Command Line Options

The following syntax applies when Xic is invoked from the command line. Arguments not recognized as options are expected to be files containing layout information in supported formats. The first such file (if any) will be loaded into the editor. Subsequent files can be loaded sequentially with the Open command.

xic [-F filetool_args] | [ [-Bbatch_opt | -S[port] [-C | -C1] [-E] [-Ggeometry_spec] [-Hdirectory_path] [-Kpassword] [-Lserverhost[:port]] [-Rprefix_path] [-T[extension]] [toolkit_options] [filename ...] ]

Xic will accept command line options common to applications designed around the GTK user interface toolkit. In addition, there are a few command line options used exclusively by Xic. Options are keyed by a hyphen `-', and can not be grouped. Above, the square brackets indicate that the specification is optional (which applies to all arguments), and the `|' symbol is a logical ``OR'' operator indicating that one may specify one of the surrounding forms.

-Bbatch_opt
Xic supports a batch mode of operation, where Xic will run a script or perform certain commands without graphics. The form for this option is one of

-Bscriptfile[,args...]
-B-command[@arguments]

Batch mode will be described in 4.4.

The -C and -C1 options apply only to ``pseudo-color'' displays. These are displays with ``8-bits'' or ``256 colors'', found on older workstations. By default, Xic uses a large percentage of the system colormap. If there are insufficient colormap entries available, Xic will create its own virtual colormap, which is loaded when an Xic window has the keyboard focus. A problem is that some X terminals and emulators apparently do not support virtual colormaps, or do so improperly. Also, the use of a virtual colormap can be annoying. For these reasons, options have been provided to limit colormap usage, and avoid creation of a virtual colormap.

-C
This option applies only in pseudo-color visual modes. The -C option, if given, will prevent Xic from allocating private colors from the system colormap. Instead, it will use cells shared with other applications. The colormap usage can be dramatically reduced by this option. The cost is 1) the colors may not be quite ``right'' if the colormap is already heavily used by other applications, 2) there is no blinking, 3) the colors can not be changed, and 4) highlighting may be difficult to see, as for the -C1 option. A second copy of Xic running with the same technology file as the first will use no additional colormap space. A virtual colormap is never produced if the -C option is given. This option is recommended primarily for users who want to run multiple copies of Xic without the virtual colormap.

-C1
This option applies only in pseudo-color visual modes. The -C1 option similarly saves colormap space by directing Xic to allocate single-plane cells. By default, and if sufficient colormap space is available, Xic will allocate ``dual-plane'' color cells for the layer rendering colors. These cells contain two pixel values, one representing the color, and one which is white. The white pixel is addressed during highlighting, and having one white pixel per layer ensures that the exclusive-or drawing mode always produces white highlighting.

Single-plane color cells use half the colormap space of dual plane cells. However, the exclusive-or highlighting is only guaranteed to be white over the background, and the highlighting can take any color over the layers. This can sometimes be difficult to see.

-E
The -E option signals Xic to start in electrical mode. The default is to start in physical mode.

-F
This option must be the first given, and arguments that follow must be appropriate for the FileTool utility (see Appendix G). The program will behave as the command-line FileTool program, which can perform various manipulations and diagnostics on layout files.

If the xic, xicii, or xiv binary executable files (or Windows .exe equivalents) are copied or linked under the name ``filetool'' (``filetool.exe'' under Windows), the new program will behave as a FileTool when invoked.

-Ggeometry_spec
The geometry_spec is an X-style window geometry specification, which allows the main window size and position to be specified. There is no space between -G and the specification. The command line specification will override the XIC_GEOMETRY variable. The format of the geometry_spec is described with the environment variable.

-Hdirectory_path
Giving this option will cause Xic to start in directory_path as the current working directory. Note that there is no space between the ``-H'' and the directory path.

-Kpassword
The password used to enable use of encrypted scripts can be given to Xic on the command line with this option. Note that there is no space between the ``-K'' and the password. As the password can contain almost any character, if the password contains characters which could be misinterpreted by the shell, the password should be quoted, e.g., -K'password'.

If no password is given to Xic with the -K option, a default password is effective. The default password has a key that is compiled into the executable file, which can be changed with the wrsetpass utility. The ``factory'' default password is

Default password: qwerty

The password set with the -K option overrides the default password. The password can also be set with the SetKey script function.

If the .xicinit or .xicstart file, or the function library file, or a script run from batch mode is encrypted, the encryption password must be given to Xic with the -K option, or be the default password. As the password can be changed with the SetKey script function, User Menu scripts can in principle use different passwords, which must be set before the script is executed.

-Rprefix_path
If given, the prefix_path internally replaces ``/usr/local'' when Xic composes directory paths to search for startup files. This will override the value of the XT_PREFIX environment variable. This is one method of specifying to Xic the startup file location, if the distribution was installed in a non-default location. Under Windows, the installation location is saved in the registry and is available to Xic, so Xic should be able to find its startup files without this option.

-S[port]
If the -S option is given, Xic will run in server mode. In this mode, Xic runs in the background as a daemon process, serving requests through a communications port. This mode will be described in 4.5. The option can be immediately followed (no space) by a port number to use for connections.

-T[extension]
The -Textension option is used to designate a particular technology file, which is a file used by Xic to initialize itself to a particular manufacturing process and set of user preferences. The technology file has a name of the form xic_tech or xic_tech.extension, the base name is always ``xic_tech'', but there may be an arbitrary extension (characters other than `.' following `.'). If no -T option is given, then the xic_tech file is used. Otherwise, the extension given in the option will signal Xic to use the technology file with the same extension. Note that it is allowable to start Xic without any technology file, which is the effect of giving just the -T without any extension. Note that there must not be any space between the T and the extension.

The graphical interface accepts the following options. These options are not processed by Xic, but are intercepted by the graphics subsystem and affect the interface to the X-window system. The multiple forms are equivalent.

$\parbox{4in}{ {\sf -d} {\it dispname}\\ {\sf -display} {\it dispname}\\ {\sf \symbol{45}\symbol{45}display} {\it dispname}}$
This option specifies the name of the X display to use. The dispname is in the form

[host]:server[.screen]

The host is the host name of the physical display, server specifies the display server number, and screen specifies the screen number. Either or both of the host and screen elements to the display specification can be omitted. If host is omitted, the local display is assumed. If screen is omitted, screen 0 is assumed (and the period is unnecessary). The colon and (display) server are necessary in all cases. If no display is specified on the command line, the display is set to the value of the environment variable DISPLAY.

$\parbox{4in}{ {\sf -name} {\it string}\\ {\sf \symbol{45}\symbol{45}name} {\it string}}$
This option provides an alternative name to the application, as known to the X window system. The application name is used by X to apply resource specifications.

--class string
This option provides an alternative class name to the application, as known to the X window system. The application class name is used by X to apply resource specifications.

$\parbox{4in}{ {\sf -synchronous}\\ {\sf \symbol{45}\symbol{45}sync}}$
This option indicates that requests to the X server should be sent synchronously, instead of asynchronously. Since the X system normally buffers requests to the server, errors do not necessarily get reported immediately after they occur. This option turns off the buffering so that the application can be debugged more easily. It should never be used with a working program.

--no-xshm
In releases running under the X-Window system (Unix/Linux), Xic will use the MIT-SHM shared memory extension if the X server supports this extension, and the server is running on the local machine. This allows image data to be transferred to the X server via shared memory, which is faster than the normal X socket interface. Screen updates may be faster as a result.

Giving the option --no-xshm on the command line will prevent use of this extension, if for some reason this is necessary.

--v
If this option is given, Xic will print a string containing three tokens and exit. The tokens are

version osname arch

for example ``4.3.11 LinuxCentos7 x86_64''.

--vv
If this option is given, Xic will print a CVS-style tag string and exit. The format is, for exmple, ``xic-4-3-1''.

--vb
If this option is given, Xic will print the build date and exit.

Any words found in the command line that are not recognized as options will be interpreted as files to load into Xic for editing. The files will be loaded in order of their appearance, with the first file loaded at startup, and the other files loaded in response to an Open command.