Joel McCormack
Paul Asente
ABSTRACT
The X11 Window System defines a network protocol [6] for communication between a graphics server and an application. The X library [3] provides a procedural interface to the protocol.
The X toolkit [4] is an object-oriented construction kit built on top of the X library. The toolkit is used to write user interface components (“widgets”), to organize a set of widget instances into a complete user interface, and to link a user interface with the functionality provided by an application.
This paper describes the capabilities and structure of the X toolkit from three viewpoints: application developer, widget writer, and application user. We discuss the toolkit's mechanisms to address inefficiencies caused by the separation of application and server, and by the extensive user configurability of toolkit-based applications. We point out some drawbacks to using the toolkit, and briefly describe the tools being developed to overcome these problems.
- 1.Luca Cardelli. Building User Zntqfaces by Direct Manipulation. Research Report 22, Digital Equipment Corporation, Systems Research Center, October 2, 1987.Google Scholar
- 2.Richard Carling. Pickling 'and Embellishing Widgets: Some Enhancements for the X Toolkit. January, 1988.(Handout from talk).Google Scholar
- 3.Jim Gettys, Ron Newman, Robert W. Scheifler. Xlib - C Language Zntegace X Version 1 I Release 2 edition, Software Distribution Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 1988.Google Scholar
- 4.Joel McCormack, Paul Asente, Ralph Swick. X Toolkit Library - C Language Interface X Version 11 Release 2 edition, Software Distribution Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 1988.Google Scholar
- 5.David S. H. Rosenthal. A Simple X. 11 Client Program, or, How hard can it really be to write 'Hello, World'? In Conference Proceedings, pages 229. Usenix, Winter, 1987.Google Scholar
- 6.Robert W. Scheifler. X Window System Protocol X Version 11 Release 2 edition, Software Distribution Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technoiogy, Cambridge, MA, 1988.Google Scholar
- 7.Ralph R. Swick and Mark S. Ackerman. The X Toolkit: MOR Bricks for Building User-Interfaces, or, Widgets for Hire. In Conference Proceedings, pages 221. Usenix, Winter, 1987.Google Scholar
Index Terms
- An overview of the X toolkit
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