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65 lines
2.9 KiB
ReStructuredText
65 lines
2.9 KiB
ReStructuredText
---
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layout: default
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title: User Guide - Introduction
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---
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Introduction
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============
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This manual describes the usage and configuration of the Window Maker window
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manager. It is intended for both users who never used the X Window System and
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for users who have experience with other window managers.
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How to Read this guide If you never have used a X window manager, you should
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read all of this guide, as it contains detailed instructions for new users.
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Text in sans serif font, indicate instructions you must follow to accomplish a
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given task. If you're out of time (or patience), you should at least read text
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in these parts.
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You can ignore the text in Extra Bindings boxes while you're getting familiar
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with Window Maker. Once you've got familiar with it, you can read the text in
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these boxes to learn more ways to accomplish tasks.
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What is a window manager?
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-------------------------
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If you come from the Windows or MacOS world, you might be confused about all
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these things like window managers, X windows etc.
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In the Unix world, the task of providing a graphical user interface (GUI) is
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normally divided by 3 different components:
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the window server; the window manager and the user interface toolkit. The
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window server is standard and is usually the X Window System or some vendor
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provided compatible version of it. The X Window System, or X for short, is a
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window server. It's function is to provide a portable and high-level access to
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devices like keyboard, mouse and video display. It allows applications to show
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graphical information on the display through rectangular areas called windows.
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Most user interface objects, like buttons, menus and scrollers are made of
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windows. The top level windows displayed by applications are named windows as
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well. These objects are not provided by the window server. These must be made
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by the application program or by the user interface toolkit.
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For more information, read the manual page for X(1) and the documentation for
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Xlib.
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The primary function of the window manager is to control the layout of top
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level windows on screen. Window Maker is a window manager. It provides a
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titlebar and a resizebar to change window layout, application menus to launch
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applications and execute special commands, application icons, miniwindows and
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an application dock. They will be explained in more detail in the following
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chapters.
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The user interface toolkit is a library or collection of libraries that provide
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an API for application developers to program the interfaces for their
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applications. Toolkits generally provide controls like buttons, menus,
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radio-buttons etc to be used for program interaction. There are currently many
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of these toolkits available for X. Motif, OpenLook, and Athena are examples of
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toolkits.
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All other features normally found in other operating systems, like file
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managers, are implemented as separate programs and are not directly related to
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the window manager.
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