WHAT IS XSESSION?
The xsession program is a session manager. It is normally executed by your
~/.xinitrc (or ~/.xsession) script and controls your X Window session. As
soon as it is started, xsession launches a window manager and some
applications of your choice. At anytime during your session, you may switch
to another window manager or execute some other applications from the
xsession menus.
You may also lock your screen using an independent locker application. The
window contains a message area which is used to notify the user whenever an
application or a window manager starts or ends, and also to display all the
output and error messages of the programs (the applications and the window
managers) run by xsession. The console output messages can also be shown
either in this area or in a second, separate area.
One useful feature of xsession is the preprocessing of window managers'
configuration files. When a window manager is launched, its startup file can
be filtered through m4(1) or cpp(1). Some macros are defined (such as the
host name, screen size and so on) that will help you customize your menus and
screen layout. One advantage of this feature is that several window managers
can share the same startup file: some lines are protected by a test on the
"WM_NAME" macro, but the other lines are common. This saves a lot of time
if you want to maintain the same menu structure for several of them. You can
also use "include" statements in your file.
USAGE
The best way to execute xsession is to include it in your ~/.xinitrc (or
~/.xsession) file, as the last client. The xinit(1) manual page says that
"the last long-lived program started [...] should be left in the foreground
so that the script won't exit". You will find a similar statement in the
xdm(1) manual page. This last program should be xsession. As a matter of
fact, this may even be the only program executed in your startup file,
because xsession itself provides a way to launch other applications. When
started, xsession will look in your home directory and execute a file named
.X11Startup, if found. This shell script is used to start your client
programs.
FTP SITES
FTP sites where you can look for the latest versions are:
ftp.x.org (198.112.44.100) /pub/contrib/applications
ftp2.montefiore.ulg.ac.be (139.165.8.25) /pub/xsession
Please use the one nearest to you: ftp2.montefiore.ulg.ac.be in Europe,
ftp.x.org elsewhere.
If you are willing to distribute xsession, please notify us. We'll update
this list with your site and directory in the next release of xsession.
REQUIREMENTS
You will need UNIX, the X11R5 or X11R6 libraries (including the Athena widget
library) and a (K&R or ANSI) C compiler to compile and link this software.
This X client application should run with all X Window compatible servers.
COMPILING & INSTALLING
Read the INSTALL file.
TESTING
We have personally compiled and run xsession on
o Sun3 with SunOS 4.1.1,
Sun4 (Sparc) with SunOS 4.1.[2,3],
DEC 3100 with Ultrix 4.2,
using gcc, gcc -ansi or cc, linking with X Consortium X11R5 (patch level
25) libraries,
o Sun4 (Sparc) with SunOS 5.3,
using cc -Xs, cc -Xt, cc -Xa, cc -Xc, /usr/ucb/cc, gcc or gcc -ansi,
linking with X Consortium X11R5 (patch level 25) libraries or with
OpenWindows 3.1 libraries,
o IBM RS/6000 with AIX 3.2.5,
using cc, xlc or c89, linking with AIXwindows 1.2.5 libraries,
o SGI Indigo with Irix 4.0.5F,
using cc -cckr, cc -xansi, gcc or gcc -ansi -D__EXTENSIONS__, linking
with SGI X11R5 libraries,
o IBM-PC compatibles with Linux 0.99pl14,
using gcc, linking with XFree86-2.0 X11R5 libraries.
It has been reported to us that the program also compiles and runs on
o Sun4 (Sparc) with SunOS 4.1, using gcc, linking with X Consortium X11R5
libraries,
o DEC Alpha with OSF/1.3, using cc, linking with X11R5 libraries,
o SGI Indigo with Irix 5.2, using cc -xansi, linking with SGI X11R5
libraries.
We have successfully run xsession with OpenWindows [2.0,3.0] servers, with
NCDware 3.1 servers, with AIXwindows 1.2.5 servers, and with X Consortium
X11R5 (patch level 25) servers.
We would be grateful to anybody that will inform us of successful builds
and running of xsession on different platforms.
KNOWN BUGS
None. But some peculiar features are explained in the manual page.
If you find a bug or something unusual, please report the problem to us.
We'll try and fix it as soon as possible.
REPORTING BUGS
When reporting bugs, make sure you include the following:
o If the bug happened while compiling xsession:
- which release of xsession did you try to compile?
- which type of computer did you use?
- which release of the operating system are you using?
- which compiler and flags were used?
- include the Makefile used for building xsession.
- include any output related to the bug.
o If the bug happened while running xsession:
- which release of xsession did you use?
- which type of computer did you use?
- which release of the operating system are you using?
- which compiler and flags were used when compiling xsession?
(to be included only if you know these informations)
- which X server was running when the bug occured (vendor, release number)?
(to be included only if you know these informations)
- include the Makefile used for building xsession.
(to be included only if you still have this file)
- include any output related to the bug.
- give a description of what you did before the bug occured; this
description should be as detailed as possible.
Mail the bug report to the authors.
FUTURE PLANS
o Add a "-longMenus" option. This will show the full application names in
the menus. Or add a third optional field in the application resource
string. This extra field will be shown in the menus if present (instead
of the short name).
o Add support for SIGALRM signals from window managers like OLWM, OLVWM, ...
o Add an optional support for the Motif widgets instead of the Athena
widgets. Some people cannot live without Motif...
You can send us any suggestion/enhancement about xsession. We'll try to
merge it in the next release. If you send us some piece of code, please
document it: we won't include in xsession any misunderstood code!
AUTHORS
Raphael Quinet <quinet@montefiore.ulg.ac.be>
<quinet@stud.montefiore.ulg.ac.be>
Alain Nissen <nissen@montefiore.ulg.ac.be>
<nissen@stud.montefiore.ulg.ac.be>
CREDITS
Claude Lecommandeur <lecom@sic.epfl.ch> wrote the "ctwm" window manager. The
preprocessor features in xsession were clearly inspired by his work. "ctwm"
is available on "ftp.x.org", in the "/R5contrib" directory; maybe it will be
moved somewhere in "/contrib"...
Mark Boyns <boyns@sdsu.edu> wrote the "rplay" package. This great library is
used to play sounds on various hosts. It is available on "sounds.sdsu.edu"
and "ftp2.montefiore.ulg.ac.be", in "/pub/rplay".
Keith Packard, from the X Consortium, wrote the "xconsole" application.
Numerous parts of his code were used in xsession to redirect the console
messages.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to people who have tried various beta versions and official releases
of xsession on their system.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1993, 1994, Alain Nissen & Raphael Quinet, University of Liege,
Belgium.
The X Consortium, and any party obtaining a copy of these files from the
X Consortium, directly or indirectly, is granted, free of charge, a full and
unrestricted irrevocable, world-wide, paid up, royalty-free, nonexclusive
right and license to deal in this software and documentation files (the
"Software"), including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify,
merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software,
and to permit persons who receive copies from any such party to do so. This
license includes without limitation a license to do the foregoing actions
under any patents of the party supplying this software to the X Consortium.
THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
X CONSORTIUM, THE AUTHORS OR THE UNIVERSITY OF LIEGE BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM,
DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR
OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE
OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
XSession 1.1 - June 6th 1994
