some third-party toolkits redistribute versions of imake along with their own implementations of the template and configuration files. There are no real standards for such configuration files, although most current contributed software expects the templates distributed with X11R4. There are no known archive sites which have imake in a form in which it can be downloaded without downloading most of the X11 release. [2/91] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 87)+ I have a program with an Imakefile but no Makefile. What to do? If you have R4 installed on your system, run "xmkmf". This is a script which runs imake for you with the correct arguments. The output is a Makefile configured for your system and based on the Imakefile. Then run make, which will use that new Makefile to compile the program. -- The X User's Group xug@expo.lcs.mit.edu "No, I'm a member of the X User's Group, not the Ex-user's Group."
xug@lta.com (X User's Group) (05/06/91)
[Last changed: 05 May 91] This article contains the third of four parts of a set of answers to some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) often seen in comp.windows.x. It is posted to help reduce volume in this newsgroup and to provide hard-to-find information of general interest. Please redistribute this article! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 59) Where can I get X for the Amiga? The new Amiga 3000 machines offer an X server and OPEN LOOK tools and libraries on a full SVR4 implementation. GfxBase, Inc. provides "X11 R3.5" for the AmigaDos computer; it contains X11R4 clients, fonts, etc., and a Release 3 server. An optional programmer's toolkit includes the header files, libraries, and sample programs. Info from GfxBase, 408-262-1469. [Dale Luck (amiga!boing!dale@bloom-beacon.mit.edu); 2/91] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 60) Where can I get a fast X server for a workstation? The R4 server should be among the fastest available for most machines. The "Purdue" speedups significantly speed up the X11R3 server. Look on export.lcs.mit.edu:contrib/Purdue.2.[01]-tar.Z. (You'll also need gcc.) International Quest Corporation (408-988-8289) has an optimized R3 server for Sun3/4/386i under SunOS 4.0 and also an optimized R4 server. Unipalm XTech (+44 954 211244) makes several R3-based and R4-based tuned servers, most notably for Sun 3 and Sun 4. (Note: the original work was inherited from Torch Technology.) Xgraph's Xtool (408-492-9031) is an X server implemented in SunView which boasts impressive results on Sun 3 and SPARC systems. [6/90] Several companies are making hardware accellerator boards: Dupont Pixel Systems (302-992-6911), for Sun. Megatek's (619-455-5590) X-cellerator board for the Sun 3 and Sun 4 is based on the TI 34020; the company claims performance improvements of 5x to 10x over the sample X11R3 server. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 61)* Where can I get a server for my high-end Sun graphics board? Takahashi Naoto of the University of Tsukuba (ntakahas@is.tsukuba.ac.jp) posted a set of diffs to the MIT X11R4 server to support the Sun CG8 and CG9 boards. These are available in the comp.sources.x archives for October 1990 and from alw.nih.gov (128.231.128.251) in pub/cg9_cg8.tar.Z. Version 1.2 of the "Xsun24" server became available 3/91 and offers faster speed and DirectColor support. Note that the CG12 is not yet supported. [thanks to John Powell (jip@alw.nih.gov)] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 62)+ Where can I get an "X terminal" server for my low-end Sun 3/50? Seth Robertson (seth@ctr.columbia.edu) has written Xkernel; the current version [1.2 gamma as of 3/91, 2.0 expected RSN] is on sol.ctr.columbia.edu [128.59.64.40] in /pub/Xkernel.gamma. It turns a Sun 3/50 into a pseudo- X terminal; most of the overhead of the operating system is side-stepped, so it is fairly fast and needs little disk space. A similar approach is to run the regular X server by making /etc/init a shell script which does the minimal setup and then invokes Xsun, like this script from mouse@lightning.mcrcim.mcgill.EDU: #! /bin/sh exec >/dev/console 2>&1 /etc/fsck -p /dev/nd0 case $? in 0) ;; 4) /etc/reboot -q -n ;; 8) echo ND fsck failed - get help /etc/halt ;; 12) echo Interrupted /etc/reboot ;; *) echo Unknown error in reboot fsck - get help /etc/halt ;; esac /bin/dd if=/tmp-fs of=/dev/nd2 bs=512 count=128 >/dev/null 2>&1 /etc/mount /dev/nd2 /tmp /etc/ifconfig le0 netmask 255.255.255.0 broadcast 132.206.41.255 /etc/mount -o ro apollo:/u2/x11/lib /local/lib/X11 /etc/route add default 132.206.41.1 1 >/dev/null set `/etc/ifconfig le0` exec /Xsun -once -multidisp -mux -query `(sh -vn </local/lib/X11/xdm-servers/$2 2>&1)` ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 63) What terminal emulators other than xterm are available? PCS has rewritten xterm from scratch using a multi-widget approach that can be used by applications. The *alpha* distribution is available [1/91] on export in contrib/emu.tar.Z. More information is available from emu@pcsbst.pcs.com. Century Software (801-268-3088) sells a VT220 terminal emulator for X. VT102, Wyse 50 and SCO Color Console emulation are also available. Grafpoint's TGRAF-X provides emulation of the Tektronix 41xx and 42xx series. Information: 408-446-1919. [5/90] IXI's X.deskterm, a package for integrating character-based applications into an X environment, includes a number of terminal-emulation modules. Information: +44 (0223) 462131. [5/90] Pericom produces Teem-X, a set of several emulation packages for a number of Tek, DEC, Westward, and Data General terminals. The software runs on Sun 3, Sun 4, Apollo, DEC, ISC, IBM/AIX. Information: US: 609-895-0404, UK: +44 (0908) 560022. [5/90] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 64)* Where can I obtain an X-based editor or word-processor? You can ftp the latest version of emacs, including X11 support, from prep.ai.mit.edu [18.71.0.38]. The file you probably want is ~ftp/pub/gnu/emacs-18.55.tar.Z, or similarly-named files. Epoch is a modified version of Gnu Emacs with additional facilities useful in an X environment. Current sources are on cs.uiuc.edu (128.174.252.1) in ~ftp/pub/epoch-files/epoch; the current [2/91] version is 3.2. [In Europe, try unido.informatik.uni-dortmund.de]. There are two subdirectories: epoch contains the epoch source, and gwm contains the source to the programmable window manager GWM, with which epoch works well. You can get on the Epoch mailing list by sending a request to epoch-request@cs.uiuc.edu. The Andrew system on the X11R4 tape has been described as one of the best word-processing packages available. It supports word processing with multi-media embedded objects: rasters, tables/spread sheets, drawings, style editor, application builder, embedded programming language, &c. [Fred Hansen (wjh+@ANDREW.CMU.EDU)] In addition: Elan Computer Group (Mountain View, CA; 415-964-2200) has announced the Avalon Publisher, an X11/OPEN LOOK WYSIWYG electronic publishing system. FrameMaker and FrameWriter are available as X-based binary products for several machines. Frame is at 800-843-7263 (CA: 408-433-3311). WX2 (formerly InDepthEdit) is available from Non Standard Logics (+33 (1) 43 36 77 50; requests@nsl.fr). DECwrite is available from DEC for some DEC hardware and SunWrite is available from Sun. IslandWrite will soon be available from Island Graphics (415-491-1000) for some HP & Apollo platforms. Interleaf is currently available from Interleaf (800-241-7700, MA: 617-577-9800) on all Sun and DEC platforms; others are under development. The Alis and Asterix office-productivity tools from Applix (1-800-8APPLIX, MA: 508-870-0300) include a multi-font WYSIWG document composer; for several systems. ArborText, Inc. provides an X11 version of its Electronic Publishing program called "The Publisher". The Publisher is available on Sun, HP and Apollo workstations. Contact Arbortext at 313-996-3566. [5/90] Iris Computing Laboratories (615-886-3429) makes the "ie" editor. BBN/Slate from BBN Software Products includes a menu-driven word processor with multiple fonts and style sheets. It supports X on multiple platforms. (617-873-5000 or slate-offer@bbn.com) [11/90] The powerful "sam" editor by Rob Pike is split into a host portion and a front-end graphics portion, which now has an X implementation. Sam is available from the AT&T Toolchest; additional X support is available from Doug Gwyn (gwyn@brl.mil). [1/91] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 65) Where can I obtain an X-based paint/draw program? xpic is an object-oriented drawing program. It supports multiple font styles and sizes and variable line widths; there are no rotations or zooms. xpic is quite suitable as an interactive front-end to pic, though the xpic-format produced can be converted into PostScript. (The latest version is on the R4 contrib tape in clients/xpic.) xfig is an object-oriented drawing program supporting compound objects. The text-handling is limited. The xfig-format can be converted in PostScript or other formats. One version is on the R4 contrib tape in clients/xfig; it is one of the several 'xfig' programs which several groups independently developed parallel versions of from the R3 xfig. idraw 2.5 supports numerous fonts and various line styles and arbitrary rotations. It supports zoom and scroll and color draws and fills. On the R4 tape; see also interviews-request@interviews.stanford.edu. [courtesy Jim Helman (jim@kaos.Stanford.EDU) 7/89] A new OpenWindows PostScript-based graphical editor named 'ice' is now [2/91] available for anonymous ftp from Internet host lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu (129.236.10.30). ice (Image Composition Environment) is an imaging tool that allows raster images to be combined with a wide variety of PostScript annotations in WYSIWYG fashion via X11 imaging routines and NeWS PostScript rasterizing. It may require OpenWindows 2.0 and Sun C++ 2.0. tgif is available from most uucp sites and is frequently updated. In addition: dxpaint is a bitmap-oriented drawing program most like MacPaint; it's good for use by artists but commonly held to be bad for drawing figures or drafting. dxpaint is part of the Ultrix 3.x release. FrameMaker has some draw capabilities. [4/90] ArborText (313-996-3566) offers PubDraw, an X11-based drawing program, on Sun, HP and Apollo workstations. BBN/Slate from BBN Software Products includes a full-featured draw and paint program with object grouping and multiple patterns; multiple X platforms. (617-873-5000 or slate-offer@bbn.com). [11/90] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 66)* Where can I obtain an X-based plotting program? These are mostly available from uucp sites such as uunet or other sites as marked. gnuplot X (xplot), PostScript and a bunch of other drivers. cs.duke.edu:/dist/sources/gnuplot/gnuplot2.02.tar.Z [128.109.140.1] monu1.cc.monash.edu.au:/pub/gnuplot2.02.tar.Z [130.194.1.101] irisa.irisa.fr:/pub/gnuplot2.02.tar.Z [131.254.2.3] comp.sources.misc/volume8 gl_plot X output only [?] comp.sources.unix/volume18 graph+ yallara.cs.rmit.oz.au:/pub/graph+.tar.Z [131.170.24.42] comp.sources.unix/volume8 pdraw,drawplot 2D and 3D X,PS scam.berkeley.edu:/src/local/3dplot.tar.Z [128.32.138.1] scam.berkeley.edu:/src/local/contour.tar.Z [128.32.138.1] scam.berkeley.edu:/src/local/drawplot.tar.Z [128.32.138.1] uunet:~ftp/contrib/drawplot.tar.Z xgraph plot, zoom. Outputs PS or HPGL. shambhala.berkeley.edu:/pub/xgraph-11.tar.Z [128.32.132.54] sun1.ruf.uni-freiburg.de:X11/contrib/xgraph-11.tar.Z [132.230.1.1] nisc.jvnc.net:pub/xgraph-11.tar.Z [128.121.50.7] comp.sources.x/volume3 or many other sites xvgr An XView xgraph++ program. sun.soe.clarkson.edu:pub/src/xvgr-1.06alpha.tar.Z [128.153.12.3] uvax.rrz.uni-koeln.de:pub/windows/xcontrib/xvgr-1.06alpha.tar.Z [2/91. Thanks to: emv@ox.com (Ed Vielmetti) ; geoff@Veritas.COM (Geoffrey Leach) ; Paul A. Scowen (uk1@spacsun.rice.edu) ; black@beno.CSS.GOV (Mike Black)] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 67) Where can I obtain an X-based spreadsheet? Vendor Product Phone ------ ------- ----- Access Technology 20/20 (508) 655-9191 Informix WingZ (800) 331-1763 Quality Software Products Q-Calc/eXclaim 800-628-3999 (CA:213-410-0303) Unipress Q-Calc (201) 985-8000 Uniplex Uniplex (214) 717-0068, (800) 356-8063 [above from Walter E. Gillett (gillett@AI.MIT.EDU)] Digital DECdecision 1-800-DIGITAL BBN Software Products BBN/Slate 617-873-5000 slate-offer@bbn.com (the product includes WordProcessing, Spreadsheet, Graphics, Image Processing, Foreign Language WordProcessing, Electronic Mail, and Elecronic Conferencing) AIS's (919-942-7801) XESS spreadsheet for VMS/Ultrix has either DECWindows or Motif look/feel. The Alis and Asterix office-productivity tools from Applix (1-800-8APPLIX, MA: 508-870-0300) include a spreadsheet. There is a spreadsheet program in the Andrew Toolkit on the R4 contrib tape. Applied Information Systems (Chapel Hill, North Carolina; 1 800 334 5510) will begin shipping in mid-October 1990 an X11/Motif spreadsheet called Xess. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 68)* Where can I get an X-based PostScript previewer? xps is available from almost everywhere that the X11 contributed source can be found. The version currently on export is based on Crispin Goswell's PostScript interpreter with fixes and speedups by John Myers and Barry Shein and an X11 driver by Terry Weissman. There are known problems with fonts. The package is good for lowering the edit-print-edit cycle in experimenting with particular PostScript effects. [ralpage, also widely available, apparently shares with xps a common ancestor, and should also be considered.] Ghostscript is distributed by the Free Software Foundation (617-876-3296) and includes a PostScript interpreter and a library of graphics primitives. Version 2.1.1 is now available. The major site is prep.ai.mit.edu. [2/91] 2.2 very soon, maybe yesterday. In addition: ScriptWorks is Harlequin's software package for previewing and printing PostScript(R) descriptions of text and graphics images; previewers for X are available. For information call +44-223-872522 or send email to scriptworks-request@uk.co.harlqn. Digital's dxpsview runs on UWS 2.1 and 2.2. Sun's pageview runs with the X11/NeWS server. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 69) Where can I get an X-based GKS package? The latest freely-available XGKS can be obtained from xgks-request@unidata.ucar.edu; this is a 2c implementation derived from the X11R4 contrib XGKS from IBM and the University of Illinois. Release 2.2 is on unidata.ucar.edu [128.117.140.3] as pub/xgks.tar.Z. [12/90] In addition, Grafpak-GKS is available from Advanced Technology Center (714-583-9119). GKSUL is available from gks@ulowell.edu (ULowell CS department). It is a 2b implementation which includes drivers for a variety of devices. It can be passed an X window ID to use. The package includes both C and Fortran bindings. [11/90; from dsrand@mitre.org and from stew@hanauma.stanford.edu] An XgksWidget is produced by Neil Bowers (neilb@leeds.dcs; neilb@dcs.leeds.ac.uk); the latest [2/91] conforms with the new version of XGKS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 70) Where can I get an X-based PEX package? The "official" release of PEX will be with X11R5. There is now available from the University of Illinois an implementation of the PEX 4.0 specification called UIPEX. It contains a "near- complete" implementation of PHIGS and PHIGS PLUS. The file pub/uipex/uipex.tar.Z is on a.cs.uiuc.edu (128.174.252.1); the porting platform was an RT running 4.3. Questions and comments can to go uipex@cs.uiuc.edu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 71)* Where can I get an X-based TeX or DVI previewer? The xtex previewer for TeX files is available from a number of archive sites, including uunet; the current version is usually on foobar.colorado.edu (128.138.243.105) in SeeTeX-2.17.0.tar.Z; pre-converted fonts are also on that machine. The distribution all includes "mftobdf" which converts PK, GF, and PXL fonts to BDF format, where they can then be compiled for use by your local X server. Xtex 2.17 was announced 3/1/91. The xdvi dvi-previewer is fairly comprehensive and easy to use. It is also available from a number of sites, including uunet and export.lcs.mit.edu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 72) Where can I get an X-based troff previewer? X11R4 has two previewers for device-independent troff: the supported client xditview, and the contributed-but-well-maintained xtroff. An earlier version of xtroff also appeared on the R3 contributed source. In addition, the xman client can be used to preview troff documents using the -man macros. In addition: xproof, an X previewer for ditroff has been contributed by Marvin Solomon (solomon@cs.wisc.edu); version 3.5 is available on export in contrib/xproof*. [8/90] Elan Computer Group (CA: 415-964-2200) produces eroff, a modified troff implementation, and Elan/Express, an X11 eroff previewer. SoftQuad (416-963-8337; USA only 800-387-2777, mail@sq.uu.net or mail@sq.com) offers SoftQuad Publishing Software, including a substantially- rewritten troff formatter, a better intermediate language with backwards compatibility, and an X11[R3,R4] previewer. (This is the package adopted by AT&T's own MIS department, and used in and re-sold by many parts of AT&T). [information from Ian Darwin, SoftQuad (ian@sq.com) 3/90] Image Network (1-800-TOXROFF; CA: 415-967-0542) offers the Xroff package, which includes a fine modified troff implementation and a set of X11-based page previewers. (This is the package OEM'ed by several hardware vendors.) [mostly courtesy moraes@cs.toronto.edu (Mark Moraes)] [2/90] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 73)* Where can I obtain a WYSIWYG interface builder? Preliminary verions of the Xt application builder DIRT by Richard Hesketh are available on export.lcs.mit.edu (18.30.0.238) as contrib/dirt* and ftp.Adelaide.EDU.AU (129.127.40.3) under /pub/X/R4/contrib/dirt.*. It is often updated. Dirt requires X11R4 through patch 18. From the README: This builder allows the interactive creation and rapid prototyping of X user interfaces using the X Toolkit and a number of Widget Sets. Dirt generates "Wc - Widget Creation" resource files and this distribution also includes the Widget Creation Library (version 1.04, with the exception of the demos and Mri/Ari source code) with the kind permission of its author David E. Smyth. [Note: get it from export; the version on uunet may be old (level as of 2/91 is Alpha 1 pathlevel 8).] In addition, these commercial products (unsorted) are available in final or prerelease form [the * following the product name indicates that the product is known to allow the designer to specify for each widget whether a particular resource is hard-coded or written to an application defaults file, for at least one form of output]. Some are much more than user-interface tools; some are full user interface management systems: Product Name Look/Feel Code Output Vendor HP Interface Motif 1.0 C(Xm) HP/Visual Edge Architect/ UIMX OPEN LOOK Express OPEN LOOK C(Xol+ helper lib) AT&T/Visual Edge UIMX [Sun version] Motif 1.0 C(Xm+ helper lib) Quest (408-988-8880) Visual Edge 514-332-6430 VUIT 1.0 Motif 1.1 UIL[r/w] DEC (1-800-DIGITAL) X-Designer 1.1 * Motif 1.0 C(Xm); C/UIL Imperial Software Technology, Ltd (+44 734 587055) sales@ist.co.uk XFaceMaker2 (XFM2) * Motif 1.0 C;C/script (C-like procedural language) NSL (33 1 43 36 77 50) requests@nsl.fr Builder Xcessory 1.0 * Motif 1.0 C(Xm); C/UIL[r/w] ICS (617-621-0060) info@ics.com XBUILD 1.1 * Motif 1.0 C(Xm); C/UIL Nixdorf (617-864-0066) xbuild@nixdorf.com TeleUSE 1.1 Motif 1.0 PCD (like UIL);C + helper lib Telesoft (619-457-2700) ezX Motif 1.1 C(Xm +helper lib) Sunrise (401-847-7868) info@sunrise.com /dev/GUIDE OPEN LOOK GIL [-> XView] Sun ExoCode/SXM Motif C(Xm) Expert Object ExoCode/Plus OPEN LOOK XView 708-676-5555 TAE+ Xw;Motif C(Xw,Xm); C/TCL (TAE Control Language, like UIL[needs helper library]); VAX Fortran; Ada Nasa Goddard (301) 286-6034 PSM PM, MSW 3.0, C/UIL LanCorp Motif 1.0.3,Mac Technologies +61 3 606 3801 (Australia) [Future versions of this table may include information on the meta-file format used and will probably be more specific about the portability and completeness of output code and will probably look more like a Consumer Reports summary of features.] In addition, these non-WYSIWYG but related products may help for goals of rapid prototyping of the application interface: WCL: the Widget Creation Library. Basically describes the widget hierarchy and actions in a resources file; available from fine archive servers everywhere, including devvax.jpl.nasa.gov (128.149.1.143) in pub/. WINTERP: an Xlisp-based Motif toolkit allows for interpretive programming. The copy on the R4 tape is outdated; get a copy off export or email to winterp-source%hplnpm@hplabs.hp.com. The Serpent UIMS permits the building of user-interfaces without specific knowledge of coding but with an understanding of attributes being set on a particular [Motif] widget. More information is available from Erik Hardy (erik@sei.cmu.edu) Garnet is a Common Lisp-based GUI toolkit. Information is available from garnet@cs.cmu.edu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 74) Where can I find X tools callable from shell scripts? I want to have a shell script pop up menus and yes/no dialog boxes if the user is running X. Several tools in the R3 contrib/ area were developed to satisfy these needs: yorn pops up a yes/no box, xmessage displays a string, etc. There are several versions of these tools; few, if any, have made it to the R4 contrib/ area, though they may still be available on various archive sites. In addition, Richard Hesketh (rlh2@ukc.ac.uk) has posted the xmenu package to comp.sources.x ("v08i008: xmenu") for 1-of-n choices. [7/90] Two versions of XPrompt have been posted to comp.sources.x, the latter being an unauthorized rewrite. [R. Forsman (thoth@reef.cis.ufl.edu), 1/91] There is a version of XMenu available from comp.sources.x; it is being worked on and will likely be re-released. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 75)* Where can I get an X-based debugger? xdbx, an X interface to the dbx debugger, is available via ftp from export. The current [1/91] version is 2.1 patchlevel 2. An X interface to gdb called xgdb is also available as part of the gdb distribution (on prep.ai.mit.edu and other archive servers); when last checked, it needed minor modifications to upgrade from R3 to R4. Also, an X interface to gdb called xxgdb is more like xdbx 2.1.2. It is part of comp.sources.x volume 11 [2/91]. UPS is a source-level debugger which runs under the X11 and SunView window systems on Sun and DEC platforms. It is available from export (18.30.0.238) as contrib/ups-2.28.tar.Z. Also: MIPS produces a highly-customizable (WCL-based) Visual Debugger. You should be able to use Sun's dbxtool with its X11/NeWS server. The Saber-C (617-876-7636) source-level debugger includes an X-based interface; this essential programmer's tool run on most major platforms. AT&T offers the eXamine Graphical Interface, an X11 interface to dbx and C++ dbx for Sun3 and Sun4 and sdb and sdb++ for 386 and 3B2 platforms. Call 1-508-960-1997 or contact examine@mvuxi.att.com for more information. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 76)* How can I "tee" an X program identically to several displays? There are several protocol multiplexer tools which provide for the simultaneous display of X clients on any number of machines. XMX (an X Protocol Multiplexor) is available from wilma.cs.brown.edu (128.148.31.66) as pub/xmx.tar.Z SHX from Michael Altenhofen of Digital Equipment GmbH CEC Karlsruhe also does this; it is a "WYSIWIS" (What You See Is What I See) package in the context of a computer-based learning/training tool to provide online help from remote tutors but is also useful for general window sharing. Information: shX@nestvx.enet.dec.com. SHX can be found on export and gatekeeper.dec.com:/pub/X11/contrib/shX.tar.Z, crl.dec.com:/pub/X11/contrib/shX.tar.Z XTrap is implemented as a server/library extension. It is available as: gatekeeper.dec.com pub/X11/contrib/XTrap_v31.tar.Z export.lcs.mit.edu contrib/XTrap_v31.tar.Z ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 77) TOPIC: BUILDING THE X DISTRIBUTION ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 78) How do I build X with gcc? MIT is now using regularly the Free Software Foundation's GNU-CC to build the X distribution and uses gcc-built servers to test performance increases. [These options are gathered from several descriptions of building X with gcc 1.34, 1.35, and 1.36]: Use the options -O -fstrength-reduce -fpcc-struct-return -traditional may also be necessary if your version of gcc is sufficiently old (but don't use with 1.38). Do not use -finline-functions, particularly on the R4 server. ---> Make sure to run 'fixincludes' from the gcc distribution ---> before doing anything, or you will get fatal errors such as: ---> xterm: Error 15, errno 25: Inappropriate ioctl for device. HOWEVER, there is a bug in gcc 1.34 and 1.36 (but not in 1.35 or 1.37) which miscompiles things of the form (expr == 0 ? exp1 : exp2). The fix needed in X11R4 (and probably X11R3) is to change the definition of XtNewString in Intrinsic.h to: #define XtNewString(str) \ ((str) != NULL ? (strcpy(XtMalloc((unsigned)strlen(str) + 1), str)) : NULL) A work-around is also in fix-2 to X11R4. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 79) Why can't gcc compile X11R4 on my SPARC? I used gcc to compile the whole distribution, but I get several segmentation faults when running X. Note first that gcc on RISC machines does not necessarily result in any performance increase; it certainly is not as noticeable as it is on the 680x0 or VAX platforms. Here is the problem: gcc and cc use incompatible methods of passing structures as arguments and returning them as function values, so when gcc-compiled parts of X are linked with Sun-supplied functions that pass or return structs, run-time errors occur. Affected programs include rgb and the server. This is from the GCC manual: On the Sparc, GNU CC uses an incompatible calling convention for structures. It passes them by including their contents in the argument list, whereas the standard compiler passes them effectively by reference. This really ought to be fixed, but such calling conventions are not yet supported in GNU CC, so it isn't straightforward to fix it. The convention for structure returning is also incompatible, and `-fpcc-struct-return' does not help. You can duck the problem either by using cc throughout or by using it for just the routines which cause incompatibilities; the problem cannot be solved with compilation flags. Files which need to be compiled using cc include: server/os/4.2bsd/oscolor.c rgb/rgb.c In addition, several of the "init_" functions use structs as args or return values: clients/xhost/xhost.c clients/xauth/gethost.c. Calls to inet_addr in /lib/CLX/socket.c and lib/X/XConnDis.c are possibly harmless as they don't involve structs. [collected by bashford@scripps.edu (Don Bashford); 8/90] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 80) What are these I/O errors running X built with gcc? When I try to run xinit or the Xsun server I get the error "Getting interface configuration: Operation not supported on socket. Fatal server bug! no screens found." Running the gcc fixincludes script apparently didn't work. You can do this simple test: #include <sys/ioctl.h> SIOCGIFCONF Run that through cc -E and gcc -E. The last line of output is the piece of interest; it should be identical (modulo irrelevant differences like whitespace). If the gcc version has 'x' where the cc version has 'i', your fixincludes run didn't work for some reason or other; go back to your gcc sources and run `fixincludes`; then rebuild the X distribution. If they are identical, try running a make clean in mit/server and rebuilding, just to make sure everything gets compiled with the proper include files. [courtesy der Mouse, mouse@LARRY.MCRCIM.MCGILL.EDU; 9/90] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 81) What are these problems compiling X11R4 with "gcc -traditional"? There are known problems with gcc 1.38 which cause use of the -traditional to produce errors along the lines of "gcc: Program cpp got fatal signal 6". The fix is to upgrade to 1.39. [from Darryl Okahata (darrylo%hpnmd@relay.hp.com); 2/91] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 82) What are these problems compiling X11R4 on the older Sun3? In mit/server/ddx/sun/sunCG3C.c, we have found "missing" defines for CG3AC_MONOLEN, CG3BC_MONOLEN, CG3AC_ENBLEN, CG3BC_ENBLEN. What should these be? The R4 Errata list distributed after X11R4 mentions that you can add these lines to the file on older SunOS versions (e.g. 3.5) to compile: #define CG3AC_MONOLEN (128*1024) #define CG3AC_ENBLEN CG3AC_MONOLEN #define CG3BC_MONOLEN CG3AC_MONOLEN #define CG3BC_ENBLEN CG3AC_MONOLEN However, the Sun3 should not actually ever have the CG3 device, and so references to it can be removed from mit/server/ddx/sun/sunInit.c and the Imakefile. [11/90] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 83)* What are these problems compiling X11R4 on SunOS 4.1.1? Sun omitted <sundev/cg6reg.h> from SunOS 4.1.1. You can optimally copy the file from a machine running 4.1.0; or remove the #include from sunCG6C.c and replace it with the line #define CG6_VADDR_COLOR 0x70016000 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 84) What are these problems using R4 shared libraries on SunOS 4? All of the executables that I try to run have the following results: ld.so: libXmu.so.4: not found or even: ld.so: call to undefined procedure __GetHostname from 0xf776a96c If you are building with shared libraries on a Sun, remember that you need to run "ldconfig" as root after installing the shared libraries (if you've installed X on a file-server, run it on the server's clients, too). While building and installing the distribution, you need to be careful to avoid linking against any existing X shared libraries you might have (e.g. those distributed with OpenWindows). You should make sure you do not have LD_LIBRARY_PATH set in your environment during the build or the installation. If you are going to keep xterm and xload as setuid programs, please note that the shared libraries must be installed in /usr/lib, /usr/local/lib, or /usr/5lib for these programs to work (or else those programs must be linked statically). [courtesy MIT X Consortium] Note also that the program mkfontdir is run as part of the build; it attempts, however, to use the shared libraries before they have been installed. You can avoid the errors by building mkfontdir statically (pass -Bstatic to most C compilers). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 85) How do I get around the SunOS 4.1 security hole? There is a security problem with certain X clients running under SunOS 4.1 that have been installed setuid root and are using shared libraries; to avoid the problem, do one of these: 1) make the program non-setuid. You should consult your system administrator concerning protection of resources (e.g. ptys and /dev/kmem) used by these programs, to make sure that you do not create additional security problems at your site. 2) relink the programs statically (using -Bstatic). 3) install the libraries before linking and link with absolute paths to the libraries. [from rws@EXPO.LCS.MIT.EDU (Bob Scheifler), 12/90] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 86) What are these funny problems compiling X11R3 on the Sun4? cc -c -O -I. -I../../include -I../../.././X11 -I../mfb cfbbitblt.c cc: Fatal error in iropt: Illegal instruction (core dumped) Known problems with the Sun4 optimizer render the -O flag unusable on this file. In addition, there is a problem in all of the procedures that return a parameter that was never referenced. Instead of returning the string, the compiler with optimization seems to be returning the last value computed. You can compile lib/Xt/TMparse.c without optimization; alternatively, you can replace the "return str" in various routines to use that parameter [courtesy of Jim Fulton, MIT X Consortium]: #ifdef sparc /* * The silly optimizer in SunOS 4.0.3 and below generates bogus code that * causes the value of the most recently used variable to be returned instead * of the value passed in. */ static String silly_optimizer_kludge; #define BROKEN_OPTIMIZER_HACK(val) silly_optimizer_kludge = (val) #else #define BROKEN_OPTIMIZER_HACK(val) val #endif and have routines end with return BROKEN_OPTIMIZER_HACK(str); Note also that the SPARCstation1 has a bug in its use of -misalign; a fix to cc should be obtained from Sun. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 87) TOPIC: BUILDING X PROGRAMS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 88) What is Imake? Imake is not a replacement for the make program; instead, it is a makefile-generator that takes advantages of the include-file and macro- processing capabilities of the C preprocessor cpp to generate makefiles suitable for building software on a particular system. Although it is not specific to X, the X release uses it to help solve a number of the configuration issues that arise in making such a large system widely portable. Imake has a fairly steep learning curve, in part because the process by which the system-specific configuration files, system-independent configuration files, and individual Imakefiles are melded to produce a Makefile is not obvious. You can obtain information on imake from these sources: - Paul Dubois (dubois@primate.wisc.edu) has written a useful explanation of how Imake works and how to use it in configuring X for non- supported systems; the document is available from indri.primate.wisc.edu (128.104.230.11) in the directory ~ftp/pub/imake-stuff; look for config-X11R4.ms (troff) and config-X11R4.ps (PostScript). Some supplemental appendices are nearby. - the R4 release notes and imake man page include information on using Imake to build X - on the R4 tapes, contrib/doc/imake/imake.tex is Mark Moraes' R3/R4 guide to imake. - and check the R4 mit/config directory for the source files [1/91] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 89) Where can I get imake? A version is distributed with the X11R4 release. An earlier version is distributed with the X11R3 release; some third-party toolkits redistribute versions of imake along with their own implementations of the template and configuration files. There are no real standards for such configuration files, although most current contributed software expects the templates distributed with X11R4. There are no known archive sites which have imake in a form in which it can be downloaded without downloading most of the X11 release. [2/91] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 90)+ I have a program with an Imakefile but no Makefile. What to do? If you have R4 installed on your system, run "xmkmf". This is a script which runs imake for you with the correct arguments. The output is a Makefile configured for your system and based on the Imakefile. Then run make, which will use that new Makefile to compile the program. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 91)+ Why can't I link to the Xlib shape routines? When I try to compile certain programs, I get the following link error: Undefined: _XShapeQueryExtension _XShapeCombineMask These routines are actually part of the Shape Extension to X (SHAPE) which was introduced in the MIT X11R4 distribution and allows non-rectangular windows. Like the other sample server extensions, the shape extension will only run on a server which supports it. Pre-X11R4 servers, as well as many vendor-supplied servers, do not support the shape extension, in which case they will display rectangular windows anyway. In order to use the shape extension, you must link to the library libXext.a. In the X11R4 distribution, this library and the associated includes will be in the mit/extensions directory. If you do not have these files, do not despair: many freeware programs which use the shape extension can also be compiled without it by removing the -DSHAPE define from the Makefile; you can probably do this and compile successfully against your older vendor-supplied X libraries. [from John B. Melby, melby%yk.fujitsu.co.jp@uunet.uu.net, 3/91] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 92)* What are these problems with "_XtInherit not found" on the Sun? When I run a X program that I wrote on a SunOS 4.0.3 or 4.1 machine I get the error "ld.so: symbol not found _XtInherit". What you are seeing is a side-effect of a kludge in the R4 libXt.a to get Sun shared libraries working. Apparently, you can't share a function that is both called and compared, as _XtInherit is. This was handled by putting _XtInherit in the same file as a function that is always used, thereby guaranteeing that it would be loaded -- that is, in Initialize.c, where XtToolkitInitialize() and XtInitialize() reside. These routines would normally be called. You are probably seeing this error because your program is not a normal Xt-based program and does not call XtToolkitInitialize() anywhere. 1) it may be a program that uses Xt functions but never opens a connection to the X server. [OSF/Motif's 1.1.0 UIL had this problem; it called XtMalloc() and other Xt functions.] The solution is to add the call to your program; the function does not have to be executed, just linked in. 2) alternatively, your program doesn't need any Xt functions and is correct in not calling XtToolkitInitialize() -- it may be an Xlib or XView program. In this case, you can remove -lXt from your link command. It should not be necessary to link the shared libraries statically, although this will certainly solve the problem. [from Jordan Hayes (now jordan@tcs.COM) and Danny Backx (db@sunbim.be); 11/90] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: 93) Why can't I compile my R3 Xaw contrib programs under R4? I have a program that worked well under X11R3. When I try to link it under X11R4, I get this message: Undefined: _XtScrollBarSetThumb _XtTextSetInsertionPoint _XtTextReplace There were several name changes in the Athena widget set (in addition to the header files moving into <X11/Xaw/>); these are mentioned in the R4 release notes. In this case, these functions are not really Xt functions but are part of the Xaw text widget and so have been renamed from Xt* to Xaw*. [10/90] -- David B. Lewis for XUG The X User's Group xug@expo.lcs.mit.edu "No, I'm a member of the X User's Group, not the Ex-user's Group."
kaleb@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov (Kaleb Keithley) (05/09/91)
In article <1991May5.222709.4275@lta.com> xug@lta.com (X User's Group) writes: >[Last changed: 05 May 91] > >Subject: 83)* What are these problems compiling X11R4 on SunOS 4.1.1? > > Sun omitted <sundev/cg6reg.h> from SunOS 4.1.1. You can optimally copy >the file from a machine running 4.1.0; or remove the #include from sunCG6C.c >and replace it with the line > #define CG6_VADDR_COLOR 0x70016000 > You should not copy the file from a machine running 4.1.0, or even 4.0.3. Sun's reps say that the file has not only been deleted from public distribution, but has changed. The correct fix is to replace the #include with the #define -- Kaleb Keithley kaleb@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov Meep Meep Roadrunner Veep veep Quayle