[comp.unix.ultrix] DEC's Motif Window Manager and Icon Images

rwood@pa.dec.com (Richard Wood) (03/15/91)

In article <28319@netcom.COM>, fisk@netcom.COM (Benjamin Fisk) writes:
> The image portion of an icon under DECs Motif window manager
> sometimes uses the application's icon image and sometimes
> substitutes a default image of a window.  Also, the following
> message is issued when "mwm" is loaded:
> 
> mwm:invalid icon bitmap, not depth 1.
> 
> For example, the little computer image that DEC uses with dxterm
> under DEC windows is not displayed under Motif's mwm, but the
> schematic directory tree used for DEC's "Executive" program is
> displayed.

The specification for window managers called "ICCCM" (don't remember
what it stands for) states that icons have a depth of one, i.e., they
are effectively two colors.

Digital starting shipping the DECwindows/X stuff before this
convention was established, and many of the clients try to hand to the
window manager an icon of depth "N" where N is the depth of the
display (i.e., 8 bits deep).  Oddly enough, I don't know of any cases
where the extra colors were ever used.  There was simply not a known
standard at the time.

As each of the OOTB (out-of-the-box) applications is updated, that
change is being made.  I would expect the final applications to be
updated in their next release (which isn't always synchronized with
the base O.S.'s release).  In the meantime, mwm complains.

It's easy to override with a property in .Xdefaults, such as:

    Mwm*DXterm.iconImage:  ~/.iconBits/dxterm.bitmap

This will use the icon pointed to instead of the app-supplied icon.

Unfortunately, this doesn't always work.  Some applications modify
their icons to present up-to-date information.  "dxmail", for
instance, reverse the icon's color to indicate new mail has arrived,
and this will mar even a user-supplied icon.  On the other hand,
"dxcalendar" also wants to put up a changing icon (showing the date,
etc.) but it will refrain from doing so if the user overrides it's
icon.

-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Wood     Corporate Worksystems Team      Digital Equipment Corp.
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