XSetWMProperties(3)

💅 XSetWMProperties(3) — setting standard window properties

okay so bestie, real talk: this page lives in the XLIB FUNCTIONS manual, and it’s the whole convenience-function trio for setting standard window properties. if you’ve ever wondered how a window tells the rest of the X world who it is, what it’s called, what icon name it wants, and what command launched it — this is that. 🫶✨

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✨ NAME ✨

XSetWMProperties, XmbSetWMProperties, Xutf8SetWMProperties — set standard window properties.

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💻 SYNTAX 💻

void XSetWMProperties(Display *display, Window w, XTextProperty
       *window_name, XTextProperty *icon_name, char **argv, int argc,
       XSizeHints *normal_hints, XWMHints *wm_hints, XClassHint
       *class_hints);

void XmbSetWMProperties(Display *display, Window w, _Xconst char
       *window_name, _Xconst char *icon_name, char *argv[], int argc,
       XSizeHints *normal_hints, XWMHints *wm_hints, XClassHint
       *class_hints);

void Xutf8SetWMProperties(Display *display, Window w, _Xconst char
       *window_name, _Xconst char *icon_name, char *argv[], int argc,
       XSizeHints *normal_hints, XWMHints *wm_hints, XClassHint
       *class_hints);

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🧾 ARGUMENTS 🧾

• argc — the number of arguments. yes, literally the count.
• argv — the application’s argument list. the whole argv vibe.
• class_hints — the XClassHint structure to be used. classy.
• display — the connection to the X server. your Display hookup.
• icon_name — the icon name, which should be a null-terminated string. cute icon label, null-terminated pls.
• normal_hints — the size hints for the window in its normal state. the “normal size” mood.
• w — the window. the actual window, bestie.
• window_name — the window name, which should be a null-terminated string. label for the window, null-terminated.
• wm_hints — the XWMHints structure to be used. window-manager hints, served.

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

The XSetWMProperties convenience function provides a single programming interface for setting those essential window properties that are used for communicating with other clients — particularly window and session managers. it’s giving one-stop property shop. ✨

• If the window_name argument is non-NULL, XSetWMProperties calls XSetWMName, which in turn sets the WM_NAME property (see section 14.1.4).
• If the icon_name argument is non-NULL, XSetWMProperties calls XSetWMIconName, which sets the WM_ICON_NAME property (see section 14.1.5).
• If the argv argument is non-NULL, XSetWMProperties calls XSetCommand, which sets the WM_COMMAND property (see section 14.2.1). Note that an argc of zero is allowed to indicate a zero-length command.
• The hostname of this machine is stored using XSetWMClientMachine (see section 14.2.2).
• If the normal_hints argument is non-NULL, XSetWMProperties calls XSetWMNormalHints, which sets the WM_NORMAL_HINTS property (see section 14.1.7).
• If the wm_hints argument is non-NULL, XSetWMProperties calls XSetWMHints, which sets the WM_HINTS property (see section 14.1.6).

If the class_hints argument is non-NULL, XSetWMProperties calls XSetClassHint, which sets the WM_CLASS property (see section 14.1.8). If the res_name member in the XClassHint structure is set to the NULL pointer and the RESOURCE_NAME environment variable is set, then the value of the environment variable is substituted for res_name. If the res_name member is NULL, the environment variable is not set, and argv and argv[0] are set, then the value of argv[0], stripped of any directory prefixes, is substituted for res_name. the way that fallback logic ate, fr fr. 💅

The XmbSetWMProperties and Xutf8SetWMProperties convenience functions provide a simple programming interface for setting those essential window properties that are used for communicating with other clients — particularly window and session managers.

• If the window_name argument is non-NULL, they set the WM_NAME property.
• If the icon_name argument is non-NULL, they set the WM_ICON_NAME property.
• The window_name and icon_name arguments are null-terminated strings: for XmbSetWMProperties in the encoding of the current locale, and for Xutf8SetWMProperties in UTF-8 encoding.
• If the arguments can be fully converted to the STRING encoding, the properties are created with type STRING; otherwise, the arguments are converted to Compound Text, and the properties are created with type COMPOUND_TEXT.
• If the normal_hints argument is non-NULL, XmbSetWMProperties and Xutf8SetWMProperties call XSetWMNormalHints, which sets the WM_NORMAL_HINTS property (see section 14.1.7).
• If the wm_hints argument is non-NULL, XmbSetWMProperties and Xutf8SetWMProperties call XSetWMHints, which sets the WM_HINTS property (see section 14.1.6).
• If the argv argument is non-NULL, XmbSetWMProperties and Xutf8SetWMProperties set the WM_COMMAND property from argv and argc. An argc of zero indicates a zero-length command.
• The hostname of the machine is stored using XSetWMClientMachine (see section 14.2.2).

If the class_hints argument is non-NULL, XmbSetWMProperties and Xutf8SetWMProperties set the WM_CLASS property. If the res_name member in the XClassHint structure is set to the NULL pointer and the RESOURCE_NAME environment variable is set, the value of the environment variable is substituted for res_name. If the res_name member is NULL, the environment variable is not set, and argv and argv[0] are set, then the value of argv[0], stripped of any directory prefixes, is substituted for res_name.

It is assumed that the supplied class_hints.res_name and argv, the RESOURCE_NAME environment variable, and the hostname of the machine are in the encoding of the current locale. The corresponding WM_CLASS, WM_COMMAND, and WM_CLIENT_MACHINE properties are typed according to the local host locale announcer. No encoding conversion is performed for these strings prior to storage in the properties — not me warning you, just the facts.

For clients that need to process the property text in a locale, XmbSetWMProperties and Xutf8SetWMProperties set the WM_LOCALE_NAME property to be the name of the current locale. The name is assumed to be in the Host Portable Character Encoding and is converted to STRING for storage in the property.

XSetWMProperties, XmbSetWMProperties and Xutf8SetWMProperties can generate BadAlloc and BadWindow errors.

The function Xutf8SetWMProperties is an extension introduced by The XFree86 Project, Inc., in their 4.0.2 release. Its presence is indicated by the macro X_HAVE_UTF8_STRING. iykyk. 🦋

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🎀 PROPERTIES 🎀

• WM_CLASS — set by application programs to allow window and session managers to obtain the application’s resources from the resource database.
• WM_CLIENT_MACHINE — the string name of the machine on which the client application is running.
• WM_COMMAND — the command and arguments, null-separated, used to invoke the application.
• WM_HINTS — additional hints set by the client for use by the window manager. The C type of this property is XWMHints.
• WM_ICON_NAME — the name to be used in an icon.
• WM_NAME — the name of the application.
• WM_NORMAL_HINTS — size hints for a window in its normal state. The C type of this property is XSizeHints.

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💀 DIAGNOSTICS 💀

• BadAlloc — the server failed to allocate the requested resource or server memory.
• BadWindow — a value for a Window argument does not name a defined Window.

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• XAllocClassHint(3)
• XAllocIconSize(3)
• XAllocSizeHints(3)
• XAllocWMHints(3)
• XParseGeometry(3)
• XSetCommand(3)
• XSetTransientForHint(3)
• XSetTextProperty(3)
• XSetWMClientMachine(3)
• XSetWMColormapWindows(3)
• XSetWMIconName(3)
• XSetWMName(3)
• XSetWMProtocols(3)
• XStringListToTextProperty(3)
• XTextListToTextProperty(3)

and the big one: Xlib - C Language X Interface.

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💖 okay bye bestie — this page is from X Version 11, libX11 1.8.14, and yes, it’s XSetWMProperties(3). periodt. 💖