@node Part V Resources for Forms Library
@chapter Resources for Forms Library

Managing resources is an important part of programming with X. Typical
X programs use extensive resource database/management to customize
their appearances. With the help of the Form Designer there is little
or no need to specify any resources for the default appearance of an
application written using the Forms Library. Because of this, complete
resource support is a somewhat low-priority task and currently only
minimal support is available. Nevertheless, more complete and useful
resource management system specific to the Forms Library can be
implemented using the services provided by the XForms.

@ifnottex

@menu
* Current Support::
* Going Further::
@end menu

@end ifnottex


@node Current Support
@section Current Support

At the moment all built-in XForms resources have a top level class
name @code{XForm} and a resource name @code{xform}. Because of this
incomplete specification most of the current resources are "global",
in the sense that they affect all form windows. Eventually all
resources will be fully resolved, e.g., to specify attribute
@code{foo} of form @code{formName}, the resource name can be
@code{appName.formName.foo} instead of (the current incomplete)
@code{appName.xform.foo}.

The argument @code{app_opt} passed to @code{@ref{fl_initialize()}} is
a table of structures listing your applications command line options.
The structure is defined as follows
@tindex FL_CMD_OPT
@example
typedef struct @{
    char          * option;
    char          * specifier;
    XrmOptionKind   argKind;
    void          * value;
@} XrmOptionDescList, FL_CMD_OPT;
@end example
@noindent
See @code{XrmGetResource()} for details.

After the initialization routine is called all command line arguments,
both XForms built-in and application specific ones, are removed from
@code{argc} and @code{argv} and parsed into a standard XResources
database. To read your application specific options follow
@code{@ref{fl_initialize()}} with the following routine
@findex fl_get_app_resources()
@anchor{fl_get_app_resources()}
@example
int fl_get_app_resources(FL_RESOURCE *resource, int nresources);
@end example
@noindent
Here @code{resource} is a table containing application specific
resources in the following format:
@tindex FL_resource
@example
typedef struct @{
    char     * res_name;  /* resource name without application name */
    char     * res_class; /* resource class */
    FL_RTYPE   type;      /* C type of the variable */
    void     * var        /* variable that will hold the value */
    char     * defval;    /* default value in string form */
    int        nbytes;    /* buffer size for string var. */
@} FL_RESOURCE;
@end example
@noindent
and the resource type @code{FL_RTYPE} type is one of the following
@tindex FL_RTYPE
@anchor{FL_RTYPE}
@table @code
@tindex FL_SHORT
@anchor{FL_SHORT}
@item FL_SHORT
for short variable
@tindex FL_BOOL
@anchor{FL_BOOL}
@item FL_BOOL
for boolean variable (int)
@tindex FL_INT
@anchor{FL_INT}
@item FL_INT
for int variable
@tindex FL_LONG
@anchor{FL_LONG}
@item FL_LONG
for long variable
@tindex FL_FLOAT
@anchor{FL_FLOAT}
@item FL_FLOAT
for float variable
@tindex FL_FLOAT
@tindex FL_STRING
@anchor{FL_STRING}
@item FL_STRING
for char[] variable
@tindex FL_FLOAT
@anchor{FL_NONE}
@item FL_NONE
for variables not to be used (or not available)
@end table

Note that the variable for @code{FL_BOOL} must be of type int. It
differs from @code{FL_INT} only in the way the resources are
converted, not in the way their values are stored. A boolean variable
is considered to be true (1) if any one of @code{True}, @code{true},
@code{Yes}, @code{yes}, @code{On}, @code{on}, or 1 is specified as its
value. For string variables, the length for the destination buffer
must be specified.

@code{@ref{fl_get_app_resources()}} simply looks up all entries
specified in the @code{FL_RESOURCE} structure in all databases after
prefixing the resource name with the application name, which can be
the new name introduced by the @code{-name} command line option.

Summarized below are the currently recognized Forms Library built-in
resources:
@multitable @columnfractions 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2
@headitem Resource Name
@tab Class
@tab Type
@tab Default values
@item rgamma
@tab Gamma
@tab float
@tab 1.0
@item ggamma
@tab Gamma
@tab float
@tab 1.0
@item bgamma
@tab Gamma
@tab float
@tab 1.0
@item visual
@tab Visual
@tab string
@tab best
@item depth
@tab Depth
@tab int
@tab best
@item doubleBuffer
@tab DoubleBuffer
@tab bool
@tab true
@item privateColormap
@tab PrivateColormap
@tab bool
@tab false
@item standardColormap
@tab StandardColormap
@tab bool
@tab false
@item sharedColormap
@tab SharedColormap
@tab bool
@tab false
@item pupFontSize
@tab PupFontSize
@tab int
@tab 12pt
@item buttonFontSize
@tab FontSize
@tab int
@tab 10pt
@item sliderFontSize
@tab FontSize
@tab int
@tab 10pt
@item inputFontSize
@tab FontSize
@tab int
@tab 10pt
@item browserFontSize
@tab FontSize
@tab int
@tab 10pt
@item menuFontSize
@tab FontSize
@tab int
@tab 10pt
@item choiceFontSize
@tab FontSize
@tab int
@tab 10pt
@item ulPropWidth
@tab ULPropWidth
@tab bool
@tab true
@item ulThickness
@tab ULThickness
@tab int
@tab 1
@item scrollbarType
@tab ScrollbarType
@tab string
@tab thin
@item coordUnit
@tab CoordUnit
@tab string
@tab pixel
@item borderWidth
@tab BorderWidth
@tab int
@tab 1
@end multitable

Again, "best" means that the Forms Library by default selects a visual
that has the most depth.

By default, resource files are read and merged in the order as
suggested by X11 R5 as follows:
@itemize @bullet
@item
@file{/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/<AppClassName>}
@item
@file{$XAPPRLESDIR/<AppClassName>}
@item
@code{RESOURCE_MANAGER} property as set using @code{xrdb} if
@code{RESOURCE_MANAGER} is empty, @file{~/.Xdefaults}
@item
@code{$XENVIRONMENT} if @code{$XENVIORONMENT} is empty,
@file{~/.Xdefaults-hostname}
@item
ommand line options
@end itemize

All options set via resources may not be the final values used because
resource settings are applied at the time an object/form is created,
thus any modifications after that override the resource settings. For
example @code{buttonLabelSize}, if set, is applied at the time the
button is created (@code{@ref{fl_add_button()}}). Thus altering the
size after the button is created via
@code{@ref{fl_set_object_lsize()}} overrides whatever is set by the
resource database.

To run your application in @code{PseudoColor} with a depth of 8 and a
thicker underline, specify the following resources
@example
appname*visual:      PseudoColor
appname*depth:       8
appname*ulThickness: 2
@end example

Since resources based on a form by form basis are yet to be
implemented, there is no point specifying anything more specific
although also @code{appname.XForm.depth} etc.@: would work correctly.

@ifnottex

@menu
* Resources Example::
@end menu

@end ifnottex


@node Resources Example
@subsection Resources Example

Let us assume that you have an application named @code{myapp} and it
accepts the options @w{@code{-foo} @emph{level}} and @code{-bar} plus a
filename. The proper way to initialize the Forms Library is as follows
@example
FL_CMD_OPT cmdopt[] = @{
  @{"-foo", "*.foo", XrmoptionSepArg, 0     @},
  @{"-bar", ".bar",  XrmoptionNoArg,  "True"@}
@};

int foolevel, ifbar;
int deftrue;      /* can only be set thru resources */

FL_resource res[] = @{
  @{"foo",     "FooCLASS", FL_INT,  &foolevel, "0"@},
  @{"bar",     "BarCLASS", FL_BOOL, &ifbar,    "0"@},
  @{"deftrue", "Whatever", FL_BOOL, &deftrue,  "1"@}
@};

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) @{
    fl_initialize(&argc, argv ,"MyappClass", cmdopt, 2);
    fl_get_app_resources(res, 3);
    if (argc == 1)   /* missing filename */
        fprintf(stderr, "Usage %s: [-foo level][-bar] "
                "filename\n","myapp");
    /* rest of the program */
@}
@end example
@noindent
After this, both variables @code{foolevel} and @code{ifbar} are set
either through resource files or command line options, with the
command line options overriding those set in the resource files. In
case neither the command line nor the resource files specified the
options, the default value string is converted.

There is another routine, a resource routine of the lowest level in
XForms, which might be useful if a quick&dirty option needs to be
read:
@findex fl_get_resource()
@anchor{fl_get_resource()}
@example
const char *fl_get_resource(const char *res_name,
                            const char *res_class,
                            FL_RTYPE type, char *defval,
                            void *val, int nbytes);
@end example
@noindent
@code{res_name} and @code{res_class} must be complete resource
specifications (minus the application name) and should not contain
wildcards of any kind. The resource will be converted according to the
type and result stored in @code{type}, which is an integer of type
@code{@ref{FL_RTYPE}}. @code{nbytes} is used only if the resource type
is @code{@ref{FL_STRING}}. The function returns the string
representation of the resource value. If a value of
@code{@ref{FL_NONE}} is passed for @code{type} the resource is not
converted and the pointer @code{val} is not dereferenced.

There is also a routine that allows the application program to set
resources programmatically:
@findex fl_set_resource()
@anchor{fl_set_resource()}
@example
void fl_set_resource(const char *string, const char *value);
@end example
@noindent
where @code{string} and @code{value} are a resource-value pair. The
string can be a fully qualified resource name (minus the application
name) or a resource class.

Routines @code{@ref{fl_set_resource()}} and
@code{@ref{fl_get_resource()}} can be used to store and retrieve
arbitrary strings and values and may be useful to pass data around.


@node Going Further
@section Going Further

It is possible to implement your own form/object specific resources
management system using the services mentioned above. For example, to
implement a user-configurable form size, code similar to the following
can be used, assuming the form is named @code{"myform"}:
@example
struct fsize @{
    int width,
        height;
@} myformsize;

FL_RESOURCE res[] = @{
  @{"myform.width", "XForm.width",  FL_INT, &myform.width,  "150"@},
  @{"myform.height","XForm.height", FL_INT, &myform.height, "150"@}
@};

fl_initialize(&argc, argv, app_class, 0, 0);
fl_get_app_resources(res, 2);

/* create the forms */

myform = fl_bgn_form(myformsize.width, myformsize.height,.....);
@end example

Or (more realistically) you create the form first using @code{fdesign}
and then scale it before it is shown:
@example
fl_initialize(&argc, argv, app_class, 0, 0);
fl_get_app_resources(res, 2);

/*create_all_forms here */

fl_set_form_size(myform, mysformsize.width, myformsize.height);
fl_show_form(myform, ...);
@end example

Since eventually form geometry and other things might be done via
XForms internal routines it is recommended that you name your form to
be the form title with all spaces removed and the first letter
lower-cased, i.e., if a form is shown with a label @code{Foo Bar}, the
name of the form should be @code{fooBar}.
