ximtool

Luisa Ester Navarro x205 wrote on May 11, 1999

I have installed Ximtool on PC under linux RedHat 5.1.
When I start up Ximtool and move my mouse the colors change
I had probed with with several video card  and memory

Please answer to: luisa@castec.edu.ar, no use replay command.

Thanks
                           Luisa Navarro

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Mike Fitzpatrick wrote on May 11, 1999

Luisa Navarro writes:
> I have installed Ximtool on PC under linux RedHat 5.1.  When I start
> up Ximtool and move my mouse the colors change I had probed with with
> several video card  and memory

	I assume you mean that as you move the mouse in and out of the
XImtool window the colors in the display or the rest of the console
change back and forth, right?  If so this is called "colormap flashing", 
it happens when applications try to use more than the 256 colors available
in an 8-bit display.  Programs such as Netscape grab as many colors as
possible and don't leave any for other applications, when you then start
an ximtool the system swaps in/out a new colormap when ximtool gets/loses
the focus (move the mouse into/out of the window).   The simplest way
to minimize this is to just shut down Netscape whenever using ximtool.
	Alternatively, if your hardware supports 24-bit depths aside from
the 8-bit PseudoColor you are currently running, you can start Netscape
(V4.0.5 or later) as e.g.

	% netscape -visual TrueColor

to have it run under a 24-bit depth and leave the standard colormap for
your ximtool.   If everything must run in 8-bit mode you can also help
things by defining resources such as

        XImtool*basePixel:      128
        XImtool*maxColors:      100
        XImtool*cmapInitialize: True

This limits ximtool to only 100 colors but minimizes flashing.  You can
similarly set resources for Netscape (whether it works or not depends on
the version) or other applications to limit those colors.

Cheers,
Mike Fitzpatrick

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Last post on May 11, 1999