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XPOSTIT(1)		    General Commands Manual		    XPOSTIT(1)

NAME
       xpostit - X window system Post-it(R) notes

SYNOPSIS
       xpostit [ -toolkitoptions ...  ]	[ -options ...	]

DESCRIPTION
       Xpostit	provides  a  mechanism	for  manipulating on-screen Post-it(R)
       notes.  All six sizes of	Post-it	notes may be  displayed,  edited,  and
       saved to	disk files.  In	addition, any on-screen	note may be resized to
       any arbitrary size either when it is created or at a later time.

       When  xpostit  is first invoked,	it creates a small window with a plaid
       background.  This is the	control	window for xpostit.  Additionally,  if
       any  notes were stored in the save directory (see below), these will be
       placed on the screen at their last locations and	in their last  respec-
       tive  states (normal, iconic, or	hidden).  Each Post-it note, when cre-
       ated, makes another window on the screen.  Xpostit is controlled	 using
       the  mouse  buttons and a menu.	The Post-it notes are controlled using
       buttons (Command	widgets).

OPTIONS
       Xpostit accepts all of the standard  X  Toolkit	command	 line  options
       along with the additional options listed	below.

       -bs number
	       Specifies  the  size  of	 the character buffer in which to save
	       each Post-it note.  A note may not contain more than this  num-
	       ber of characters, including newlines.  The default is 1024.

       -dir path
	       Specifies  the  path  name  of  the directory in	which to store
	       saved Post-it notes.  If	path begins with a `/' it is taken as-
	       is; if it does not begin	with a `/', the	path is	taken relative
	       to the home directory.  The named directory must	already	 exist
	       if notes	are to be saved	in it.	The default is .postitnotes.

       -sb     Enables	scroll-bars.   If  specified, a	scroll bar will	be at-
	       tached to each Post-it note.

       -sv     Enables save-on-exit.  When specified, this option tells	 xpos-
	       tit  to	save all Post-it notes to disk files when exiting.  If
	       not specified, notes will only be  saved	 to  disk  files  when
	       saved manually by the user.

WIDGET USAGE
       Xpostit uses several widget types to construct the objects it uses.

       The control window is a Plaid widget called ``Plaid''.

       The menu	is a pop-up shell called ``Menu'' containing a SimpleMenu wid-
       get.

       Each Post-it note is a pop-up shell called ``PostItNote'', containing a
       Form widget called ``Note'' which contains a Text widget	called ``Note-
       Text'',	and  four  Command  widgets  called ``Save'', ``Erase'', ``De-
       stroy'',	and ``Title''.

       The confirmation	box is a pop-up	shell called ``Confirm'', containing a
       Form widget called  ``Buttons''	which  contains	 two  Command  widgets
       called  ``Confirm''  and	 ``Cancel''.  The title-change box is a	pop-up
       shell called ``Title'', containing a Dialog widget called ``Dialog''.

RESOURCES
       Xpostit understands all of  the	core  X	 Toolkit  resource  names  and
       classes as well as those	listed below, which are	all of class XPostit.

       .bufSize
	       Specifies  the  size  of	 the  character	buffer used to store a
	       Post-it note.  The default is 1024.

       .noteDir
	       Specifies the path name of the  directory  in  which  to	 store
	       saved notes.  The default is .postitnotes.

       .saveNotes
	       Controls	 the state of the save-on-exit option.	The default is
	       false.

       .scrollBar
	       Controls	placing	scroll bars on Post-it notes.  The default  is
	       false.

ACTIONS
       It  is possible to rebind the mouse buttons in the Plaid	widget to per-
       form different functions	by changing the	 widget's  translations.   The
       raise()	action,	 normally  bound  to the left mouse button, raises all
       notes.  The lower() action, normally bound to the middle	mouse  button,
       lowers  all  notes.   The  show()  action, normally bound to the	middle
       mouse button with the CTRL key, maps all	unmapped  notes.   The	hide()
       action,	normally bound to the left mouse button	with the CTRL key, un-
       maps all	visible, non-iconic notes on the screen.   The	tearoff()  ac-
       tion,  normally	invoked	by dragging the	left button off	the Plaid wid-
       get, creates a new note.	 The tearoff action has	an  optional  paramter
       indicating  the	size  of the note to be	created, e.g., tearoff(3x5) to
       create a	3-inch by 5-inch note.	If no paramter is given, a 1.5-inch by
       2-inch note will	be created.  The menu raising function,	normally bound
       to the right mouse button, is performed by calling the actions XawPosi-
       tionSimpleMenu(Menu) and	MenuPopup(Menu).  The quit() action, bound  to
       the  ``q'' and ``Q'' keys, is equivalent	to selecting ``Exit'' from the
       menu.

THE CONTROL WINDOW
       Xpostit allows several operations to be performed from its control win-
       dow.  Clicking the left mouse button in the control window  will	 cause
       all  Post-it notes on the screen	to be raised to	the top.  Clicking the
       middle mouse button in the control window will cause all	Post-it	 notes
       on  the	screen	to  be lowered to the bottom.  Clicking	the left mouse
       button in the control window while holding down the CTRL	key will cause
       all currently hidden notes to be	mapped (shown).	 Clicking  the	middle
       mouse button in the control window while	holding	down the CTRL key will
       cause  all  notes  on the screen	which are not iconified	to be unmapped
       (hidden).  Pressing the left mouse button in  the  control  window  and
       dragging	 it  outside  the window will create a new note.  Pressing the
       right mouse button in the  control  window  raises  the	xpostit	 menu.
       Pressing	 the  ``q''  or	``Q'' keys in the control window will exit the
       program.

THE MENU
       The xpostit menu	provides the following selections:

       Create 1.5x2 Note
	       Create a	new Post-it note, 1.5 inches tall by  2	 inches	 wide.
	       The window will normally	need to	be positioned using the	window
	       manager.

       Create 2x3 Note
	       Create a	new Post-it note, 2 inches tall	by 3 inches wide.

       Create 3x3 Note
	       Create a	new Post-it note, 3 inches square.

       Create 3x4 Note
	       Create a	new Post-it note, 3 inches tall	by 4 inches wide.

       Create 3x5 Note
	       Create a	new Post-it note, 3 inches tall	by 5 inches wide.

       Create 4x6 Note
	       Create a	new Post-it note, 4 inches tall	by 6 inches wide.

       Raise All Notes
	       Raise  all  Post-it  notes  to  the top.	 This is equivalent to
	       pressing	the left mouse button in the control window.

       Lower All Notes
	       Lower all Post-it notes to the bottom.  This is	equivalent  to
	       pressing	the middle mouse button	in the control window.

       Hide All	Notes
	       Unmap all Post-it notes,	making them disappear from the screen.
	       This  is	 equivalent to pressing	the middle mouse button	in the
	       control window while holding down the CTRL key.	Note: to  hide
	       a  single  note,	 you  may  use	the  window  manager to	send a
	       WM_DELETE_WINDOW	message	to the note window.  Under twm ,  this
	       is done with the	f.delete function.

       Show All	Notes
	       Map  all	 Post-it notes,	making them reappear if	they were hid-
	       den.  This is equivalent	to pressing the	left mouse  button  in
	       the control window while	holding	down the CTRL key.

       Save All	Notes
	       Save all	Post-it	notes to disk files in the save	directory.

       Exit    Exit  xpostit  .	  If the -sv command line option was given, or
	       the saveNotes resource is true ,	 all  Post-it  notes  will  be
	       saved to	disk first.

       To select an item from the menu,	drag the mouse cursor to that item and
       release the mouse button.

THE POST-IT NOTE
       Each  Post-it  note  is	made up	of five	parts (plus an optional	scroll
       bar): a text window where the text of the note is stored, and four but-
       tons labeled ``Save'', ``Erase'', ``Destroy'', and ``Title''.

       The title of a Post-it note, which will be  displayed  by  most	window
       managers	 in both a title bar and the icon name area, is	by default the
       string ``PostItNote #'' followed	by a small integer, the	number of  the
       note.  The procedure for	changing this title to something more meaning-
       ful is described	below.

       To  enter  text	into a Post-it note, simply move the mouse cursor into
       the text	window and start typing.  Since	the text window	is actually  a
       Text  widget,  all  the	Text widget translations are accepted.	Essen-
       tially, this means you can use most of the EMACS	control	 keys  in  the
       window.	 Additionally, the various mouse buttons used for manipulating
       the selections and cut buffer are understood.

       After entering text in the Post-it note,	you may	wish to	save the  note
       in  a  disk  file.   This way, if the machine goes down,	or if you exit
       xpostit,	the Post-it note can be	restored  when	you  restart  xpostit.
       (Post-it	notes are also saved automatically (if saveNotes is true) if a
       SIGHUP,	SIGINT,	 SIGTERM, or SIGQUIT signal is received.)  To save the
       note to a disk file, move  the  mouse  cursor  to  the  button  labeled
       ``Save''	and press the left mouse button, or use	the ``Alt-s'' keyboard
       sequence.   The	note  will be saved as the file	``noten'' in your save
       directory, where	n is some sequence number.  NOTE: it is	 important  to
       remember	 that  until  you  have	 pressed the ``Save'' button, the data
       stored in the Post-it note is not saved on disk and can be lost if  the
       system goes down	or xpostit exits.

       To erase	the entire contents of the text	window,	you can	press the left
       mouse  button  in the ``Erase'' button.	This will bring	up a confirma-
       tion window, which has two buttons labeled ``Confirm'' and  ``Cancel''.
       If  you	press the ``Confirm'' button, the text will be erased.	If you
       press the ``Cancel'' button, the	operation  is  canceled,  and  nothing
       will  happen.  NOTE: erasing the	text in	the window does	not affect any
       contents	of the note you	have  saved  on	 disk  unless  you  press  the
       ``Save''	button again.

       To  destroy a Post-it note, getting rid of its window on	the screen and
       the disk	file it	is saved in, move the mouse cursor to the  ``Destroy''
       button and press	the left mouse button.	This will bring	up a confirma-
       tion  window  as	 described  above.   If	you confirm the	operation, the
       Post-it note will disappear from	the screen and the disk	 file  it  was
       saved in	will be	deleted.

       To  change  the	title  of a Post-it note, both in any title bar	on the
       window as well as in the	icon for the note, move	the  mouse  cursor  to
       the  ``Title''  button  and  press  the left mouse button, or enter the
       ``Alt-t'' keyboard sequence.  This will bring up	a dialog box with  the
       current	title  in  it.	 Change	 or  modify  the  title, and press the
       ``Okay''	button with the	mouse to change	the title, or press the	``Can-
       cel'' button to discard the change.  You	 can  also  simply  press  the
       ``Return'' key to change	the title, or the ``Escape'' key to cancel the
       change.

SEE ALSO
       X(1)

BUGS
       The  sizes of the Post-it notes are only	as accurate as the display di-
       mension and resolution returned by the server.  On the Sun  server  and
       possibly	others,	this means they	aren't all that	accurate.

       When  the title of a Post-it note is changed, some window managers (no-
       tably twm ) will	not make the change in the icon	name, since they  only
       look  up	 this  data when a window is mapped.  This can be ``fixed'' by
       unmapping all notes and mapping them again.

       Without a color display for canary yellow notes and red plaid, the aes-
       thetic value of xpostit cannot be fully appreciated.

AUTHOR
       David A.	Curry, Purdue University

       ``Post-it'' and the plaid design	are registered trademarks of 3M.

X11R5				 December 1992			    XPOSTIT(1)

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