multixterm
SYNOPSIS
multixterm [ args ]
DESCRIPTION
Multixterm creates multiple xterms that can be driven
together or separately.
In its simplest form, multixterm is run with no arguments
and commands are interactively entered in the first entry
field. Press return (or click the "new xterm" button) to
create a new xterm running that command.
Keystrokes in the "stdin window" are redirected to all
xterms started by multixterm. xterms may be driven sepa
rately simply by focusing on them.
The stdin window must have the focus for keystrokes to be
sent to the xterms. When it has the focus, the color
changes to aquamarine. As characters are entered, the
color changes to green for a second. This provides feed
back since characters are not echoed in the stdin window.
Typing in the stdin window while holding down the alt or
meta keys sends an escape character before the typed char
acters. This provides support for programs such as emacs.
ARGUMENTS
-xa The optional -xa argument indicates arguments
to pass to xterm.
-xc The optional -xc argument indicates a command
to be run in each named xterm (see -xn). With
no -xc argument, the command is the current
shell.
-xd The optional -xd argument indicates a directory
to search for files that will appear in the
Files menu. By default, the directory is:
~/lib/multixterm
-xf The optional -xf argument indicates a file to
be read at startup. See FILES below for more
info.
-xn The optional -xn argument indicates a name for
each xterm. This name will also be substituted
for any %n in the command argument (see -xc).
term flags begin with -x.
If any arguments do not match the flags above, the remain
der of the command line is made available for user pro
cessing. By default, the remainder is used as a list of
xterm names in the style of -xn. The default behavior may
be changed using the .multixtermrc file (see DOT FILE
below).
EXAMPLE COMMAND LINE ARGUMENTS
The following command line starts up two xterms using ssh
to the hosts bud and dexter.
multixterm -xc "ssh %n" bud dexter
FILES
Command files may be used to drive or initialize multix
term. The File menu may be used to invoke other files.
If files exist in the command file directory (see -xd
above), they will appear in the File menu. Files may also
be loaded by using File->Open. Any filename is acceptable
but the File->Open browser defaults to files with a .mxt
suffix.
Files are written in Tcl and may change any variables or
invoke any procedures. The primary variables of interest
are which is a list of names (see -xn). The procedure
xtermStartAll, starts xterms for each name in the list.
Other variables and procedures may be discovered by exam
ining multixterm itself.
EXAMPLE FILE
The following file does the same thing as the earlier
example command line:
# start two xterms connected to bud and dexter
set xtermCmd "ssh %n"
set xtermNames {bud dexter}
xtermStartAll
DOT FILE
At startup, multixterm reads ~/.multixtermrc if present.
This is similar to the command files (see FILES above)
except that .multixtermrc may not call xtermStartAll.
Instead it is called implicitly, similar to the way that
it is implicit in the command line use of -xn.
The following example .multixtermrc file makes every xterm
Commands from multixterm are evaluated early in the ini
tialization of multixterm. Anything that must be done
late in the initialization (such as adding additional
bindings to the user interface) may be done by putting the
commands inside a procedure called "initLate".
MENUS
Except as otherwise noted, the menus are self-explanatory.
Some of the menus have dashed lines as the first entry.
Clicking on the dashed lines will "tear off" the menus.
USAGE SUGGESTION - ALIASES AND COMMAND FILES
Aliases may be used to store lengthy command-line invoca
tions. Command files can be also be used to store such
invocations as well as providing a convenient way to share
configurations.
Tcl is a general-purpose language. Thus multixterm com
mand files can be extremely flexible, such as loading
hostnames from other programs or files that may change
from day-to-day. In addition, command files can be used
for other purposes. For example, command files may be
used to prepared common canned interaction sequences. For
example, the command to send the same string to all xterms
is:
xtermSend "a particularly long string"
The File menu (torn-off) makes canned sequences particu
larly convenient. Interactions could also be bound to a
mouse button, keystroke, or added to a menu via the .mul
tixtermrc file.
The following .multixtermrc causes tiny xterms to tile
across and down the screen. (You may have to adjust the
parameters for your screen.) This can be very helpful
when dealing with large numbers of xterms.
set yPos 0
set xPos 0
trace variable xtermArgs r traceArgs
proc traceArgs {args} {
global xPos yPos
set ::xtermArgs "-geometry 80x12+$xPos+$yPos -font 6x10"
if {$xPos} {
set xPos 0
incr yPos 145
set ::xtermArgs "-geometry 80x12+$xPos+0 -font 6x10"
set ::xtermNames $name
xtermStartAll
incr xPos 300
}
USAGE SUGGESTION - SELECTING HOSTS BY NICKNAME
The following .multixtermrc shows an example of changing
the default handling of the arguments from hostnames to a
filename containing hostnames:
set xtermNames [exec cat $argv]
The following is a variation, retrieving the host names
from the yp database:
set xtermNames [exec ypcat $argv]
The following hardcodes two sets of hosts, so that you can
call multixterm with either "cluster1" or "cluster2":
switch $argv {
cluster1 {
set xtermNames "bud dexter"
}
cluster2 {
set xtermNames "frank hotdog weiner"
}
}
COMPARE/CONTRAST
It is worth comparing multixterm to xkibitz. Multixterm
connects a separate process to each xterm. xkibitz con
nects the same process to each xterm.
LIMITATIONS
Multixterm provides no way to remotely control scrollbars,
resize, and most other window system related functions.
Multixterm can only control new xterms that multixterm
itself has started.
As a convenience, the File menu shows a limited number of
files. To show all the files, use File->Open.
FILES
REQUIREMENTS
Requires Expect 5.36.0 or later.
Requires Tk 8.3.3 or later.
VERSION
1.5
The latest version of multixterm is available from
http://expect.nist.gov/example/multixterm . However, if
your version of Expect and Tk are too old (see REQUIRE
MENTS above) you should download a new version of expect
from http://expect.nist.gov
DATE
April 30, 2002
AUTHOR
Don Libes <don@libes.com>
LICENSE
Multixterm is in the public domain; however the author
would appreciate acknowledgement if multixterm or parts of
it are used.
15 April 2002 MULTIXTERM(1)
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