XGRABDEVICEBUTTON(3)

📦
version 1.8.3 · 6 versions
, in fedora 44

💖 XGRABDEVICEBUTTON — the XGrabDeviceButton(3) era 🎀

okay so bestie, you know how you can grab buttons on extension input devices? yeah. this is that. the manual name is XGRABDEVICEBUTTON(3) and she is serving passive grabs, no cap. ✨

✨ NAME ✨

XGrabDeviceButton, XUngrabDeviceButton — grab/ungrab extension input device buttons 🦋

grab it. ungrab it. it's giving control. 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <X11/extensions/XInput.h>

int XGrabDeviceButton( Display *display,
                       XDevice *device,
                       unsigned int button,
                       unsigned int modifiers,
                       XDevice* modifier_device,
                       Window grab_window,
                       Bool owner_events,
                       unsigned int event_count,
                       XEventClass *event_list,
                       int this_device_mode,
                       int other_devices_mode);

int XUngrabDeviceButton( Display *display,
                         XDevice *device,
                         unsigned int button,
                         unsigned int modifiers,
                         XDevice* modifier_device,
                         Window grab_window);

🫶 the arguments, one by one (we love a list)

  • display — the connection to the X server. your link to the mothership fr fr.
  • device — which device is getting grabbed or released.
  • button — the device button that is to be grabbed or released, or AnyButton. (yes, AnyButton is a whole mood. it means all of them.)
  • modifiers — the set of keymasks, or AnyModifier. the mask is the bitwise inclusive OR of the valid keymask bits. the valid bits are: ShiftMask, LockMask, ControlMask, Mod1Mask, Mod2Mask, Mod3Mask, Mod4Mask, Mod5Mask.
  • modifier_device — specifies the device whose modifiers are to be used. if the modifier_device specified is NULL, the X keyboard will be used as the modifier_device. iconique default behaviour honestly.
  • grab_window — specifies the grab window. the window in question. the one. 👑
  • owner_events — a Boolean value that says whether the device events are to be reported as usual, or reported with respect to the grab window if selected by the event list.
  • event_count — the number of event classes in the event list.
  • event_list — which events are reported to the client.
  • this_device_mode — further processing of events from this device. you can pass GrabModeSync or GrabModeAsync.
  • other_devices_mode — further processing of events from all other devices. you can pass GrabModeSync or GrabModeAsync.

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

okay so the XGrabDeviceButton request establishes a passive grab. in the future, the device is actively grabbed (as for XGrabDevice, the last-grab time is set to the time at which the button was pressed (as transmitted in the DeviceButtonPress event), and the DeviceButtonPress event is reported if all of the following conditions are true:

  • the device is not grabbed, and the specified button is logically pressed when the specified modifier keys are logically down on the specified modifier device and no other buttons or modifier keys are logically down.
  • either the grab window is an ancestor of (or is) the focus window, OR the grab window is a descendent of the focus window and contains the device.
  • a passive grab on the same button/modifier combination does not exist on any ancestor of grab_window.

the interpretation of the remaining arguments is as for XGrabDevice. the active grab is terminated automatically when the logical state of the device has all buttons released (independent of the logical state of the modifier keys). periodt.

⚠️ note that the logical state of a device (as seen by client applications) may lag the physical state if device event processing is frozen. so like… it's not lying to you, it's just behind. 😭

this request overrides all previous grabs by the same client on the same button/modifier combinations on the same window. a modifiers of AnyModifier is equivalent to issuing the grab request for all possible modifier combinations (including the combination of no modifiers). it is not required that all modifiers specified have currently assigned KeyCodes. a button of AnyButton is equivalent to issuing the request for all possible buttons. otherwise, it is not required that the specified button currently be assigned to a physical button. so generous of it honestly 🫶

a modifier_device of NULL indicates that the X keyboard is to be used as the modifier_device.

if some other client has already issued a XGrabDeviceButton with the same button/modifier combination on the same window, a BadAccess error results. when using AnyModifier or AnyButton, the request fails completely, and a BadAccess error results (no grabs are established) if there is a conflicting grab for any combination. XGrabDeviceButton has no effect on an active grab.

XGrabDeviceButton can generate BadClass, BadDevice, BadMatch, BadValue, and BadWindow errors. that's a lot of errors bestie, be careful. 💀

the XUngrabDeviceButton request releases the passive grab for a button/modifier combination on the specified window if it was grabbed by this client. a modifier of AnyModifier is equivalent to issuing the ungrab request for all possible modifier combinations, including the combination of no modifiers. a button of AnyButton is equivalent to issuing the request for all possible buttons. XUngrabDeviceButton has no effect on an active grab. (say it with me: no effect on an active grab 🔥)

a modifier_device of NULL indicates that the X keyboard should be used as the modifier_device.

XUngrabDeviceButton can generate BadDevice, BadMatch, BadValue and BadWindow errors.

🩷 DIAGNOSTICS 🩷

  • BadDevice — an invalid device was specified. the specified device does not exist or has not been opened by this client via XOpenInputDevice. this error may also occur if the specified device is the X keyboard or X pointer device. 🙈
  • BadMatch — this error may occur if an XGrabDeviceButton request was made specifying a device that has no buttons, or specifying a modifier device that has no keys.
  • BadValue — some numeric value falls outside the range of values accepted by the request. unless a specific range is specified for an argument, the full range defined by the argument's type is accepted. any argument defined as a set of alternatives can generate this error.
  • BadWindow — a value for a Window argument does not name a defined Window.

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

go read those too, iykyk. ✨

okay that's the whole page bestie, you ate. this was the XGRABDEVICEBUTTON(3) manual page, dated 05/18/2026 — and yes, the footer is literally just that date and XGRABDEVICEBUTTON(3) again, so here's your cute sign-off: stay grabbed, stay iconic, and remember — no effect on an active grab. 💖🦋🎀👑

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