grdb
----
grdb provides a simple way to set the X resources of legacy
applications consistenly with your chosen gtk theme. You must run
grdb at startup, each time you change themes, and each time you add
new app-defaults config files.
grdb serves the same purpose as krdb from kde.
Please see the NEWS file for a list of changes in this release.
(The following paragraph has largely been copied from the krdb README)
You can easily write application default files for your own
applications. To see how, follow the example of the
supplied application default file for XV which specifies
xv*foreground: FOREGROUND
xv*background: BACKGROUND
xv*highlight: HIGHLIGHT
xv*lowlight: LOWLIGHT
The available variables are described below.
grdb comes with a set of general purpose configuration files for the
Motif, Xaw and TK toolkits (originally borrowed from krdb).
You can add new system-wide app-defaults files in $datadir/grdb.
$datadir defaults to $prefix/share. As usual, $datadir or $prefix
may be specified during the configure stage. Without any special
changes, the default app-defaults directory will be /usr/local/share/grdb.
These new files must end with the .ad suffix.
You can add user-specific app-defaults files in two ways.
Files ending with .ad which are placed in a directory named $HOME/.grdb
will be processed by grdb in the same way as system files. If a file in
$HOME/.grdb has the same name as a file in $datadir/grdb, only the
user-specific one will be processed.
If you wish to change only a few of the system settings, you can either
copy the system file into $HOME/.grdb and edit it, or you can add
the customizations to $HOME/.Xdefaults. This file is processed last, and
will override any settings in the .ad files.
grdb resource files will apply more generally if you do not have
application specific entries for similar resources in ~/.Xdefaults
or in the system app-defaults directory e.g. /usr/lib/X11R6/app-defaults.
Variables Available to App-Defaults Files
----------------------------------------
The applications resources assign constants which will be
defined by grdb. The complete list of possible variables to
choose from and their theme mappings is:
BACKGROUND bg[NORMAL]
FOREGROUND fg[NORMAL]
SELECT_BACKGROUND bg[SELECTED]
SELECT_FOREGROUND fg[SELECTED]
WINDOW_BACKGROUND base[NORMAL]
WINDOW_FOREGROUND text[NORMAL]
INACTIVE_BACKGROUND bg[INSENSITIVE]
INACTIVE_FOREGROUND fg[INSENSITIVE]
ACTIVE_BACKGROUND bg[SELECTED]
ACTIVE_FOREGROUND fg[SELECTED]
HIGHLIGHT computed from other values
LOWLIGHT computed from other values
These two are not used by grdb, although krdb defines them. They were
never present in the existing .ad files:
INACTIVE_BLEND bg[INSENSITIVE]
ACTIVE_BLEND bg[SELECTED]
Font support has been extended, the following fonts are defined:
FONT the default font for the theme.
BOLD_FONT forces -bold- in the xlfd. If that font is not found,
BOLD_FONT fallsback to FONT.
ITALIC_FONT forces -i- in the xlfd. If that font is not found,
try -o- to get an oblique font (close enough?), and
if that font is not found, ITALIC_FONT falls back to FONT.
FONTLIST FONT,BOLD_FONT=BOLD,ITALIC_FONT=ITALIC
FIXED_FONT gtk doesn't haven't the concept of a fixed font.
Currently, FIXED_FONT is determined in the following order.
If the user specifies the "-f/--fixed" command line,
whatever value passed in is assumed correct and used.
Otherwise, if the environment variable "GRDB_FIXED_FONT" is
set, whatever value it has is used for the font. Finally,
if none of the above is true, the fallback "fixed" is used.
The following is not used by grdb, although krdb defines it:
TITLE_FONT was not present in existing .ad files, and I believe
krdb uses this for window titles, which is beyond the
scope of a gtk theme.
There is now a --nofonts/-f command line option which completely
bypasses the font code. This is a relic from early testing, and may
go away someday.
License
-------
Gnu Public License, see COPYING for details.
Building
--------
./configure
make
xrdb must be in your PATH in order for configure to complete.
see INSTALL for generic configure information
Installation
------------
make install
Usage
-----
Just run "grdb"
grdb currently supports no command line arguments, if it finishes quietly
it worked!
Command Line Arguments
----------------------
-V, --verbose, Output progress as program runs
-n, --nofonts, Disable setting fonts
-f, --fixed=XLFD Fixed Font to use
--help, -? Standard help blurb
--usage Standard usage blurb
Grdb Capplet
------------
Starting with version 0.2.0, a gnome control center capplet will be
compiled and installed if gnome is detected (this can be turned of
with --disable-gnome). This capplet creates an entry labelled "Legacy
Applications" in the "Desktop" grouping of the Control Center.
The capplet interface is fairly simple. There is a "Apply GTK theme
to legacy applications" check box and a "Fixed Font" group. The
"Fixed Font" group is required because gtk themes currently don't
distinguish between fixed and proportional fonts. In this group there
is a "Use custom fixed font" check box and a font picker button which
allows the user to pick the custom font.
The capplet will run grdb when gnome starts, so you should remove
any manual method you are using to run grdb (after you have run the
capplet, which will register the appropriate startup information).
If you uncheck "Apply GTK theme to legacy applications", you will
have to restart gnome to undo grdb's changes. This probably won't
change.
Also, if you change your theme settings, you must rerun grdb. The
recommended method is to open the Legacy Applications capplet,
uncheck and then recheck "Apply GTK theme to legacy applications"
and then select OK. A better solution will appear for this.
Caveats
-------
See TODO for an inkling of what's not available.
This shouldn't do any permanent damage to your system, but then again it
might. I am not responsible for any damage done.
Credits
-------
Chris Ausbrooks made the post which led me to write grdb. He not only
asked about it, but spelled out the process involved clearly enough that I
decided I could give it a go. He's also done an rpm spec file, and will be
creating i386 and, possibly, alpha rpms.
Mark Donohoe, the author of krdb, which grdb is inspired by and modelled
after. He also wrote most of the .ad files included with grdb.
Christian Schaller provided the nice pyramid icon for the capplet.
