XSetSelectionOwner(3)

📦
version 1.8.14 · 8 versions
, in alpine 3.24, arch rolling, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable

💖 NAME 💖

okay so bestie, welcome to XSetSelectionOwner(3) from the XLIB FUNCTIONS crew — and this whole page is about XSetSelectionOwner, XGetSelectionOwner, and XConvertSelection: the trio that manipulate window selection. no cap, they're literally the selection besties. 🫶

✨ SYNTAX ✨

int XSetSelectionOwner(Display *display, Atom selection, Window owner,
       Time time);

Window XGetSelectionOwner(Display *display, Atom selection);

int XConvertSelection(Display *display, Atom selection, Atom target,
       Atom property, Window requestor, Time time);

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

  • display — Specifies the connection to the X server. that's your link to the server, bestie. 💅
  • owner — Specifies the owner of the specified selection atom. You can pass a window or None.
  • property — Specifies the property name. You also can pass None.
  • requestor — Specifies the requestor.
  • selection — Specifies the selection atom.
  • target — Specifies the target atom.
  • time — Specifies the time. You can pass either a timestamp or CurrentTime.

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

The XSetSelectionOwner function changes the owner and last-change time for the specified selection and has no effect if the specified time is earlier than the current last-change time of the specified selection or is later than the current X server time. Otherwise, the last-change time is set to the specified time, with CurrentTime replaced by the current server time. If the owner window is specified as None, then the owner of the selection becomes None (that is, no owner). Otherwise, the owner of the selection becomes the client executing the request. slay. 👑

If the new owner (whether a client or None) is not the same as the current owner of the selection and the current owner is not None, the current owner is sent a SelectionClear event. If the client that is the owner of a selection is later terminated (that is, its connection is closed) or if the owner window it has specified in the request is later destroyed, the owner of the selection automatically reverts to None, but the last-change time is not affected. The selection atom is uninterpreted by the X server. XGetSelectionOwner returns the owner window, which is reported in SelectionRequest and SelectionClear events. Selections are global to the X server. 🌈

XSetSelectionOwner can generate BadAtom and BadWindow errors.

The XGetSelectionOwner function returns the window ID associated with the window that currently owns the specified selection. If no selection was specified, the function returns the constant None. If None is returned, there is no owner for the selection. 😭

XGetSelectionOwner can generate a BadAtom error.

XConvertSelection requests that the specified selection be converted to the specified target type:

  • If the specified selection has an owner, the X server sends a SelectionRequest event to that owner.
  • If no owner for the specified selection exists, the X server generates a SelectionNotify event to the requestor with property None.

The arguments are passed on unchanged in either of the events. There are two predefined selection atoms: PRIMARY and SECONDARY.

XConvertSelection can generate BadAtom and BadWindow errors.

💀 DIAGNOSTICS 💀

  • BadAtom — A value for an Atom argument does not name a defined Atom.
  • BadWindow — A value for a Window argument does not name a defined Window.

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

Xlib - C Language X Interface

mwah 💋 — this cutie came from X Version 11, libX11 1.8.14, and it's the XSetSelectionOwner(3) manual page. bye bestie, go be the main character of your X server! 💅✨

📦 where this page comes from