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diff --git a/FAQ.html b/FAQ.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..18d4ee6 --- /dev/null +++ b/FAQ.html @@ -0,0 +1,344 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> +<html lang="en"> +<HEAD> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<TITLE>FAQ XPM</TITLE> +</HEAD> + +<body> +<h1 align="center">The XPM<br> +Frequently Asked Questions</h1> +<p> +This article contains the answers to some Frequently Asked Questions about the +XPM format and/or library. If you don't find the answer to your problem here, +then you can mail either to lehors@sophia.inria.fr or to the mailing list +xpm-talk@sophia.inria.fr. + + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<ol> +<li><a href="#Q1">How do I convert my images to or from XPM ?</a> +<li><a href="#Q2">Why are my XPM files said to be invalid ?</a> +<li><a href="#Q3">Why does my program core dumps using XPM ?</a> +<li><a href="#Q4">Why does my program core dumps using XPM with a widget ?</a> +<li><a href="#Q5">How can I get a non rectangular icon using XPM ?</a> +<li><a href="#Q6">What exactly triggers the creation of a mask when using XPM ?</a> +<li><a href="#Q7">How should I use the mask ?</a> +<li><a href="#Q8">Is there a string to pixmap converter somewhere ?</a> +<li><a href="#Q9">How can I edit XPM icons ?</a> +<li><a href="#Q10">Is there a collection of icons somewhere ?</a> +<li><a href="#Q11">The documentation fails to print out. Why ?</a> +<li><a href="#copy">Copyright</a> +</ol> + + +<h2><a name="Q1">1. How do I convert my images to or from XPM ?</a></h2> +<p> + Netpbm is surely the best image conversion package that I know of. It defines + formats for color, gray and monochrome images and provides a set of filters. + Thus a GIF image can be converted to XPM with something like: +<p> + $ giftoppm youricon.gif | ppmtoxpm > youricon.xpm +<p> + The latest release can be found at least from wuarchive.wustl.edu + (128.252.135.4), directory /graphics/graphics/packages/NetPBM + + +<h2><a name="Q2">2. Why are my XPM files said to be invalid ?</a></h2> +<p> + There are three official versions of the XPM format. The XPM library since + version 3.3 can read all them but writes out only XPM 3. Also the small + program called sxpm which is part of the XPM library package can be used to + automatically translate XPM 1 and 2 files to XPM 3 with a command such as: +<p> + $ sxpm -nod yourxpm1or2file -o yourxpm3file +<p> + Also, the XPM format defines "None" to be the color name meaning + "transparent", but IXI used to hack the XPM library in its early days to + handle transparency as "#Transparent". This makes IXI format not compatible + with the official XPM format, and so not readable neither by the official XPM + library nor any of the programs built on top of it. +<p> + The only solutions are either to stick on IXI programs which can deal with + their format or convert your files to the standard XPM format. This can be + done simply by changing "#Transparent" to "None". + + +<h2><a name="Q3">3. Why does my program core dumps using XPM ?</a></h2> +<p> + Be sure the XpmAttributes structure you pass by reference has a valid + valuemask. You can give NULL instead if you don't want to use an + XpmAttributes but if you do, you MUST initialize its valuemask component to + some valid value, at least 0, otherwise unpredictable errors can occur. +<p> + So instead of doing something like: +<pre> + XpmAttributes attrib; + + XpmReadFileToPixmap(dpy, d, filename, &pixmap, &mask, &attrib); +</pre> +<p> + you should do: +<pre> + XpmAttributes attrib; + + attrib.valuemask = 0; + XpmReadFileToPixmap(dpy, d, filename, &pixmap, &mask, &attrib); +</pre> + + +<h2><a name="Q4">4. Why does my program core dumps using XPM with a widget ?</a></h2> +<ul> +<li>First the XPM library is Xlib level, so don't pass your widget as a + Drawable parameter. A Drawable is either a Window or a Pixmap. The widget's + window can do the job but: + +<li>Then a widget only gets a Window when realized, so passing XtWindow(widget) + with a not yet realized widget is wrong. Either realize you widget first or + use another window. Since the Drawable parameter is only used to specify + the screen to which the pixmap must be created on, most of the time the + default root window is just fine. +</ul> + + +<h2><a name="Q5">5. How can I get a non rectangular icon using XPM ?</a></h2> +<p> + The X Window System does not support transparent color. However there are + several ways you can use to get the same visual effect using XPM: +<ul> +<li>First you can use the None color to get a shape mask and use it as + explained below (question 7). + +<li>Second you can define a symbolic color name such as "mask" in the XPM + format file, then use the color overriding mechanism to set this symbolic + color to the color of the underlying object. Note that in this case the XPM + library won't create a shape mask, and that if the color of the underlying + object is changed then you'll have to create a new pixmap. +</ul> + + +<h2><a name="Q6">6. What exactly triggers the creation of a mask when using XPM ?</a></h2> +<p> + Basically a mask is created if "None" is used as one of the color of the + pixmap. Be aware that this is not only true if it is used in the XPM of the + pixmap since the colors can be overridden at load time. So a mask is created + if the "None" color is used at load time, coming either from the XPM + definition or the color overriding. + + +<h2><a name="Q7">7. How should I use the mask ?</a></h2> +<p> + There are basically two ways of using the mask: +<ul> +<li>Use the mask as a shapemask with the X11 Nonrectangular Saphe Window + Extension. Typically this is what should be done when the icon is used in a + desktop. + +<li>Use the mask as a clipmask in the GC you pass to XCopyArea when drawing the + pixmap. So the "transparent" pixels being not actually drawn will get the + underlying pixels colors. +</ul> + + +<h2><a name="Q8">8. Is there a string to pixmap converter for Motif ?</a></h2> +<p> + Yes, Motif 2.0 or later does support XPM pixmaps as well as XBM bitmaps. + + +<h2><a name="Q9">9. How can I edit XPM icons ?</a></h2> +<p> + As listed below several editors either commercial or not are supporting the + XPM format. However, pixmap is the one I would recommend since it is freely + available and, being fully dedicated to XPM, it allows to edit all the + special things, such as the symbolic color names, which makes XPM different + from all the other image formats. Pixmap can always be found by ftp from + ftp.x.org (contrib) and avahi.inria.fr (pub/pixmap). +<p> +Last Update: 3 August 1994 +<table border=1> +<caption>XPM Icon Editors</caption> +<tr><th>Program<th>Infos<th>Source/Author<th>Platforms<th>SA<th>XPM<th>cost +<tr><td>pixmap<td><ul> + <li><a href="ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/application/pixmap/pixmap2.6.tar.gz">ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/application/pixmap/pixmap2.6.tar.gz</a> + <li>requires 3.4 or higher revision of Xpm lib. + <li>supports all XPM format features + <li>current version doesn't work on 24-plane displays +</ul> +<td>Lionel Mallet<td>source<td>yes<td>3<td>NC + +<tr><td>pixt<td><ul> + <li><a href="ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/pixt.tar.Z">ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/pixt.tar.Z</a> + <li>doesn't work on 24-plane displays + <li>last updated November 1991 +</ul> +<td>J. Michael Flanery<td>source<td>yes<td>1<td>NC + +<tr><td>pixed<td><ul> + <li>part of X.desktop + <li>current version doesn't work on 24-plane displays +</ul> +<td>IXI<td>Many UNIX<td>no<td>3<td>N/A + +<tr><td>olpixmap<td><ul> + <li>packaged with the OLIT (OpenLook) toolkit +</ul> +<td>USL<td>Sun, SVR4.2, UnixWare<td>no<td>1<td>N/A + +<tr><td>xfedor<td><ul> + <li>only uses XLIB + <li>doesn't work on 24-plane displays +</ul> +<td>Daniel Dardailler<td>source<td>yes<td>3<td>NC + +<tr><td>SCOpaint<td><ul> + <li>included with the ODT package +</ul> +<td>SCO/Wing Eng<td>ODT<td>yes<td>2.8<td>N/A + +<tr><td>pme.icn<td><ul> + <li>written in the Icon language +</ul> +<td>Icon Project<td>source<td>yes<td>3<td>NC + +<tr><td>PixEditT<td><ul> + <li>there is currently no support for editing the colormap +</ul> +<td>Free Widget Foundation<td>source<td>yes<td>3<td>NC + +<tr><td>xscribble<td><ul> + <li>requires the FWF, 8-bit pseudocolor + <li><a href="ftp://ftp.cis.ufl.edu/pub/thoth">ftp://ftp.cis.ufl.edu/pub/thoth</a> + <li>Alpha version (last updated April 1993) +</ul> +<td>Robert Forsman<td>source<td>yes<td>?<td>NC + +<tr><td>vueicon<td><ul> + <li>included with Vue3.0 +</ul> +<td>Hewlett-Packard<td>HP<td>yes<td>3<td>N/A + +<tr><td>iconedit V3<td> <td>SunSoft<td>Sparc/Sun3<td>yes<td>2<td>N/A + +<tr><td>Pixmap Editor<td><ul> + <li>this is a Widget, not a complete program +</ul> +<td>ICS<td>?<td>yes<td>?<td>? + +<tr><td>ezX<td> <td>Sunrise Softwarey<td>?<td>?<td>?<td>N/A + +<tr><td>XPaint<td><ul> + <li>full featured, works on all displays + <li>current release is 2.1.1 (last update January 1994) +</ul> +<td>David Koblas<td>source<td>yes<td>3<td>NC + +<tr><td>Phoenix<td><ul> + <li>full featured, 24-bit painting program, requires Motif. + <li><a href="ftp://nic.funet.fi/pub/graphics/packages/phoenix">ftp://nic.funet.fi/pub/graphics/packages/phoenix</a> + <li>Beta version (last updated September 1993) +</ul> +<td>ohtcolor@niksula.hut.fi<td>source<td>yes<td>3<td>NC + +<tr><td>pixed<td><ul> + <li>pixed is part of the TeleUSE UIMS + <li>More info is available from service@ignite.alsys.com +</ul> +<td>Alsys<td>Many UNIX<td>yes<td>3<td>N/A + +<tr><td>display<td><ul> + <li><a href="ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/application/ImageMagick/ImageMagick-3.2.tar.gz">ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/application/ImageMagick/ImageMagick-3.2.tar.gz</a> + <li>lots of image conversion and manipulation features +</ul> +<td>John Cristy<td>source<td>yes<td>3<td>NC +</table> + +<p> +SA - Stand Alone program<br> +NC - No Charge (i.e. free); most programs are copyrighted.<br> +XPM - XPM format supported<br> +source - built from source code; likely works on all standard X platforms<br> +N/A - icon editor is normally distributed with other software + +<p> +Send updates, additions, corrections, etc. to <a +href="mailto:dan@bristol.com">dan@bristol.com</a> + + +<h2><a name="Q10">10. Is there a collection of icons somewhere ?</a></h2> +<p> + At least there is one freely available: Anthony's X Icon Library. You can + found it on several ftp servers, such as <a href="ftp://server.berkeley.edu/pub/AIcons">server.berkeley.edu/pub/AIcons</a>. It + contains only small icons (less than about 100x100 pixels in size) which are + stored in groups in a logical way. Color icons are stored in XPM format and + Black & White icons in XBM. + + +<h2><a name="Q11">11. The documentation fails to print out. Why ?</a></h2> +<p> + The PostScript documentation file is formatted for US letter paper. Frame + Maker tries very hard to ensure that you have the right paper and punts if + you don't. However, you can easily work around this problem by applying the + following patch. If for some reason applying the patch fails, you can still + do it by hand. Just locate the corresponding block in the PS file and remove + the lines with a leading '-' character. + By the way, this applies to any doc generated by Frame Maker. The + corresponding block might be slightly different depending on which version of + Frame Maker was used, but it is still easy to locate. + +<pre> +*** xpm.PS Wed Sep 11 15:47:43 1996 +--- xpm-A4.PS Thu Nov 21 09:27:28 1996 +*************** +*** 647,668 **** + 0 ne /edown exch def + /yscale exch def + /xscale exch def +- FMLevel1 { +- manualfeed {setmanualfeed} if +- /FMdicttop countdictstack 1 add def +- /FMoptop count def +- setpapername +- manualfeed {true} {papersize} ifelse +- {manualpapersize} {false} ifelse +- {desperatepapersize} {false} ifelse +- { (Can't select requested paper size for Frame print job!) FMFAILURE } if +- count -1 FMoptop {pop pop} for +- countdictstack -1 FMdicttop {pop end} for +- } +- {{1 dict dup /PageSize [paperwidth paperheight]put setpagedevice}stopped +- { (Can't select requested paper size for Frame print job!) FMFAILURE } if +- {1 dict dup /ManualFeed manualfeed put setpagedevice } stopped pop } +- ifelse + + FMPColor { + currentcolorscreen +--- 647,652 ---- +</pre> + + +<hr> +<h2><a name="copy">Copyright (C) 1989-95 GROUPE BULL</a></h2> +<p> +Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy +of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to +deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the +rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or +sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is +furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: +<p> +The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in +all copies or substantial portions of the Software. +<p> +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 +GROUPE BULL 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. +<p> +Except as contained in this notice, the name of GROUPE BULL shall not be +used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other dealings +in this Software without prior written authorization from GROUPE BULL. +</body> +</html> |