Provided by: gxmessage_3.4.3-1_amd64 
NAME
gxmessage - a GTK-based xmessage clone
SYNOPSIS
gxmessage [OPTIONS] message ...
gxmessage [OPTIONS] -file FILENAME
DESCRIPTION
gxmessage opens a window to display a message obtained from the command line, from a file, or from stdin.
The window includes a row of buttons, each of which causes the program to exit with a different return
code.
The GNU Info entry for gxmessage contains detailed information and examples.
OPTIONS
gxmessage accepts any option xmessage would, although some (such as -bw and -xrm) are silently ignored.
-bg COLOR
Sets the background color of the message to COLOR. Examples: red, "#c90", "#446a7e".
-buttons BUTTON_LIST
Defines the buttons to be created. BUTTON_LIST is a comma-separated list of LABEL:VALUE pairs, one
for each button. The LABEL is the text that appears on the button. The VALUE (0..255) is the code
the program will exit with if that button is pressed. Commas and colons can be escaped using
backslashes (\). As well as ordinary text, the LABEL can specify a GTK "stock" button, like
"GTK_STOCK_CANCEL", or it can include an underscore (_) to specify a keyboard accelerator. If
VALUEs are omitted, they default to 101, 102, 103, etc., in order. If no -buttons option is given,
BUTTON_LIST defaults to "okay:0".
gxmessage -buttons "Foo:42,Bar:63" "Example"
echo $?
gxmessage -buttons "_Foo,_Bar" "Example"
echo $?
gxmessage "Example"
echo $?
gxmessage -buttons "GTK_STOCK_OK:0" "Example"
echo $?
gxmessage -buttons "Hello\, world" "Example"
-center
Opens the gxmessage window in the middle of the screen.
-default LABEL
Opens the gxmessage window with input focused on the specified button. LABEL is one of the LABELs
in BUTTON_LIST (see -buttons, above).
-display DISPLAY
Specifies the X display to use.
-fg COLOR
Sets the message text color to COLOR.
-file FILENAME
Causes the named file to be used as the message source. If a dash (-) is used in place of
FILENAME, the message will be read from stdin.
-fn | -font FONT
Specifies the message font, using GTK's font specification system. For example, -font "serif
italic 14". (GTK's font system is not compatible with xmessage. See the Compatibility section,
below, for a workaround.)
-geometry GEOMETRY
Sets the window's size and/or position. Examples:
-geometry 400x200
-geometry 400x200+600+100
-geometry +600+100
-help
Displays basic usage information then exits.
-iconic
Opens the gxmessage window in its iconized (minimized) state.
-name NAME
Sets the gxmessage window's name to NAME.
-nearmouse
Opens the gxmessage window near the mouse pointer.
-print
Writes the LABEL of the selected button to stdout.
-timeout SECONDS
Automatically closes the gxmessage window with an exit code of 0 if no button is pressed within
SECONDS seconds. (The -entry and -entrytext options cause -timeout to be ignored.)
-title TITLE
Sets the gxmessage window's title to TITLE.
GXMESSAGE SPECIFIC OPTIONS
The following options are specific to gxmessage and are not compatible with xmessage.
-borderless
Opens the gxmessage window without the usual window frame.
-encoding CHARSET
Specifies the encoding of the message text. By default, the message text is assumed to match the
encoding of the current locale.
-entry
Adds a text entry box to the gxmessage window. When the window closes, any text in the entry box
will be copied to stdout. This option can't be used at the same time as the -print option.
-entrytext TEXT
Same as -entry, but sets the default entry box contents to TEXT.
-noescape
Prevents the window closing if the ESC key is pressed. This option only works if a file named
/usr/share/gxmessage/allow_noescape exists.
-nofocus
Prevents the gxmessage window from receiving focus when it opens.
-ontop
Attempts to keep the gxmessage window in front of other windows.
-sticky
Causes the gxmessage window to appear on all workspaces.
-version
Displays the program's version number and Copyright details, then exits.
-wrap
Causes lines to wrap rather than exceed the width of the window.
GTK DEFAULTS
The program's default appearance can be adjusted using GTK resource files. The main text display widget
is named gxmessage-textview. The text entry widget is named gxmessage-entry.
# Example: ~/.gtkrc-2.0
style "gxmsg" {
text[NORMAL] = "#cc9900"
base[NORMAL] = "#660000"
text[SELECTED] = "#660000"
base[SELECTED] = "#cc9900"
font_name = "monospace"
}
widget "*.gxmessage-textview" style "gxmsg"
widget "*.gxmessage-entry" style "gxmsg"
EXIT STATUS
If a button is pressed, the program returns the value assigned to that button. The default "okay" button
returns 0.
If a timeout event occurs, the program returns 0.
If an error occurs, or if the window is closed without a button-press or timeout event, the program exits
with code 1. Pressing the ESC key also causes the program to exit with code 1.
COMPATIBILITY WITH XMESSAGE
Fall back to xmessage if gxmessage isn't available:
#! /bin/sh
XMESSAGE=$(which gxmessage) || XMESSAGE=xmessage
$XMESSAGE "hello, world"
If you specify fonts, check which program you're using:
font="monospace 14"
[ "$XMESSAGE" = xmessage ] && font="fixed"
$XMESSAGE ${font:+-fn "$font"} "hello, world"
Don't use double-dashed command line options:
$XMESSAGE "hello, world" -buttons good
$XMESSAGE "hello, world" --buttons bad
Don't use the gxmessage-specific options:
-entry, -entrytext, -borderless, -wrap,
-encoding, -nofocus, -noescape, -ontop,
-sticky, -version, -h, -?
BUGS
For some reason, opening the gxmessage window with no button set to be the default causes GTK to emit a
"beep" sound.
If you discover other bugs in the most recent version of gxmessage, please get in touch.
SEE ALSO
xmessage(1), zenity(1), dialog(1)
The GNU Info entry for gxmessage contains detailed information and examples.
AUTHORS
Timothy Musson <trmusson@gmail.com>
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2015 Timothy Richard Musson
Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification, are permitted provided the copyright
notice and this notice are preserved.
May 25th, 2015 GXMESSAGE(1)