Frequently asked questions about RUNNING XF:

Index:
======

R-1) How can I change the path/filenames that are used by XF ?
R-2) How can I create multiple toplevel windows ?
R-3) How can I show/hide toplevel windows ?
R-4) How can I make a widget the "current widget" ?
R-5) How can I bind actions to buttons ?
R-6) How can I cut/copy/paste a widget ?
R-7) How can I delete a widget ?
R-8) How can I create templates ?
R-9) How can I change the order of menubutton items ?
R-10) How can I change the order of packed children ?
R-11) How can I write my own procedures ?
R-12) How can I copy/paste between text fields ?
R-13) How can I retrieve the name of a specific widget ?
R-14) How can I write source that is evaluated before XF
      (and the created application) is actually started ?
R-15) Is there a way to select colors/fonts etc. interactively ?
R-16) How can I set widget names when they are created ?
R-17) How can I change widget names ?
R-18) How can I access global variables in the startup source ?
R-19) Why is my toplevel window always placed at the same
      position by the window manager ?
R-20) What should I do when I get an error message to stderr ?
R-21) How can I use the mouse to arrange widgets?
R-22) How can I set the values of sliders more accurately ?
R-23) How can I create menubars ?
R-24) Why is the xftutorial not running ?
R-25) How can I make my X server secure ?
R-26) I get "bad geometry" errors when I start XF, what is wrong ?

Questions/Answers:
==================

R-1) How can I change the path/filenames that are used by XF ?
        To change path/filenames that XF uses (i.e. if you
        don't have writing permission), call the pull-down
        menu item "Options|Path/file names".


R-2) How can I create multiple toplevel windows ?
        To create multiple toplevel windows you select the
        item "Toplevel" from the "Standard" widget list.


R-3) How can I show/hide toplevel windows ?

        To display an XF created toplevel window, you should
        use the automatically created function:

        ShowWindow.toplevel

        To remove an XF created toplevel window, you should
        use the automatically created function: 

        DestroyWindow.toplevel

        where "toplevel" is the name of the toplevel window
        that should be displayed or removed . When you are
        running XF, please display and remove the toplevel
        windows with the XF menu attached to the label
        "Current widget path".


R-4) How can I make a widget the "current widget" ?
        Making a widget the "current widget" means that
        actions like inserting a new widget or calling
        parameter setting will apply to this widget.

        To make a certain widget the "current widget", you
        can double click the middle mouse button on the
        widget, or select the widget from the pull-down
        menus that are bound to the single elements of the
        displayed "Current widget path".  These menus allow
        you to walk through the complete widget hierarchy.

        P.S. The <Double-B2> selection does not work for
        menubuttons due to binding collisions (You can
        change the binding if you want).


R-5) How can I bind actions to buttons ?

        To bind an action (procedure) to a button, first you
        create the button, and then you call the parameter
        setting for this button (either by making the button
        the current widget (R-4) and selecting the menu item
        "Configuration|Parameters", or by a double click
        with your right mouse button on the button widget).

        Now you can edit the command string in the text
        field at the bottom of the parameter window.


R-6) How can I cut/copy/paste a widget ?
        To cut/copy a widget, make it the current widget
        (R-4), and select the menu item "Edit|Cut" or
        "Edit|Copy". To paste the cutbuffer to the current
        widget, select the menu item "Edit|Paste". When you
        cut/copy/paste widgets, please keep in mind that the
        widget names change. If the widget names are used in
        commands, the commands must be adapted. If you refer
        to the widgets via symbolic names, the symbolic name
        must be attached again to the new widget.


R-7) How can I delete a widget ?
        To delete the "current widget", you simply have to
        select the menu item "Edit|Delete".


R-8) How can I create templates ?
        To make a template, you simply put the widget
        structure you want to save into the cut buffer. Then
        you select the menu item "Edit|Save Cutbuffer
        (tmplt)". It is also possible to select "Misc|Module
        structure". Here you have a checkbutton at the
        bottom, where you can specify that you want to
        handle templates. Now you can select procedures and
        a widget path. If you click "Save", the currently
        selected procedures and the widget path are saved to
        a file.


R-9) How can I change the order of menubutton items ?
        To change the position of a menu item in a menu, you
        select the menu item in the item list of the menu,
        and then slide the scale at right side of the
        children list.


R-10) How can I change the order of packed children ?
        To change the position of a widget in a packed
        parent, you select the widget in the children list,
        and then slide the scale at right side of the
        children list.


R-11) How can I write my own procedures ?
        There is a menu item "Programming|Procedures" which
        gives you a window that allows full access to
        procedures. When inserting new procedures, the
        procedure list is rescanned. This takes some time,
        and you should not click around during this time.
        This would probably activate the editing for the
        wrong procedure. The rescan can be turned off.


R-12) How can I copy/paste between text fields ?
        To select the text of an entry/text field, you simply
        press the left mouse button over the text, and move
        the mouse with the pressed button. To insert the
        selected text into another entry/text field, type
        <Control-v> or <Control-y>.


R-13) How can I retrieve the name of a specific widget ?
        To get the name of a specific widget, you can press
        <Modifier1-B2> (may be changed by you). This brings
        up a small window with the name of the widget under
        the mouse pointer. The name is inserted into
        the selection buffer as well, so you can insert the name
        into text fields by pressing <Control-v> or
        <Control-y>.


R-14) How can I write source that is evaluated before XF
      (and the created application) is actually started ?
        This question sounds a bit complicated :-), but this
        is what is wanted:

                - including external modules at application
                  startup,
                - parsing of passed arguments,
                - something else ...:-).

        To insert source to the very beginning of the
        application, you create a procedure named:

                StartupSrc,

        by selecting the menu item
        "Programming|Startup source".

        To insert source to the beginning of the
        application after the toplevel widgets have been
        created, you create a procedure named:

                EndSrc,

        by selecting the menu item "Programming|End source".


R-15) Is there a way to select colors/fonts etc. interactively ?
        YES :-). To call a window with a color, font,
        cursor, keysym, pixmap or file selection, you just
        have to double click the right mouse button in the
        entry field that will contain the resource value.


R-16) How can I set widget names when they are created ?
        To define a reasonable widget name when the widget
        is created, you can use the button "Configure and
        add" to create the widget. It is also possible to
        set an option under "Options|General options". This
        option is named "Ask for widget name on
        insertion". If this option is selected, XF asks
        you for a widget name before a new widget (or
        template) is inserted.


R-17) How can I change widget names ?
        It is not possible to change the widget name
        directly. But (!!!) you can use symbolic names to
        access widget paths. Such a symbolic name makes you
        independent from concrete widget hierarchies, and
        the name can reflect the usage of the widget. There
        is also a new feature named alias in XF. Here you
        can define a new name for an already existing
        command. To call the alias handling select
        "Misc|Aliases".


R-18) How can I access global variables in the startup source ?
        To access global variables in the startup source
        (like "auto_path" etc.), you have to make them
        available with the global command ("global
        auto_path").


R-19) Why is my toplevel window always placed at the same
      position by the window manager ?
	Your toplevel is placed at the position you (or the
	author of the program) gave the toplevel. To make
	the window manager place your window, call the
	parameter setting for the toplevel, and toggle the
	switch "Set window position" and/or "Set window
	size".


R-20) What should I do when I get an error message to stderr ?
	If there occur errors during the work with XF that are
	producing output to stderr, these errors are mirrored
	to the file xferrors in the XF tmp directory. If you
	can say that they are caused by XF or you are not
	sure, please send me the file so that I can locate
	the problem.


R-21) How can I use the mouse to arrange widgets?
	Drag them with modifier1-button1 (Meta-Left Button
	on Sun Sparcs). If you start dragging on the border,
	this will start the resizing. You may want to set
	default geometry to Placer, and allow layouting
	without the layout window, both in
	(Options|General).

       
R-22) How can I set the values of sliders more accurately ?
	Many sliders have to cover a wide range. The value
	of a slider can be set with the cursor keys.

R-23) How can I create menubars ?
	To define a menubar, you create menubuttons that
	are all children of one frame. A menubutton is only
	handled by XF if the underline resource is set to
	something different than -1. 

R-24) Why is the xftutorial not running ?
	Usually, there are two reasons why the XF tutorial
	is not running.

	The first reason is that you probably started
	xftutorial from the shell. Please run xftutrial from
	inside XF by selecting the menu item
	"Help|Tutorial".

	The second reason may be that your X server is not
	secure, leading to an error message like this:
        "X server insecure...". In this case, take a look at
        the answer to question R-25.

R-25) How can I make my X server secure ?
	Create the ~/.Xauthority file on the systems you
	want to use with Tk (use the tool xauth(1X)).
	Disable xhost access, and restart the X server with
	the -auth <fileName> option, or under xdm(1X). Some
	users, on OpenWindows systems, have reported that
	they need to log off and back on again to get the
	window system to recognize the ~/.Xauthority file.

	If you use xdm(1X), the ~/.Xauthority file will be
	modified automatically. If you call the X server by
	hand, you have to add certain keys to the file using
	xauth(1X). This will look about like this:
	
		key=`xauthkey`
		xauth add ${HOST}:0  . $key
		xauth add ${HOST}/unix:0  . $key
		xinit $HOME/.xinitrc -- -auth $HOME/.Xauthority

	The program xauthkey is not part of the standard X
	system. You just need a way to create a hexdecimal
	random number. This can also be done by hand
	interactively. My ~/.Xauthority file looked (a long
	time ago) like this (call "xauth list" to view the
	file):

	garfield:0  MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1  1234abcdef
	garfield/unix:0  MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1  1234abcdef

	If you still have problems, maybe the client that
	cannot connect to your server has no access to your
	~/.Xauthority file, or the display name you use is
	not the same as in your ~/.Xauthority file. If you
	still have trouble, build your Tk with the security
	flag disabled (SECURITY_FLAGS in the Makefile) or
	take a deep look into the X security documentation.

R-26) I get "bad geometry" errors when I start XF, what is wrong ?
	You probably have a default geometry specification
	in your ~/.Xdefaults file. This may look like
	"*geometry: +0+0" or something similar. Please
	remove this line, as it applies to all widgets in
	your Tk application (like XF), and causes this
	error.


