NAME

       fdesign -  Forms Library User Interface Designer

SYNOPSIS

       fdesign [-xformoptions] [-options] [files]

DESCRIPTION

       fdesign  is  a GUI builder that helps in the construction of graphical user interface in a WYSIWYG ("what
       you see is what you get") way by allowing the user  to  directly  manipulate  various  objects,  such  as
       buttons,  sliders  and  menus etc.  Once a satisfactory UI is constructed, the user can save the composed
       interface into a set of external files.  Files with the extension '.fd' contain all information about the
       objects  and  can  be read in again by fdesign.  The files with C code and header files when compiled and
       linked against the Forms Library, generate code that at run-time constructs the exact same  interface  as
       the ones seen within fdesign.

       A  variety  of  output  languages  is possible via external filters.  As of this writing, C, perl, ada95,
       Fortran, pascal, and PostScript output filters are known to exist.

OPTIONS

       fdesign accepts all standard Forms Library command line options as well as the following:

       -help Prints a brief summary of all command line options. This option does not require  a  connection  to
             the X server.

       -version
             Prints the current version of fdesign and exits.

       -geometry geom
             Specifies the prefered size and location of main working area in which the UI is to be constructed.

       -convert fdfile-list
             This  option  prevents  fdesign from attempting to make a connection to the X server. The file list
             following this flag is converted to C code directly.

       -dir destdir
             output any converted files in destdir.

       -unit pixel|point|mm|cp|cmm
             selects the unit of measure for object geometries. For non-pixel unit,  the  interface  created  is
             screen  resolution  independent  and  may be desirable for many applications. Note that for typical
             screens, point (about 1/72 inch) and mm may be too coarse and subject to round-off errors.  Use  cp
             (centi-point, 100th of a point) and cmm (centi-mm) instead.

       -altformat
             selects  an  alternative format for the generated C code where global variables are used for the UI
             components.

       -main requests the output of main program template.

       -callback
             requests the output of callback function template.

       -compensate
             requests the emission of font/server resolution variation compensation code.

       -I headerfile
             uses an alternative header file instead of the default forms.h in the output C code.

       -lax  requests relaxed C syntax checking.

       -ps   This option specifies that instead of emitting the c code for the user interface,  PostScript  code
             should be emitted.

       -ada  This option requests ada95 code output

       -perl This option requests perl code output.

       -fortran
             This option requests Fortran code output.

       -pascal
             This option requests pascal code output.

       -nocode
             suppresses the output of UI code. Only the .fd file is written.

       The most useful Forms Library command line options are

       -display host:dpy
              This option specifies the X server to connect.

       -flversion
              This option prints the version string of the Forms Library, with which fdesign was build.

       -name appname
              This  option  specifies  the application name under which resources are to be obtained, instead of
              the executable name.  appname should not contain . or *.  fdesign.

RESOURCES

       The program understands all of the Forms Library's resource names and classes as well as the following

       control.geometry (class Control.Geometry)
               specifies the geometry of the control panel. Currently the size is ignored.

       unit (Unit)
               specifies the default unit of measure. Default is pixel.

       attributes.geometry (class Attributes.Geometry)
               specifies the geometry of the object attributes panel.  Currently the size is ignored.

       align.geometry (class Align.Geometry)
               specifies the geometry of the object align panel.  Currently the size is ignored.

       xformsHeader (class XFormsHeader)
               specifies the header filename generated in the output C code.  Default is forms.h

       filter (class Filter)
               specifies post-processing filter (an external executable name).

       language (class Language)
               specifies target language name.

       Among the standard Forms Library resources, the following are most useful

       xform.fontsize (class XFORM.FontSize)
              specifies the font size used for most object labels.

       xform.pupfontsize (class XFORM.PupFontSize)
              specifies the font size used in pop-up menus.

       xform.browserFontSize (class XFORM.BrowserFontSize)
              specifies the font size used for the text inside a browser.

SEE ALSO

       xforms(5), fd2ps(1L)

AUTHOR

       Copyright (c) 1996-2002 T.C. Zhao <tc_zhao@yahoo.com> and Mark Overmars <markov@cs.ruu.nl>
       Since 2002: GNU Lesser General Public License
       Maintainers: Jean-Marc Lasgouttes, Angus Leeming and Jens Thoms Toerring <jt@toerring.de>

HOME PAGE

       http://xforms-toolkit.org
       http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/xforms/