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Conference bulova::decw_jan-89_to_nov-90

Title:DECWINDOWS 26-JAN-89 to 29-NOV-90
Notice:See 1639.0 for VMS V5.3 kit; 2043.0 for 5.4 IFT kit
Moderator:STAR::VATNE
Created:Mon Oct 30 1989
Last Modified:Mon Dec 31 1990
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:3726
Total number of notes:19516

904.0. "4 plane GPX sucks" by LESLIE::LESLIE (Andy ��� Leslie) Thu Jun 08 1989 10:11

    Having recently upgraded LESLIE to a 4 plane colour GPX I thought I say
    how PATHETIC this configuration seems to be.
    
    Of course this may or may not be releated to the fact that I'm running
    the HPWM, if this is the case, please ignore my bile. However...
    
    I continually run out of "color map entries" and am fed up with
    applications that come up black-on-black.
    
    Please please please can anyone give:
    
    		o Tips to avoid filling up the color map
    		o ways of stopping applications coming up black-on-black
    
    Many thanks
    
    A
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name		DateLines
904.1DECWIN::JACKIEJackie FergusonThu Jun 08 1989 10:4413
Andy,

The hpwm does use up quite a few slots, 6 I believe.  There is probably a
resource to decrease this number :-)  The toolkit is good about sharing
colors among clients that request the same color.  You might want to take
a look that the cmap program from the mit tape (and also in the examples
conference I think) which shows the colormap.  You can see who's being a hog 
and who isn't.  I know people who run hpwm on a 4 plane without problems,
so it might be that you have to cut down on the different color customization
you do.

Jackie
904.2VESTA::BAILEYMind Set Transfer In ProgressThu Jun 08 1989 13:098
> You might want to take a look that the cmap program from the mit 
> tape (and also in the examples conference I think) 

Have you a note number for this in the Examples conf... I cannot
find it there (there is a program in 81.*   XCMAP  but the documentation
in 81.2 says that it will just display in a nXn grid all the possible
colors... nothing there about who is using them)
904.3Xspy and some other hacksFUEL::grahamIf people lead, leaders will followThu Jun 08 1989 14:1817
It is quite true that HPWM eats a lot of color resources if not properly
controlled.

I have a hack (from X10.4 days) that will display in 'realtime' the
global colormap of any X11 system (both VMS and Ultrix).
It will give you a snapshot of who is hogging what...

Also, there is program on the MIT X11R3 Contribution tape called Xspy.
Xspy will spy and catch applications that steal more colors than they
really need.  With Xspy, I found out that the HPWM uses *3* different
shades of blue (.Xdefaults setting) on the xterm title-bars on my workstation!

I will post both sources in the DW_EXAMPLES sometime soon.

Kris..
904.4If my group has the budget...LESLIE::LESLIEAndy ��� LeslieThu Jun 08 1989 16:185
    Seems to me that the 4-plane GPX is in the same class as the 6mb
    VS2000, useable, but hacks sure help.
    
    I think I'll order the VS40X-PA 8-plane board.
904.54 planes is okQUARK::LIONELB - L - Oh, I don't know!Thu Jun 08 1989 17:417
Gee, I've been using a 4-plane GPX with DECwindows for almost a year now,
and haven't considered it unusuable by any means.  Of course, I have a
VR260 monitor, so all I get is shades of gray.  About the only time I get
wierd "colors" is when I run ReGIS applications.

			Steve
904.6Excuse the sarcasm please....LESLIE::LESLIEAndy ��� LeslieFri Jun 09 1989 03:055
    Yeah, thats the ticket - use a 4-plane GPX in monochrome and avoid
    regis - I knew the answer would be simple!
    
    - Andy
904.7With care, it can be doneAGBEAR::HORNERA.G.Bear, Low tech teddy bearFri Jun 09 1989 08:0915
    I've found that if you avoid giving the following two resources a value
    of ALL or TRUE, that you can minimize the number of colors that HPWM
    uses:

    	Hpwm*makeActiveColors:          false
    	Hpwm*makeColors:                false

    I have a 4 plane color VS2000 with a reasonable (personal opinion here)
    number of color combinations, and even with HPWM, XCMAP shows that I
    never use more than 12 color map entries.  It does take some experimenting
    however.  I hate to think of the amount of time that I've sunk into
    finding optimal values for everything.

               Dave
904.8PSW::WINALSKICareful with that VAX, EugeneFri Jun 09 1989 18:0212
RE: .6

Andy, I can understand your disappointment, but I can't see where this is a
product deficiency.  A 4-plane system can only display 16 simultaneous colors
(including black and white).  Complaining about running out of colors on such
as system is much like criticizing a b&w monitor for not displaying color--
the hardware just isn't capable of doing it.  It sounds like hpwm is making
the situation worse by hogging a bunch of colors.  In that case, blame hpwm,
not the DECwindows base software or the GPX hardware.

--PSW
904.9LESLIE::LESLIEAndy ��� LeslieSun Jun 11 1989 06:565
    Yeah, I know, I'm in a lousy mood this week, as you might have
    surmised.
    
    - Andy
904.10Xspy and DW_EXAMPLESAGBEAR::HORNERA.G.Bear, Low tech teddy bearMon Jun 26 1989 14:028
    Re: .3

    Would it be possible to get the Xspy sources placed in DW_EXAMPLES at
    your convenience?  I have a small need for Xspy, and have no other means
    of obtaining it.  Any and all help is appreciated.

               Dave
904.11Color Spy program..FUEL::grahamSend in the Clones!Mon Jul 03 1989 19:3813
RE .10

>   Would it be possible to get the Xspy sources placed in DW_EXAMPLES at
>   your convenience?  I have a small need for Xspy, and have no other means
>   of obtaining it.  Any and all help is appreciated.


I did that already (June 10 '89).  
You will see the sources posted at note 180 in DW_EXAMPLES.

Kris