Manual: xmessage

XMESSAGE(1)				   General Commands Manual				 XMESSAGE(1)

NAME
       xmessage - display a message or query in a window (X-based /bin/echo)

SYNOPSIS
       xmessage [ -buttons label1[:value1],label2[:value2], ...	 ] [ options ] -file filename
       xmessage [ -buttons label1[:value1],label2[:value2], ...	 ] [ options ] message ...
       xmessage [ -help | -version ]

DESCRIPTION
       The  xmessage  program displays a window containing a message from the command line, a file, or stan‐
       dard input.  Along the lower edge of the message is row of buttons; clicking the left mouse button on
       any of these buttons will cause xmessage to exit.  Which button was pressed is returned in  the	exit
       status and, optionally, by writing the label of the button to standard output.

       The  program is typically used by shell scripts to display information to the user or to ask the user
       to make a choice.

       Unless a size is specified, xmessage sizes itself to fit the message, up to a maximum size.   If	 the
       message is too big for the window, xmessage will display scroll bars.

OPTIONS
       These are the command line options that xmessage understands, in addition to the standard ones listed
       in X(7).

       -buttons button,button,...
	       This  option  will  cause xmessage to create one button for each comma-separated button argu‐
	       ment.  The corresponding resource is buttons.  Each button consists  of	a  label  optionally
	       followed	 by  a	colon and an exit value.  The label is the name of the Command button widget
	       created and will be the default text displayed to the user.  Since this is the  name  of	 the
	       widget  it  may be used to change any of the resources associated with that button.  The exit
	       value will be returned by xmessage if that button is selected.  The default exit value is 100
	       plus the button number.	Buttons are numbered from the left starting with one.	The  default
	       string if no -buttons option is given is okay:0.

       -default label
	       Defines the button with a matching label to be the default.  If not specified there is no de‐
	       fault.	The  corresponding resource is defaultButton.  Pressing Return anywhere in the xmes‐
	       sage window will activate the default button.  The default button has a wider border than the
	       others.

       -file filename
	       File to display.	 The corresponding resource is file.  A filename of `-' reads from  standard
	       input.  If this option is not supplied, xmessage will display all non-option arguments in the
	       style  of  echo.	  Either  -file or a message on the command line should be provided, but not
	       both.

       -print  This will cause the program to write the label of the  button  pressed  to  standard  output.
	       Equivalent to setting the printValue resource to TRUE.  This is one way to get feedback as to
	       which button was pressed.

       -center Pop  up the window at the center of the screen.	Equivalent to setting the center resource to
	       TRUE.

       -nearmouse
	       Pop up the window near the mouse cursor.	 Equivalent to setting	the  nearMouse	resource  to
	       TRUE.

       -timeout secs
	       Exit  with status 0 after secs seconds if the user has not clicked on a button yet.  The cor‐
	       responding resource is timeout.

       -help   Print a usage message and exit.

       -version
	       Print version info and exit.

WIDGET HIERARCHY
       Knowing the name and position in the hierarchy of each widget is useful when specifying resources for
       them.  In the following chart, the class and name of each widget is given.

       Xmessage (xmessage)
	    Form form
		 Text message
		 Command (label1)
		 Command (label2)
		 .
		 .
		 .

RESOURCES
       The program has a few top-level application resources that allow customizations that are specific  to
       xmessage.

       file    A String specifying the file to display.

       buttons A String specifying the buttons to display.  See the -buttons command-line option.

       defaultButton
	       A String specifying a default button by label.

       printValue
	       A  Boolean  value  specifying  whether the label of the button pressed to exit the program is
	       written to standard output.  The default is FALSE.

       center  A Boolean value specifying whether to pop up the window at the center of the screen.  The de‐
	       fault is FALSE.

       nearMouse
	       A Boolean value specifying whether to pop up the window near the mouse cursor.	The  default
	       is FALSE.

       timeout The number of seconds after which to exit with status 0.	 The default is 0, which means never
	       time out.

       maxHeight (class Maximum)
	       The maximum height of the text part of the window in pixels, used if no size was specified in
	       the geometry.  The default is 0, which means use 70% of the height of the screen.

       maxWidth (class Maximum)
	       The  maximum width of the text part of the window in pixels, used if no size was specified in
	       the geometry.  The default is 0, which means use 70% of the width of the screen.

ACTIONS
       exit(value)
	       exit immediately with an exit status of value (default 0).  This	 action	 can  be  used	with
	       translations to provide alternate ways of exiting xmessage.

       default-exit()
	       exit  immediately  with	the exit status specified by the default button.  If there is no de‐
	       fault button, this action has no effect.

EXIT STATUS
       If it detects an error, xmessage returns 1, so this value should not be used with a button.

SEE ALSO
       X(7), echo(1), cat(1)

AUTHORS
       Chris Peterson, MIT Project Athena
       Stephen Gildea, X Consortium

X Version 11				       xmessage 1.0.7					 XMESSAGE(1)