Re: it seems my Gnuplot 4.0 didn't read my ~/.Xdefaults

[James R. V. Z. <jr...@co...>]

>Ethan Merritt <merritt@u.washington.edu> wrote:
>the app-defaults mechanism does not seem
>to be commonly used anymore.  It used to be (back in R4/R5 days)
>that most x11 applications came with a corresponding app-defaults
>file....
>
>Nevertheless, an app-defaults file can be a useful template for
>modifying or adding entries to your personal configuration.
>I have it on my TODO list to stuff the gnuplot_x11 X-resources
>into an app-defaults file for that reason.

I like the app-defaults file mechanism.  It gives the packager or
system administrator a way to tune the application, which the
individual user can still override.  (On a Debian system, they go in
/etc/X11/app-defaults.  I have 63 of them on this system.)

>Based on your traces, it seems one would need a separate
>"~/.Xdefaults-<hostname>" file for each server.

Actually, a file for each client.  I use this mechanism to
set a different background color for each machine, so I can tell
at a glance which windows came from which machine.  

>
>[After a bit of poking through the gplt_x11.c code]
>
>Huh.  I see that the code does try to open such files, but apparently
>it only does so if the window manager has not already initialized the
>database: ...

Hmm.  That doesn't match the X manual:

       XENVIRONMENT
              This must point to a file containing X resources. The
              default is $HOME/.Xdefaults-<hostname>. Unlike
              __projectroot__/lib/X11/Xresources, it is consulted each
              time an X application starts.
              
Is that a recent change to the code?  (I don't have current versions
of gnuplot running everywhere.)

                - Jim Van Zandt