WSERVER(1)			W-PROGRAMS			WSERVER(1)

NAME

	startw, wcolor, wmono

SYPNOSIS

	startw

DESCRIPTION

	 W is a window managing tool for the Atari ST/TT range of computers.
	Sorry, it probably doesn't run on a Falcon yet, at least not if you
	use a Falcon-specific graphic. It obviously was somehow inspired by
	X11, but you shouldn't compare it to X. :) especially it does not
	differ between the graphic routines and the window manager but
	integrates both of them. this is because it's easier and saves quite
	some overhead and memory.

	 there are two versions of W: a color version and a monochrome one.
	`color' in this context means that this version will run on a TT color
	resolution, but still displays only black/white graphics. this is
	because I don't need color and I find it too difficult to implement it
	efficiently, and then I've got other things to do. the monochrome
	version is specialized for the ST/TT high resolutions and is therefore
	much quicker.

	 you may either start any of the server directly or just type:

	`startw'

	 to let this program decide which version to start.

	 W tries to execute a file `.wrc' in your home directory when started.
	this file should be a regular shellscript containing commands you want
	to execute to customize the startup procedure. a sample `wrc' is
	included in the root directory of this archive. if there is no `~/.wrc'
	a default $(WDIR)/wrc will be executed which should have been installed
	during `make install'. if this one also fails to exist nothing will
	happen. you'll then have to use the menu to start programs.

	 W also tries to read a file .wconfig in your home directory to read
	some user customization. if there isn't such a file the default from
	$(WDIR)/wconfig is used, which should also have been installed by
	`make install'. If none of these files exist a built-in default will
	be used so that you're at least able to start a wterm.

	 currently only menu customization is supported. you can give
	(theoretically) any number of lines which look like this:

	menuitem=<title>,<action-command with any number of args>


	 once started the server creates socket endpoints for clients to
	connect to. currently it creates an AF_UNIX socket /tmp/wserver and
	an AF_INET socket for 127.0.0.1:7777. sorry, it does not yet try to
	resolve the hostname and bind to a more specific adress, but this will
	surely come in the next release.

	 if any of these bind()s fails the server will exit immediately. note
	that if the server crashes by some reason it may perhaps not be able
	to remove the file /tmp/wserver. if it should claim it can't bind to
	that adress because the file already exists at the next start, you may
	think about manually erasing it and try again.


	 clients connect to the AF_UNIX socket by default, because this one is
	guaranteed to exist locally (the AF_INET socket may be not) and it's
	quicker. each client, when started, looks for an environment variable
	WDISPLAY which, if existing, is assumed to hold the name of a host to
	connect to. contrary to X11 it should really only contain the host
	name, not any display or perhaps port suffix.

	 if you start a client and get a moveable rectangle on the screen then
	that's the client wanting you to determine where to put its window.
	if you press the left mouse button, you'll place the window to the
	current position, and if you press the right button you'll discard
	this window and probably also the whole client. but most programs now
	understand the geometry option to specify a place to put the window
	when started from the command line. see the appropriate manpages for
	details.

	 if the window was created with W_MOVE, you can move it later by
	pressing the left mouse button somewhere on the border of the it. you
	will then get the moveable rectangle too and can place or discard the
	move, but this time the latter won't kill the client but instead leave
	the window where it was.

	 if you press the right mouse button on the border of a window, you'll
	top it. note that this may not work if there's a window with the W_TOP
	flag in front of it.

	 if you press the left mouse button somewhere on the background, you'll
	get a small menu from which you can select a program to be run. the
	last item in the menu is `exit', which will kill all running clients
	and exit W.

	 mouse button pressed in windows are reported to the specific client
	program, so it's a bit hard to predict here what'll happen... ;)

FILES

	~/.wrc

SEE ALSO

	wterm, wclock, wload, all the other programs and - of course - the
	`lots' of README's and so on... ;)

COPYRIGHT

	(C) 12/94 by Torsten Scherer (TeSche)
	itschere@techfak.uni-bielefeld.de

WARRANTY

	none

LAST CHANGED

	12/94 by TeSche, itschere@techfak.uni-bielefeld.de
