9. Command Line Arguments

To start the Form Designer simply type

fdesign [-xformoptions] [-fdesignoptions] [files[.fd]]

An initial window will be created and mapped. Depending on the window manager, you may have the option to interactively select where to place the window if the -geometry option is not given. Next the program places the control panel on the screen. You can move this panel, if required, to the place you want (you can also change the default placement of the control panel via resources).

fdesign accepts all of the XForms command line options as well as the following

-geometry geom

This option specifies the initial placement and size of the working area.

-convert fd-file-list

Normally fdesign does its work interactively. This option causes the fdesign simply read a list of fdesign output file (the .fd files) and emit the corresponding C-routines and header files.

-version

Prints current version and quits.

-help

Prints a brief help message on command line options.

-altformat

Generates an alternative output format.

-border

Forces decorations on several windows so that you can move them easily.

-unit point|pixel|mm|cp|cmm

Outputs object sizes in units other than pixels. cp and cmm stand for centi-point (1/100 of a point) and centi-mm (1/100 of a milli-meter). For typical displays, pixel and mm are too coarse and subject to round-off errors.

-nocode

Suppresses the output of UI code. This can be handy if the UI code is not generated interactively, but rather generated by the make process using fdesign -convert.

-I header

Changes the output include file from <forms.h> to header. Useful on systems where `forms.h' is renamed to something else or you need application specific constants/defines for the UI to function. In the later case, header may simply contain

#include <forms.h> #define mystuff 1

-main

Emits a main program with callback stubs. Can be useful for simple programs.

-callback

Emits callback function template in a separate file.

-lax

Suppresses syntax checking on variable and callback function names.

-bw borderwidth

Changes default border width of the forms created.

Note that -help, -version and -convert do not require a connection to an X server. If an output unit other than the default (pixel) is selected, all object sizes in the output file will be in the unit requested. This kind of UI has a fixed and device resolution independent size (in theory at least) and can be useful for drawing applications.

fdesign recognizes the following resources:

Note that resource specification of convert requires an X connection. In addition, all XForms's resources specification can be used to influence the appearance of various panels. The most useful ones are the font sizes

This document was generated by Jens Thoms Toerring on May, 24 2010 using texi2html 1.78.