How to view PICTURES and change BACKGROUNDS
There are several different types of "graphics" available on Athena,
including different backgrounds you can use:
1) Solid colors: The background can be set to any color by using the
"xsetroot" command, like so:
xsetroot -solid blue
or xsetroot -solid "medium sea green"
The quotes are necessary if the color name is more than one word. To
get a list of available color names, you can just type:
more /usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt
or on a Sun:
more /usr/openwin/lib/rgb.txt
For more information on the xsetroot command, type:
xsetroot -help
at the athena% prompt.
2) Bitmaps: These are strictly two colors, black and white by default
unless you specify otherwise with the -foreground and -background options
to xsetroot. To display a bitmap on your background type:
xsetroot -bitmap bitmapfilename
For some sample bitmaps you can type:
add sipb
ls /mit/sipb/share/X11/bitmaps
3) Xpix: These are also in black and white, but are generally scanned
in images as opposed to images created by someone on-line. To access
the xpix library, do the following:
attach xpix
cd /mit/xpix/pictures
This will place you in the directory containing the images. To obtain a
list of the images available, type:
ls -C | more
To view a picture, type:
zcat /mit/xpix/pictures/picture.dmp.Z | xwud
The actual command to place a bitmap in your your root window is:
add graphics
xloadimage -onroot /mit/xpix/pictures/picture.dmp.Z
where 'picture' is the name of the picture file. The easist way to browse
is to define an alias, and use that:
alias zroot 'xloadimage -onroot /mit/xpix/pictures/\!*.dmp.Z'
zroot picture
If you would like to have the picture appear on your background
automatically every time that you log in, you will need to edit two files.
(If you don't have these files, you can just create them.) Use "emacs"
to edit or create them.
To the file ~/.environment add the lines:
add graphics
attach xpix
To the file ~/.startup.X add the line:
xloadimage -onroot /mit/xpix/pictures/picture.dmp.Z
The next time you log in the picture should appear in the background.
4) Other images: (GIF, JPEG, raster, etc.) Although there are no official
repositories for GIF and JPEG files on Athena, some are accessible in the
directories:
/mit/pictures/display
and
/mit/graphics/images/cmu-gif
Note that in both cases you will need to attach the locker before
accessing the files. For example, type:
add pictures
or
add graphics
You might also run the "setup-images" script in the /mit/graphics/images
directory, and then look for GIF pictures in the "wu" directory, by typing:
add graphics
cd /mit/graphics/images
setup-images
Note: "setup-images", "setup_images", and "setupimages" are all identical.
This last command gives you access to more directories with images on
them, not necessarily all at athena by typing:
cd gate
or instead of gate any of the following:
cmu-gif, nasa, west, west2, wu
and typing ls in the particular directory or subdirectory thereof.
To view gif images, any of the following programs may be used (all in the
graphics locker):
xloadimage file.gif
xview file.gif
xv file.gif &
You can get information for "xv" or "xloadimage" by typing:
man xv
or
man xloadimage
To display a picture in your background, you can use "xloadimage" or "xv".
To use xloadimage type:
xloadimage -onroot filename
and to use xv type:
xv -root -maxpect -quit filename
Then when you find a picture you want to use on your background
automatically type:
cp filename ~/
Then in emacs call up the file .startup.X and include the line you used to
view the picture. If you used "xv" and not "xloadimage", you probably want
to use xloadimage since it is a lot faster to start up. Also, if you are
using either "xloadimage" or "xv" you will want to add the line:
add graphics
to your .environment file (or in your .startup.X before the line to put
the picture on your screen).
(Last updated: 11/3/1999)
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