NAME

       xmessage - display a message or query in a window (X-based /bin/echo)

SYNOPSIS

       xmessage [ -buttons label1[:value1],label2[:value2], ...  ] [ options ] -file filename
       xmessage [ -buttons label1[:value1],label2[:value2], ...  ] [ options ] message ...

DESCRIPTION

       The  xmessage  program  displays a window containing a message from the command line, a file, or standard
       input.  Along the lower edge of the message is row of buttons; clicking the left mouse button on  any  of
       these  buttons will cause xmessage to exit.  Which button was pressed is returned in the exit status and,
       optionally, by writing the label of the button to standard output.

       The program is typically used by shell scripts to display information to the user or to ask the  user  to
       make a choice.

       Unless  a  size  is  specified,  xmessage  sizes itself to fit the message, up to a maximum size.  If the
       message is too big for the window, xmessage will display scroll bars.

OPTIONS

       These are the command line options that xmessage understands, in addition to the standard ones listed  in
       X(7).

       -buttons button,button,...
               This  option  will  cause xmessage to create one button for each comma-separated button argument.
               The corresponding resource is buttons.  Each button consists of a label optionally followed by  a
               colon  and an exit value.  The label is the name of the Command button widget created and will be
               the default text displayed to the user.  Since this is the name of the widget it may be  used  to
               change  any  of  the  resources  associated with that button.  The exit value will be returned by
               xmessage if that button is selected.  The default exit value  is  100  plus  the  button  number.
               Buttons  are  numbered from the left starting with one.  The default string if no -buttons option
               is given is okay:0.

       -default label
               Defines the button with a matching label to be  the  default.   If  not  specified  there  is  no
               default.   The corresponding resource is defaultButton.  Pressing Return anywhere in the xmessage
               window will activate the default button.  The default button has a wider border than the others.

       -file filename
               File to display.  The corresponding resource is file.  A filename  of  `-'  reads  from  standard
               input.   If  this  option  is not supplied, xmessage will display all non-option arguments in the
               style of echo.  Either -file or a message on the command line should be provided, but not both.

       -print  This will cause the program to write  the  label  of  the  button  pressed  to  standard  output.
               Equivalent  to  setting  the  printValue resource to TRUE.  This is one way to get feedback as to
               which button was pressed.

       -center Pop up the window at the center of the screen.  Equivalent to  setting  the  center  resource  to
               TRUE.

       -nearmouse
               Pop up the window near the mouse cursor.  Equivalent to setting the nearMouse resource to TRUE.

       -timeout secs
               Exit  with  status  0  after  secs  seconds  if  the  user  has not clicked on a button yet.  The
               corresponding resource is timeout.

WIDGET HIERARCHY

       Knowing the name and position in the hierarchy of each widget is useful  when  specifying  resources  for
       them.  In the following chart, the class and name of each widget is given.

       Xmessage (xmessage)
            Form form
                 Text message
                 Command (label1)
                 Command (label2)
                 .
                 .
                 .

RESOURCES

       The  program  has  a  few  top-level application resources that allow customizations that are specific to
       xmessage.

       file    A String specifying the file to display.

       buttons A String specifying the buttons to display.  See the -buttons command-line option.

       defaultButton
               A String specifying a default button by label.

       printValue
               A Boolean value specifying whether the label of the button pressed to exit the program is written
               to standard output.  The default is FALSE.

       center  A Boolean value specifying whether to pop up the window at the center of the screen.  The default
               is FALSE.

       nearMouse
               A Boolean value specifying whether to pop up the window near the mouse cursor.   The  default  is
               FALSE.

       timeout The  number  of  seconds  after which to exit with status 0.  The default is 0, which means never
               time out.

       maxHeight (class Maximum)
               The maximum height of the text part of the window in pixels, used if no size was specified in the
               geometry.  The default is 0, which means use 70% of the height of the screen.

       maxWidth (class Maximum)
               The  maximum width of the text part of the window in pixels, used if no size was specified in the
               geometry.  The default is 0, which means use 70% of the width of the screen.

ACTIONS

       exit(value)
               exit immediately with an exit status of  value  (default  0).   This  action  can  be  used  with
               translations to provide alternate ways of exiting xmessage.

       default-exit()
               exit  immediately  with  the exit status specified by the default button.  If there is no default
               button, this action has no effect.

EXIT STATUS

       If it detects an error, xmessage returns 1, so this value should not be used with a button.

SEE ALSO

       X(7), echo(1), cat(1)

AUTHORS

       Chris Peterson, MIT Project Athena
       Stephen Gildea, X Consortium