X Window System User's Guide, Vol 3 (The Definitive Guides to the X Window System)

Glossary

X uses many common terms in unique ways. A good example is “children.” While most, if not all, of these terms are defined where they are first used in this manual, you will undoubtedly find it easier to refresh your memory by looking for them here.

Glossary

access control list

X maintains lists of hosts that are allowed access to each server controlling a display. By default, only the local host may use the display, plus any hosts specified in the access control list for that display. The list is found in /etc/Xn.hosts where n is the number of the display. The access control list is also known as the host access list.

active window

The window where the input is directed. With a “pointer focus” window manager such as twm, you must put the pointer in a window to make it the active window. The active window is sometimes called the focus window.

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange. This standard for data transmission assigns individual 7-bit codes to represent each of a specific set of 128 numerals, letters, and control characters.

background

Windows may have a background, consisting of either a solid color or a tile pattern. If a window has a background, it will be repainted automatically by the server whenever there is an Expose event on the window. If a window does not have a background, it will be transparent. See also foreground.

background color

The color that determines the backdrop of a window, for example, on monochrome displays, the root window ...