xguess

NAME

xguess − determine information about your X server

SYNOPSIS

xguess [-s n] -xyzmnrvkhV

FLAGS

All flags except -s are exclusive.

	−h		prints a simple description of legal syntax and functions.
	−V		prints the version number of the program.
	−k		attempts to determine the type of keyboard attached to the X server for the default display and screen. Returns an identification string in the format layout−vendor−model

Currently supported keyboard layouts

	lk201		Digital LK-201 used on DECStation 3100’s and other older machines.
	lk401		Digital LK-401 used on DECStation 5000’s and early Alpha’s.
	pc84		IBM PC and PC/XT layout
	pc101		Standard PC layout (introduced with IBM PC/AT)
	type3		Sun Type 3 layout used for later Sun3 systems
	type4		Sun Type 4 layout used on early Sun4 systems
	type5		Sun Type 5 layout used on current Sun4 systems

Currently supported vendors

	dec	Digital Equipment Corporation. Models include lk201, lk401, pcxal, pc7xl.
	sun	Sun Microsystems. Models include type3, type4, type5 (with various national variations).
	ncd	Network Computing Devices. Models include n97, n101, n102, n107, n108.
	ibm	International Business Machines. Model 5168572M only.
	xfree86	XFree86, Incorporated. A huge variety of models and national variations.
	−m

returns the manufacturer string from the X server for the default display and screen.

	−n		returns the number of screens (heads) attached to the specified display. See also -s.
	−r		returns the manufacturer’s release number from the X server for the default display and screen. For X Consortium servers, this is the release number of X11 (eg. 6000 == X11R6), but this does not apply to all vendors.

−s select a screen for a multi-head display. By default, the -x -y

-z operations apply to screen 0.

	−v		returns protocol major and minor versions supported by the X server for the default display and screen. Note that this is 11.0 for X11R[456].
	−x		returns the horizontal resolution of the default display and screen.
	−y		returns the vertical resolution of the default display and screen.
	−z		returns the maximum pixel depth of the default display and screen.

DESCRIPTION

xguess attempts to determine information about an X server. It is designed to be used in a .xsession file (see xdm(1X) ) to enable display configuration on a platform-independent basis. Results are printed to stdout and can then be used in environment variables, etc.

EXIT CODES

	0		Returned a result with no errors detected.
	1		Returned after detecting an error. The result could be unreliable.

EXAMPLE

An extract from a sample .xsession file showing some uses of xguess

#!/bin/bash

## what sort of X Server am I using? 
export XRES="‘xres -x‘" 
export YRES="‘xres -y‘" 
export XSERVER="‘xres -m‘" 
export XKEYBOARD="‘xres -k‘"

## run appropriate XMODMAPRC 
if [ -e $HOME/.xmodmaprc.$XKEYBOARD ]; then 
   xmodmap $HOME/.xmodmaprc.$XKEYBOARD 
else 
   xmodmap $HOME/.xmodmaprc.unknown 
fi

## biff next to TVTWM panner 
## (virtual WM: can't use geometry -300+0) 
xbiff -geometry +‘expr $XRES - 300‘+0 & 
tvtwmrc -f $HOME/.tvtwmrc

ENVIRONMENT

DISPLAY

To get the default host, display number, and screen.

AUTHOR

David Arnold, (davida@pobox.com)