SAS Companion for the OpenVMS Environment

Using X Resources to Customize the Motif Interface

X clients usually have characteristics that can be customized by the system administrator or by the user; these properties are known as X resources . For example, X resources can be used to define a font, a background color, or a window size. The resources for an application, such as SAS, are placed in a resource database .

The SAS System functions correctly without any modifications to the resource database. However, you may want to change the default behavior or appearance of the interface. There are several ways to specify your customizations. Some methods modify all SAS sessions that are displayed on a particular X server. Some methods affect all SAS sessions that are run on a particular host. Other methods affect only a single SAS session. You can use one of the following methods to specify your customizations:

Edit the X resource file. (See Editing the X Resource File.)
Use the Preferences dialog box to modify X resource settings. (See Using the Preferences Dialog Box to Modify X Resource Settings.)
Submit the /XRES command-line option. (See the system option XRESOURCES=.)

The following sections describe how to customize the resource database. If you need more information on X Window System clients and X resources, refer to the documentation provided by your vendor.

Specifying X Resources

A resource specification has the following format:

resource-string: value
The resource string usually contains two identifiers and a separator. The first identifier is the client or application name ( SAS), the separator is a period (.) or asterisk (*) character, and the second identifier is the name of the specific resource. The value given may be a Boolean value ( True or False), a number, or a character string, depending on the resource type.

The application name and resource name can both specify an instance value or a class value . A specification for a class applies to a larger scope than a single instance.

The following are sample resource specifications:

SAS.maxWindowHeight: 100
SAS.awsResizePolicy: grow

For more information about resource specifications, refer to your X Window System documentation.

Editing the X Resource File

When you start a SAS session, the SAS interface to Motif calls the X Resource Manager to create a resource database for that session. The interface then examines the resource database for any user-defined X resource definitions.

The X resources for the SAS System are defined in the SAS$XDEFAULTS.DAT resource file in the SYS$LOGIN directory. An example of this file is located in the SAS$ROOT:[TOOLS] directory.

You can change the settings of the X resources in this file without affecting other X Window System applications.

Using the Preferences Dialog Box to Modify X Resource Settings

The Preferences dialog box enables you to control the settings of certain X resources. Changes made through the Preferences dialog box (with the exception of those resources on the General tab) become effective immediately, and the settings are saved in SASUSERPREFS.DAT file in your SASUSER directory.

You can open the Preferences dialog box by issuing the DLGPREF command in the command window, or from the Tools menu, selecting Options, and then selecting Preferences. Select the tabs at the top of the window to move between the various settings.

Modifying the General Settings

To modify the General settings, select the General tab in the Preferences dialog box. General Tab in the Preferences Dialog Box shows the default general settings.

General Tab in the Preferences Dialog Box

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The following is an explanation of the settings:

Start Session manager

This setting has no effect in the OpenVMS operating environment.

Startup Logo area

specifies whether you want SAS to display an XPM file while your SAS session is being initialized and, if so, which file.

If you select Use Default Logo, SAS uses the default file for your site. If you select No Logo, then no file is displayed. If you select Use Custom Logo, then you can either enter the XPM filename directly in the text field or click on [Select] to open the Startup Logo dialog box. These check boxes set the SAS.startupLogo resource.

Use application workspace

confines all windows displayed by an application to a single application workspace. This check box sets the SAS.noAWS resource. You must exit and reopen the windows for changes to this resource to take effect.

AWS Resize Policy area

controls the policy for resizing the application workspace windows as interior windows are added and removed. (For more information, see Understanding SAS in the X Environment and Window Types.)

Grow: The application workspace window will attempt to grow (that is, increase its size) anytime an interior window is grown or moved (to make all of its interior windows visible), but it will not shrink to remove unused areas.
Fixed: The application workspace window will attempt to size itself to the size of the first interior window and will not attempt any further size changes.

This area sets the SAS.awsResizePolicy resource.

After you have changed the settings, click on [OK] to implement your choices or click on [Cancel] to cancel your choices. Click on [Defaults] to return to the default settings. Click on [Help] for help about the Preferences dialog box.

Modifying the DMS Settings

To modify the display manager settings, select the DMS tab in the Preferences dialog box. DMS Tab in the Preferences Dialog Box shows the default display manager settings.

DMS Tab in the Preferences Dialog Box

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The following is an explanation of the settings:

Use menu access keys: activates menu mnemonics. When mnemonics are turned on, you can select menu items by typing the single, underlined letter in the item. This check box sets the SAS.usePmenuMnemonics resource.
Confirm exit: displays the Exit dialog box when you exit your SAS session. This check box sets the SAS.confirmSASExit resource.
Save settings on Exit: tells SAS to issue the WSAVE ALL command when you exit your SAS session. This command saves the global settings, such as window color and window position, that are in effect for all windows that are currently open. This check box sets the SAS.wsaveAllExit resource.
Backup Documents: allows you to specify whether you want SAS to automatically save (at the interval specified by the SAS.autoSaveInterval resource) the documents that you currently have open. This check box sets the SAS.autoSaveOn resource.
Help & Documentation Browser - Netscape Path: specifies the location of the web browser that you want to use to view the SAS online Help and the CD-ROM documentation. This field sets the SAS.helpBrowser resource.

Modifying the Editing Settings

To modify the Editing settings, select the Editing tab in the Preferences dialog box. Editing Tab in the Preferences Dialog Box shows the default editing settings.

Editing Tab in the Preferences Dialog Box

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The following is an explanation of the settings:

Default paste buffer

defines an alias for the default SAS buffer. The following list describes the paste buffer alias names and the X buffer with which each name is associated:

XTERM: is the exchange protocol used by the xterm client.
XPRIMARY: is the X primary selection ( PRIMARY). This is the default.
XSCNDARY: is the X secondary selection ( SECONDARY).
XCLIPBRD: is the X clipboard ( CLIPBOARD).
XCUTn: is the X cut buffer where n is between 0 and 7, inclusive.

This field sets the SAS.defaultPasteBuffer resource. For more information about paste buffers, see Customizing Cut-and-Paste Operations.

Automatically store selection

generates a STORE command every time you mark a region of text with the mouse. This check box sets the SAS.markPasteBuffer resource.

Cursor

controls the editing mode in SAS text editor windows. The Insert and Overtype check boxes set the SAS.insertModeOn resource to True and False, respectively.