4   Integration

4.1 With a display manager
      4.1.1 xdm, CDE, KDE
      4.1.2 Gnome display manager gdm
4.2 With xinit or startx
4.3 With startx under IBM AIX
4.4 With openwin under Sun Solaris

The following sections describe procedures for the integration of X-BIG-X into the X Window environment. The xbigx program is started like the X Window server, executes the X Window Server and provides for correct authorization.

Throughout the whole manual the variables $XBIGX_HOME and $XBIGX_ETC refer to the appropriate installation directories (2.2 Installation directories).

4.1   With a display manager

4.1.1   xdm, CDE, KDE

If the X Window environment is started by a display manager like dtlogin, or xdm, X-BIG-X can be integrated transparently by modifying the configuration file Xservers. The configuration files are stored in different directories depending on the X Window environment:

Usually the configuration files of the CDE environment are stored in the directory /etc/dt/config/. If this directory does not contain the file Xservers, you may modify the default configuration in /usr/dt/config/. However, these modifications may be overwritten during installation or upgrade of system software.

The correct procedure is more complicated: create a copy of the Xservers file in the directory /etc/dt/config/:

mkdir -p /etc/dt/config
chmod a+rx /etc/dt/config
cp /usr/dt/config/Xservers /etc/dt/config/Xservers 

If the file /usr/dt/config/Xconfig contains a line like

Dtlogin.servers:    /usr/dt/config/Xservers 

then modify it, so that the display manager loads the modified version of the Xservers file:

Dtlogin.servers:    /etc/dt/config/Xservers 

The file Xservers contains a line for the local X Window server (here an example of a CDE configuration under Sun Solaris):

:0    Local local_uid@console root /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :0 

In this line the call of the X Window server has to be substituted by a call of the xbigx program (in the following simple configuration using the default values $XBIGX_HOME has to be substituted by the appropriate installation directory (2.2 Installation directories)):

:0    Local local_uid@console root $XBIGX_HOME/bin/xbigx serverCommand /usr/openwin/bin/Xsun :1 -dev /dev/fb0 -dev /dev/fb1 

Here only the call of the xbigx program with the serverCommand configuration statement (6.7 X Window server) was inserted and the display number was changed from 0 to 1 (5 Configuration of the X Window server). In addition the Sun OpenWindows X Window server was configured to control two frame buffers.

The whole entry must be written in one line. More complex configurations can be specified using a configuration file (6.5 Configuration file). When calling the xbigx program, the display manager may append more arguments for the X Window server. Therefore, the line in the Xservers file must be terminated by an incomplete serverCommand configuration statement:

:0    Local local_uid@console root $XBIGX_HOME/bin/xbigx $XBIGX_ETC/xbigx.conf serverCommand 

If the display manager is running during modification of the configuration files, one of the following commands lets it load the new configuration (base_directory stands for one of the above-mentioned directories):

/usr/dt/bin/dtconfig -reset
kill -HUP `cat base_directory/xdm-pid`
kill -HUP `cat /usr/tmp/xdm-pid`
/etc/init.d/xdm stop && /etc/init.d/xdm start 

Usually you find error messages in one of the files:

/var/dt/Xerrors
base_directory/xdm-errors
/etc/X11/xdm/xdm-errors
base_directory/Xerrors
/usr/tmp/Xerrors 

4.1.2   Gnome display manager gdm

For transparently integrating X-BIG-X under Gnome, the configuration file of the display manager gdm gdm.conf (in the directory /etc/X11/gdm or in /etc/opt/gnome/gdm) has to be modified in the section [servers].

First declare that the X-BIG-X proxy is to be executed instead of the standard X Window server by commenting the standard server and adding the proxy server:

#0=Standard
0=X-Software-X-BIG-X
#1=Standard 

Then add the parameters of the X-BIG-X proxy after the definition of the standard server:

# Definition of the standard X server.
[server-Standard]
name=Standard server
command=/usr/X11R6/bin/X
flexible=true
# Definition of the X-Software X-BIG-X proxy server.
[server-X-Software-X-BIG-X]
name=X-Software X-BIG-X proxy
command=$XBIGX_HOME/bin/xbigx serverCommand /usr/X11R6/bin/X :1
flexible=false 

Here the command for the standard server was augmented by the call of the xbigx program with the serverCommand configuration statement (6.7 X Window server) and the display number 1 was added (5 Configuration of the X Window server). With the proxy server stacked in between it is no possible to start additional servers later (flexible=false).

Usually you find error messages in one of the directories:

/var/log/gdm/
/var/lib/log/gdm/ 

Extensive tracing can be switched on in the section [debug] of the configuration file:

#Enable=false
Enable=true 

4.2   With xinit or startx

The program xinit - executed directly or by the script startx - starts the X Window server and the initial clients like the window manager. The X Window server can be specified on the command line (the default is usually X :0). With X-BIG-X the X Window server command is substituted by the xbigx program, which itself calls the real X Window server (6.7 X Window server):

xinit -- $XBIGX_HOME/bin/xbigx \
    serverCommand /usr/bin/X11/X :1 

However, if there is a system wide file (e.g. /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/xserverrc) or if the home directory contains the executable file .xserverrc, then xinit uses this file for starting the X Window server:

# $HOME/.xserverrc
$XBIGX_HOME/bin/xbigx serverCommand /usr/bin/X11/X :1 

4.3   With startx under IBM AIX

Under IBM AIX, if the X Window server is started without a display manager, the X Window server is specified in the script /usr/lpp/X11/defaults/xserverrc or in $HOME/.xserverrc. The lines

if [ $XTOEXEC ]; then
    exec /usr/lpp/X11/bin/X $EXTENSIONS "$@"
else
    TEMP=`/usr/lpp/X11/bin/X $EXTENSIONS "$@"`
fi 

can be modified for X-BIG-X support:

XBIGX_HOME=/usr/Xbigx
if [ -x $XBIGX_HOME/bin/xbigx ]
then
    EXTENSIONS=":1 "$EXTENSIONS
    Xbigx="$XBIGX_HOME/bin/xbigx serverCommand"
fi
if [ $XTOEXEC ]; then
    exec $Xbigx /usr/lpp/X11/bin/X $EXTENSIONS "$@"
else
    TEMP=`$Xbigx /usr/lpp/X11/bin/X $EXTENSIONS "$@"`
fi 

4.4   With openwin under Sun Solaris

Under Solaris and OpenWindows 3 without a display manager the X Window environment is started indirectly through the openwin script by the script $HOME/.login:

$OPENWINHOME/bin/openwin 

However, the openwin script deletes each argument from the command line which looks like a display specifier. Therefore, X-BIG-X has to be configured through a configuration file (6.5 Configuration file):

$XBIGX_HOME=/opt/XSObigx/Xbigx
$OPENWINHOME/bin/openwin \
    -server $XBIGX_HOME/bin/xbigx \
        $HOME/xbigx.conf serverCommand 

The call of the X Window server is specified in the configuration file:

# $HOME/xbigx.conf
serverCommand $OPENWINHOME/bin/X :1 -dev /dev/fb0 -dev /dev/fb1 

Since the openwin script appends certain arguments to the X Window server command line, which should be passed to the real server, the xbigx command must be terminated by an incomplete serverCommand configuration statement.