Using command line options to configure clients
Most clients have a set of command line options that control some
of their appearance and behavior characteristics.
These options control X resource
specifications such as colors, fonts, window geometry, and
so forth.
(You can use resource specifications to configure
client appearance and behavior on a much wider scale.
However, resources are more complicated to set than
the command line options.)
You can use these command line options when launching any client from a scoterm window. Ordinarily, the effects of a command line option are temporary, only existing for the current session. However, if you end your Graphical Environment session while the client you configured with command line options is still running, the client reappears in its same configuration in your next session.
For example, if you start the xclock client from a scoterm window, using the -geometry command line option to place the window at the upper-left corner of the screen, and then end your Graphical Environment session, the next time you resume the session, xclock will still be located in the upper-left corner. Note, however, that if you move the window to a new location, quit the session and then resume it at a later time, the xclock window is located in the upper-left corner according to your command line argument, and not in the location where you moved the window before quitting the Graphical Environment.
Command line options also take precedence over all other resource specifications, unless the command line setting is more general than a specified resource definition.
A client's manual page lists all of the command line options that are valid to use with that client. However, most clients support the options listed in Table 5-1, ``Standard client command line options''.
Table 5-1 Standard client command line options
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Command
line option Alternate option Description
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-bg -background sets the background color of a client's
window
-bd -border sets the border color of a client's
window frame, if you are not running pmwm
or mwm
-bw sets the border width in pixels, if you
are not running pmwm or mwm
-display -d sets the name of the display you want the
client to use
-fg -foreground sets the foreground color of a client's
window (usually the text)
-fn -font specifies a font name
-geometry sets the size and location of a client
window on the display
-iconic starts the application in iconified form
-name specifies a name for the application
being run
-rv -reverse reverses foreground and background colors
+rv does not reverse foreground and
background colors
-title sets the string that is used for the
title in the window frame
-xrm passes a resource specification to the
resource manager
See also: