[comp.windows.x] refreshing the hardware

mouse@LARRY.MCRCIM.MCGILL.EDU (der Mouse) (05/02/90)

> Sometimes while running X on my color SPARC I do something that
> writes directly to the screen.  For instance, running squig or
> screenload.  I would like some way of having X reload the hardware
> colormap from its internal one.

Well, if the max-installed-colormaps value for the screen is relatively
low (which it will be on most hardware - typically 1), you can create
that many colormaps, install them all, and then deinstall them.  (I'm
not sure how you keep the window manager out of your hair while you do
this; perhaps this must be added to the window manager.)

Speaking of this, is there any way of making all windows refresh
themselves?

That sounds like a stupid question - just use xrefresh, right?  Sorry,
not quite good enough.  I have sometimes observed the R4 server keeping
backing-store when it hasn't been asked to, and while there's nothing
wrong with that per se, it uses the frame buffer memory to do so, which
*is* wrong, because it means that a program such as screenload will
corrupt the backing-store as well as the current window contents.

					der Mouse

			old: mcgill-vision!mouse
			new: mouse@larry.mcrcim.mcgill.edu