Command Line Arguments
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To start the Form Designer simply type

     fdesign [-xformoptions] [-fdesignoptions] [files[.fd]]

An initial window will be created and mapped. Depending on the window manager, you may have the option to interactively select where to place the window if the -geometry option is not given. Next the program places the control panel on the screen. You can move this panel, if required, to the place you want (you can also change the default placement of the control panel via resources).

fdesign accepts all of the XForms command line options as well as the following

-geometry geom
     This option specifies the initial placement and size of the working area.

-convert fd-file-list
     Normally fdesign does its work interactively. This option causes the fdesign simply read a list of fdesign output file (the .fd files) and emit the corresponding C-routines and header files.

-version
     Prints current version and quits.

-help
     Prints a brief help message on command line options.

-altformat
     Generates an alternative output format.

-border
     Forces decorations on several windows so that you can move them easily.

-unit point|pixel|mm|cp|cmm
     Outputs object sizes in units other than pixels. cp and cmm stand for centi-point (1/100 of a point) and centi-mm (1/100 of a milli-meter). For typical displays, pixel and mm are too coarse and subject to round-off errors.

-nocode
     Suppresses the output of UI code. This can be handy if the UI code is not generated interactively, but rather generated by the make process using fdesign -convert.

-I header
     Changes the output include file from <forms.h> to header. Useful on systems where forms.h is renamed to something else or you need application specific constants/defines for the UI to function. In the later case, header may simply contain

          #include <forms.h>
          #define mystuff 1

-main
     Emits a main program with callback stubs. Can be useful for simple programs.

-callback
     Emits callback function template in a separate file.

-lax
     Suppresses syntax checking on variable and callback function names.

-bw borderwidth
     Changes default border width of the forms created.

Note that -help, -version and -convert do not require a connection to an X server. If an output unit other than the default (pixel) is selected, all object sizes in the output file will be in the unit requested. This kind of UI has a fixed and device resolution independent size (in theory at least) and can be useful for drawing applications.

fdesign recognizes the following resources:

workingArea.geometry
string
Geometry
control.border
bool
XForms borderwidth
control.geometry
string (position only)
Control window geometry
attributes.geometry
string (position only)
Attributes window Geometry
attributes.background
string (e.g. gray80)
Attributes window background
align.geometry
string (position only)
Align window geometry
help.geometry
string (position only)
Help window geometry
convert
bool
Convert
unit
string
Unit
altformat
bool
AltFormat
xformHeader
string
Header file name
helpFontSize
int
Help font size
main
bool
Main

Note that resource specification of convert requires an X connection. In addition, all XForms's resources specification can be used to influence the appearance of various panels. The most useful ones are the font sizes

*XForm.FontSize
all label font sizes
XForm.PupFontSize
all pup font sizes