The Motif User's Guide describes your interaction with the Motif® user environment. This guide provides information about manipulating windows on your screen, using application programs written for the Motif environment, and customizing your Motif environment to suit your own preferences. This guide assumes that the applications you are using are being run in a left-to-right language direction environment in an English locale.
This document is written for people who use the Motif user environment. The Motif User's Guide assumes that you are familiar with the basic commands for using a UNIX based operating system.
There is material in this guide for both novice and experienced Motif users. Users who are unfamiliar with Motif should concentrate initially on Chapters 1 through 4. Users who are already familiar with Motif will find Chapters 5 through 7 most helpful.
This is Revision 2.0 of this document. It applies to Release 2.0 of the Motif software system.
The previous revision of this document (Revision 1.2) supported Release 1.2 of Motif.
The purpose of this guide is to explain how to interact with applications based on Motif. After reading this guide, you should be able to do the following:
Use all of the standard features of the Motif Window Manager (mwm)
Use all of the Motif widgets
Customize mwm to suit your preferences
Customize your interaction with Motif applications
This document is organized into seven chapters and one appendix.
Chapter 1 provides an overview of the Motif user environment.
Chapter 2 describes basic window manager functionality.
Chapter 3 explains how to interact with Motif applications.
Chapter 4 describes the principles of customization.
Chapter 5 explains how to customize mwm.
Chapter 6 introduces some advanced mwm customization techniques.
Chapter 7 provides information on how to customize Motif applications.
Appendix A provides a list of keyboard and mouse operations.
For additional information about Motif, refer to the following documents:
The Motif Style Guide explains the principles of user interface design for application developers.
The Motif Programmer's Guide explains how to write applications using the Motif widget set.
The Motif Programmer's Reference provides detailed reference information for programmers writing Motif applications.
The Motif Widget Writer's Guide explains how to create Motif widgets.
This book is written in the Structured Generalized Markup Language (SGML) using the DocBook Document Type Definition (DTD). The following table describes the DocBook markup used for various semantic elements.
Markup Appearance | Semantic Element(s) | Example |
|---|---|---|
AaBbCc123 | The names of commands. | Use the ls command to list files. |
AaBbCc123 | The names of command options. | Use ls −a to list all files. |
AaBbCc123 | Command-line placeholder: replace with a real name or value. | To delete a file, type rm filename. |
AaBbCc123 | The names of files and directories. | Edit your .login file. |
AaBbCc123 | Book titles, new words or terms, or words to be emphasized. | Read Chapter 6 in User's Guide. These are called class options. You must be root to do this. |
This document uses the following typographic conventions:
| [ ] | Brackets enclose optional items in format and syntax descriptions. | |
| { } | Braces enclose a list from which you must choose an item in format and syntax descriptions. | |
| | | A vertical bar separates items in a list of choices. | |
| < > | Angle brackets enclose the name of a key on the keyboard. | |
| ... | Horizontal ellipsis points indicate that you can repeat the preceding item one or more times. Vertical ellipsis points indicate that you can repeat the preceding item one or more times. |
This document uses the following keying conventions:
| <Ctrl-x> or ^x | The notation <Ctrl-x> or ^x followed by the name of a key indicates a control character sequence. For example, Ctrl-c means that you hold down the control key while pressing c. | |
| Return | The notation Return refers to the key on your terminal or workstation that is labeled with the word Return or Enter, or with a left arrow. | |
| Entering commands | When instructed to enter a command, type the command name and then press Return. For example, the instruction "Enter the ls command" means that you type the ls command and then press Return (enter = type command + press Return). |
Componenents of the Motif user interface are represented by capital letters on each major word of the component, such as PushButton.
Since not all keyboards are the same, it is difficult to give style guidelines that are correct for every manufacturer's keyboard. To solve this problem, this guide describes keys using a model keyboard mechanism. Wherever keyboard input is specified, the keys are indicated by the engraving they have on the Motif model keyboard. The model keyboard does not correspond directly to any existing keyboard, rather it assumes a keyboard with an ideal set of keys.
In addition to the standard letter, number, and character keys, the Motif model keyboard is composed of the following special keys:
The special printing characters /, \, and !
The standard modifier keys Ctrl, Alt, and Shift
Ten function keys F1 through F10
The arrow keys Down Arrow, Left Arrow, Right Arrow, and Up Arrow
Backspace
Cancel
Delete
End
Escape
Help
Either Home, Begin, or both
Insert
Menu
PageDown
PageUp
Return
Space
Tab
The Motif model keyboard also contains the following optional keys, which, although useful, are either not necessary or can be created by combinations of other keys:
CapsLock
Copy
Cut
Enter
ModeSwitch
NumLock
PageLeft
PageRight
Paste
ScrollLock
Select
Undo
Throughout this guide, behavior is described in terms of model keyboard keys. When a behavior takes advantage of an optional key from the model keyboard, it is also described in terms of the required special keys. Each of the keys described on the Motif model keyboard is available either as specified or by using other keys or key combinations if the specified key is unavailable. A few of the more important alternatives are described here for your convenience.
If Cancel does not exist, Escape can be used in its place.
If Help does not exist, F1 can be used in its place.
If Menu does not exist, Shift F10 can be used in its place.
If F10 does not exist, Shift Menu can be used in its place.
If Home or Begin does not exist, Alt Left Arrow can be used in its place.
If End does not exist, Alt Right Arrow can be used in its place
On most systems, the mouse has either 2 buttons or 3 buttons. This guide assumes a 3-button mouse. Button 1 refers to the leftmost button. Button 2 refers to the middle button. Button 3 refers to the rightmost button. In general, you use Button 1 for selecting an item, Button 2 for data transfer, and Button 3 for Popup Menus. The functions associated with mouse buttons, however, can be reassigned. Check with your system administrator if you find that the mouse button actions do not correspond to the actions described in this guide.