Provided by: x11-xserver-utils_7.7+10build2_amd64 bug

NAME

       xrdb - X server resource database utility

SYNOPSIS

       xrdb [-option ...] [filename]

DESCRIPTION

       Xrdb  is  used  to  get  or  set the contents of the RESOURCE_MANAGER property on the root
       window of screen 0, or the SCREEN_RESOURCES property on the root  window  of  any  or  all
       screens,  or everything combined.  You would normally run this program from your X startup
       file.

       Most X clients use the  RESOURCE_MANAGER  and  SCREEN_RESOURCES  properties  to  get  user
       preferences  about  color,  fonts, and so on for applications.  Having this information in
       the server (where it is available to all clients) instead of on disk, solves  the  problem
       in  previous  versions  of X that required you to maintain defaults files on every machine
       that you might use.  It also allows for  dynamic  changing  of  defaults  without  editing
       files.

       The  RESOURCE_MANAGER  property  is  used  for  resources that apply to all screens of the
       display.   The  SCREEN_RESOURCES  property  on  each  screen  specifies   additional   (or
       overriding)  resources  to  be  used  for  that  screen.   (When there is only one screen,
       SCREEN_RESOURCES  is  normally  not  used,  all  resources  are   just   placed   in   the
       RESOURCE_MANAGER property.)

       The file specified by filename (or the contents from standard input if - or no filename is
       given) is optionally passed through the C preprocessor with the following symbols defined,
       based on the capabilities of the server being used:

       SERVERHOST=hostname
               the hostname portion of the display to which you are connected.

       SRVR_name
               the  SERVERHOST hostname string turned into a legal identifier.  For example, "my-
               dpy.lcs.mit.edu" becomes SRVR_my_dpy_lcs_mit_edu.

       HOST=hostname
               the same as SERVERHOST.

       DISPLAY_NUM=num
               the number of the display on the server host.

       CLIENTHOST=hostname
               the name of the host on which xrdb is running.

       CLNT_name
               the CLIENTHOST hostname string turned  into  a  legal  identifier.   For  example,
               "expo.lcs.mit.edu" becomes CLNT_expo_lcs_mit_edu.

       RELEASE=num
               the  vendor release number for the server.  The interpretation of this number will
               vary depending on VENDOR.

       REVISION=num
               the X protocol minor version supported by this server (currently 0).

       VERSION=num
               the X protocol major version supported by this server (should always be 11).

       VENDOR="vendor"
               a string literal specifying the vendor of the server.

       VNDR_name
               the VENDOR name string turned into  a  legal  identifier.   For  example,  "MIT  X
               Consortium" becomes VNDR_MIT_X_Consortium.

       EXT_name
               A  symbol  is  defined  for each protocol extension supported by the server.  Each
               extension string name is turned into a legal identifier.  For  example,  "X3D-PEX"
               becomes EXT_X3D_PEX.

       NUM_SCREENS=num
               the total number of screens.

       SCREEN_NUM=num
               the number of the current screen (from zero).

       BITS_PER_RGB=num
               the  number  of  significant  bits in an RGB color specification.  This is the log
               base 2 of the number of distinct shades of each  primary  that  the  hardware  can
               generate.  Note that it usually is not related to PLANES.

       CLASS=visualclass
               one  of  StaticGray,  GrayScale, StaticColor, PseudoColor, TrueColor, DirectColor.
               This is the visual class of the root window.

       CLASS_visualclass=visualid
               the visual class of the root window in a form you can #ifdef on.  The value is the
               numeric id of the visual.

       COLOR   defined   only  if  CLASS  is  one  of  StaticColor,  PseudoColor,  TrueColor,  or
               DirectColor.

       CLASS_visualclass_depth=num
               A symbol is defined for each visual supported for the screen.  The symbol includes
               the  class of the visual and its depth; the value is the numeric id of the visual.
               (If more than one visual has the same class and depth, the numeric id of the first
               one reported by the server is used.)

       HEIGHT=num
               the height of the root window in pixels.

       WIDTH=num
               the width of the root window in pixels.

       PLANES=num
               the number of bit planes (the depth) of the root window.

       X_RESOLUTION=num
               the x resolution of the screen in pixels per meter.

       Y_RESOLUTION=num
               the y resolution of the screen in pixels per meter.

       SRVR_name,  CLNT_name,  VNDR_name,  and  EXT_name  identifiers  are formed by changing all
       characters other than letters and digits into underscores (_).

       Lines that begin with an exclamation mark (!) are ignored and may be used as comments.

       Note that since xrdb can read from standard input, it  can  be  used  to  the  change  the
       contents of properties directly from a terminal or from a shell script.

OPTIONS

       xrdb program accepts the following options:

       -help   This  option  (or  any  unsupported  option) will cause a brief description of the
               allowable options and parameters to be printed.

       -version
               This option will cause the xrdb version to be printed  and  the  program  to  exit
               without performing any other operations.

       -display display
               This  option  specifies  the X server to be used; see X(7).  It also specifies the
               screen to use for the -screen option, and  it  specifies  the  screen  from  which
               preprocessor symbols are derived for the -global option.

       -all    This option indicates that operation should be performed on the screen-independent
               resource property (RESOURCE_MANAGER), as  well  as  the  screen-specific  property
               (SCREEN_RESOURCES)  on  every  screen  of  the display.  For example, when used in
               conjunction with -query, the contents of all properties are  output.   For  -load,
               -override  and  -merge,  the  input  file  is processed once for each screen.  The
               resources which occur in common in the output for every screen are collected,  and
               these  are  applied  as the screen-independent resources.  The remaining resources
               are applied for each individual per-screen property.  This  the  default  mode  of
               operation.

       -global This  option  indicates that the operation should only be performed on the screen-
               independent RESOURCE_MANAGER property.

       -screen This option  indicates  that  the  operation  should  only  be  performed  on  the
               SCREEN_RESOURCES property of the default screen of the display.

       -screens
               This   option   indicates   that   the   operation  should  be  performed  on  the
               SCREEN_RESOURCES property of each screen of the display.  For -load, -override and
               -merge, the input file is processed for each screen.

       -n      This  option  indicates  that  changes to the specified properties (when used with
               -load, -override or -merge) or to the resource file (when used with -edit)  should
               be shown on the standard output, but should not be performed.

       -quiet  This  option  indicates  that  warning  about  duplicate  entries  should  not  be
               displayed.

       -cpp filename
               This option specifies the pathname of the  C  preprocessor  program  to  be  used.
               Although  xrdb  was  designed  to  use  CPP, any program that acts as a filter and
               accepts the -D, -I, and -U options may be used.

       -nocpp  This option  indicates  that  xrdb  should  not  run  the  input  file  through  a
               preprocessor before loading it into properties.

       -undef  This  option  is  passed  to  the  C  preprocessor  if  used.  It prevents it from
               predefining any system specific macros.

       -E      This option indicates that any cpp command run and the output from  it  should  be
               shown  on  standard  output.  If -nocpp was also specified, the input file will be
               shown as read.  The specified changes will also be performed unless the -n  option
               is also specified.

       -symbols
               This  option  indicates  that  the  symbols  that are defined for the preprocessor
               should be printed onto the standard output.

       -query  This option indicates that the current contents of the specified properties should
               be printed onto the standard output.  Note that since preprocessor commands in the
               input resource file are part of the input file, not part  of  the  property,  they
               won't  appear  in  the  output  from this option.  The -edit option can be used to
               merge the contents of  properties  back  into  the  input  resource  file  without
               damaging preprocessor commands.

       -get name
               This  option  indicates  that  the  current  content of the property matching name
               should be printed onto the standard output.

       -load   This option indicates that the input should be loaded as  the  new  value  of  the
               specified  properties,  replacing  whatever  was there (i.e.  the old contents are
               removed).  This is the default action.

       -override
               This option indicates that the input should be added to, instead of replacing, the
               current  contents  of  the  specified  properties.   New entries override previous
               entries.

       -merge  This option indicates that the input should be merged and lexicographically sorted
               with, instead of replacing, the current contents of the specified properties.

       -remove This  option  indicates  that  the specified properties should be removed from the
               server.

       -retain This option indicates that the server should be instructed not to reset if xrdb is
               the  first  client.  This should never be necessary under normal conditions, since
               xdm and xinit always act as the first client.

       -edit filename
               This option indicates that the contents of  the  specified  properties  should  be
               edited  into  the  given  file,  replacing  any values already listed there.  This
               allows you to put changes that you have made  to  your  defaults  back  into  your
               resource file, preserving any comments or preprocessor lines.

       -backup string
               This  option  specifies a suffix to be appended to the filename used with -edit to
               generate a backup file.

       -Dname[=value]
               This option is passed through to the preprocessor and is used  to  define  symbols
               for use with conditionals such as #ifdef.

       -Uname  This  option  is  passed  through  to  the  preprocessor and is used to remove any
               definitions of this symbol.

       -Idirectory
               This option is passed through to  the  preprocessor  and  is  used  to  specify  a
               directory to search for files that are referenced with #include.

FILES

       Xrdb  does  not  load any files on its own, but many desktop environments use xrdb to load
       ~/.Xresources files  on  session  startup  to  initialize  the  resource  database,  as  a
       generalized replacement for ~/.Xdefaults files.

SEE ALSO

       X(7),   appres(1),   listres(1),   Xlib   Resource   Manager  documentation,  Xt  resource
       documentation

ENVIRONMENT

       DISPLAY to figure out which display to use.

BUGS

       The default for no arguments should  be  to  query,  not  to  overwrite,  so  that  it  is
       consistent with other programs.

AUTHORS

       Bob Scheifler, Phil Karlton, rewritten from the original by Jim Gettys