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Command: dxsession | Section: 1 | Source: Digital UNIX | File: dxsession.1X.gz
dxsession(1X) dxsession(1X)
NAME
dxsession, dxpause - DECwindows session manager
SYNOPSIS
dxsession
dxpause [-autopause] [-time n] [-wait]
OPTIONS
If the -autopause option is set, when the display is unlocked, dxpause
does not exit but instead becomes an icon. In this case, dxpause auto-
matically locks the display when the X server goes into screensaver
mode if the X Screensaver extension is present in the X server. De-
iconifying dxpause also causes the display to be locked. The -time op-
tion only has meaning if the -autopause option is also set. The -time n
option sets the autolock timeout period to n minutes. The default pe-
riod is whatever the X server's screensaver timeout is set to, and the
latter defaults to 5 minutes. The -wait option only has meaning if the
-autopause option is also set, and causes dxpause to start in the
iconified state rather than immediately locking the display.
Without any of these options set, dxpause locks the display immediately
when invoked and exits when the display is unlocked.
DESCRIPTION
The dxsession program provides a graphical interface to DECwindows ses-
sion management functionality. You can use dxsession to invoke appli-
cations and to customize the workstation environment.
A DECwindows session begins when you log into the workstation through
the xdm login prompt. The dxsession program is automatically executed
by xdm as the default DECwindows session manager. When started, dxses-
sion first reads the file in your home directory and incorporates those
resource values into the X Server. Next, dxsession starts a window man-
ager, the default being mwm. You may specify another window manager in
your file or with the session manager Customize Window dialog.
After the session manager window appears dxsession runs the applica-
tions and shell scripts specified in the AutoStart list. If you have a
file in your home directory, it will be appended to the AutoStart list
automatically. This script is rarely necessary, unless you require
complex startup actions or the setting of environment variables.
Use the Customize menu to tailor dxsession. Whenever you save the at-
tributes you have specified by means of the Customize dialogs, dxses-
sion writes resource specifications into your file. Note that the file
is only read by dxsession once, when it starts.
XDM LOGIN PROMPT
The xdm login prompt gives you initial access to the workstation by
prompting you for a name and password. For more information see
xdm(1X).
SESSION MANAGER WINDOW
The session manager window consists of the following areas: Displays
window manager icons that let you move and resize the session manager
window, and shrink the window to an icon. For more information, see
mwm(1X). Lists the available dxsession menus (such as Applications and
Customize).
DXCONSOLE
The dxconsole is started by the session manager at login. The dxconsole
records all messages sent to /dev/console as well as any output from
the session manager.
DXPAUSE
The dxpause program starts when the user selects Pause from the Session
menu on the Session Manager Menu Bar. The program places a blank
screen over the workstation screen and displays the Continue Session
dialog box. This box prompts for the password of the person whose ses-
sion was paused. When you enter the correct password, the blank screen
is removed and the session resumes.
MENUS
The session manager window contains the following menus: Session Appli-
cations Customize Help
Session Menu
The Session menu contains the following items: Places a blank screen
over the workstation screen and displays the Continue Session dialog
box, which prompts for the password of the person whose session was
paused. When you enter the correct password, dxsession removes the
blank screen and resumes the session. Ends the current session and ex-
its from all applications.
Applications Menu
The Applications menu contains a list of applications that you can
start. By default it includes all of the standard DECwindows applica-
tions (Mail, Calendar, DECterm, and so forth). Choose one of the appli-
cations to start it up. You can add applications as items on the menu
or remove those currently listed by choosing the Applications Menu item
from the Customize menu.
Customize
The Customize menu contains the following items: Displays a dialog box
that lets you provide or change application definitions. An applica-
tion definition consists of the name to use in Session Manager menus
and the associated command that is executed when dxsession starts the
application. Applications must be defined before you can add them to
the Applications menu or Autostartup list. Displays a dialog box that
lets you specify the applications that appear on the Applications menu.
You must define an application by means of the Customize Applications
Definitions menu before you add it to the Applications menu. you add it
to the Applications menu. Displays a dialog box that lets you specify
the applications that dxsession automatically starts each time a ses-
sion starts. You must define an application by means of the Customize
Applications Definitions menu before you add it to the Applications
menu. Displays a dialog box that lets you specify characteristics of
your keyboard (such as bell and keyclick volume). Displays a dialog
box that lets you specify the language in which you prefer to work.
Displays a dialog box that lets you specify characteristics of your
pointer (such as its shape and color). Displays a dialog box that lets
you specify the hosts that can display applications on this worksta-
tion. Displays a dialog box that lets you customize attributes of
dxsession. These include its start-up state (as an icon or opened win-
dow), the text that appears when your workstation is paused, and the
message region's size and header. Displays a dialog box that lets you
specify screen and window characteristics. These include colors, size
of your icons, and on some systems, the screen background pattern. In
addition, if you want to use a window manager other than the default
DECwindows one, you can specify it here. Restores the settings you
last saved. Restores the system default settings. Saves the current
settings. Overview gives an overview of Session Manager's menus and
features. About provides information about the software version.
X DEFAULTS
The dxsession application uses the values present in the file in your
home directory, when you first log in to customize the appearance and
characteristics of its windows and dialogs. The format for a resource
specification in the file is:
[name*]resource: value
Specifies the application name or the name string that restricts the
resource assignment to that application or to a component of an appli-
cation. If this argument is not specified, the resource assignment is
globally available to all X applications. Specifies the resource.
Specifies the value that is to be assigned to the resource.
For more information, see X(1X).
Because each toolkit-based application can consist of a combination of
widgets (for example, push buttons and a scroll bar), you can form the
name string by adding widget class and name identifiers to the string.
For further information about adding class and name identifiers, see
X(1X).
Note that the first name for lines that apply only to the session man-
ager should be labeled "DXsession". The first name for lines that ap-
ply only to the dxconsole should be labeled dxconsole.
For dxsession, the available classes are: AttachedDialogBox Dialog La-
bel MainWindow Menu Menubar Message Pulldown Pushbutton Text Toggle
For dxsession, the available names are: ConfirmFilename ConfirmPrint
CreatePulldown CustomizeAutoStart CustomizeAppDef CustomizeAppMenu Cus-
tomizeKeyboard CustomizePrinter CustomizePulldown CustomizeSecurity
CustomizeSession CustomizeWindow MainWindow Menubar Messages Session-
Pulldown SETLANGUAGE_BOX WorkAreaDialog
In addition to the general resources listed in X(1X), and those that
the Customize dialog boxes specify, dxsession uses the following re-
sources: Specifies the name of the terminal emulator to run at dxses-
sion startup. The default is xterm. Specifies the design of the
pointer character. DECwindows pointers are specified by negative num-
bers; choose the pointer by using the Customize Pointer dialog box.
MIT pointers can be specified by positive numbers that correspond to
values in /usr/include/X11/cursorfont.h. A list of applications, de-
limited by commas, to be considered for starting up by dxsession at
startup time. An integer indicating how many of the applications spec-
ified in the AutoStart resource to actually be started. If the Au-
toStart resource contains 5 applications and the value of num_AutoStart
is 3, only the first three of the AutoStart applications are started.
Specifies whether the keyboard bell is enabled or not. The default
value is enabled. Specifies the integer value of the volume of the
bell. The default value is 50. Specifies whether the keyclick re-
source is enabled or not. The default value is enabled. Specifies the
integer value of the volume of the keyclick. The default value is 50.
Specifies whether the autorepeat mode is enabled or not. The default
value is enabled. Specifies the mode of the keyboard when the value of
the resource is in use. The default value is caps. Specifies whether
the screen_saver resource is enabled or not. The default value is en-
abled. Specifies the integer value of the number of minutes during
which, if there is no keyboard or mouse activity, the system enables
the screen_saver. The default value is 10 (minutes). Specifies the
color of the foreground of the display. The default value is black.
Specifies the color of the background of the display. The default value
is white. Specifies the pattern of the display. The default value is
0. Specifies the color of the foreground of the pointer. The default
value is white. Specifies the color of the background of the display.
The default value is white. Specifies the state of the session manager
when it is started up. The default value is mapped. The alternate
value is iconified. Specifies whether the session manager is to query
for confirmation if the user chooses to Quit. The default value is 1
(true). Specifies a list of hosts, delimited by commas. The list is
used by the Security feature of the session manager. The default value
is an empty list. Specifies an integer representing the number of
hosts mentioned in the host_list resource to be considered. The de-
fault value is 0. Specifies a list of applications, delimited by com-
mas, to be used by the Applications button of the Customize feature of
the session manager. The default value is an empty list. Specifies an
integer representing the number of applications mentioned in the App-
Menu resource to be used. The default value is 0. Specifies a list of
applications, delimited by commas, to be started up by the session man-
ager at startup time. The default value is an empty list. Specifies
an integer representing the number of Applications mentioned in the Au-
toStart resource to be used. The default value is 0. Specifies an in-
teger representing the X coordinate of the session manager window at
startup time. The default value is 0. Specifies an integer represent-
ing the Y coordinate of the session manager window at startup time.
The default value is 0. Specifies a string to be displayed in the
Pause feature of the session manager. The default value is "Enter your
password to resume". Specifies a string representing the name of the
window manager to be started up by the session manager. The default
value is System Default. Specifies a list of applications, delimited
by commas, to be used by the Applications feature of the session man-
ager. Indicates values to be replaced by the user. Specifies an inte-
ger representing the number of Applications mentioned in the applica-
tions resource to be used. The default value is 2. Specifies a file
to be executed at startup time by the session manager. This feature
will become obsolete in the next release, and it is suggested that the
resource value for this resource be appended to the list of AutoStart
resource value. The current release append the value (if any) to the
AutoStart list, and comments out the line containing this resource
name. Specifies whether the session manager is to consider the root
password also while checking whether a typed string matches the user's
password. It becomes useful when the session is to be resumed from a
paused state. The default value is false.
dxconsole Resources
Specifies the height of the dxconsole window. Specifies the width of
the dxconsole window.
DXpause Resources
The first name for lines that apply only to the Pause task should be
labeled DXpause. When this resource is True, dxpause executes an
XGrabServer library call, thereby inhibiting all processing of requests
or close downs on any other connection. Although this action ab-
solutely insures that no information is displayed "through" the pause
screen, it also effectively suspends other tasks that need to output
information to their windows. When this resource is False, the protec-
tive pause screen is raised to the top of the display stack 20 times
per second, thus re-covering any other window that might have been dis-
played. Tasks that need to output to their own windows will not be
suspended. The default is False. When this resource is True, dxpause
behaves as if it were run with the -autopause option. See the OPTIONS
section, above. The default is False. When this resource is set to a
numeric value n, dxpause behaves as if it were run with the -time n op-
tion. See the OPTIONS section, above. This resource only has meaning if
the autoPause resource is set, or if dxpause is started with the -au-
topause option. The value n defaults to whatever the X server's screen-
saver timeout is set to, and the latter defaults to 5 minutes. When
this resource is True, dxpause behaves as if it were run with the -wait
option. See the OPTIONS section, above. This resource only has meaning
if the autoPause resource is set, or if dxpause is started with the
-autopause option. The default is False.
FILES
SEE ALSO
dxconsole(1X), mwm(1X), X(1X), xdm(1X)
dxsession(1X)