X Windows Programming in C++: Part III

• X Windows Programming in C++: Part I
• X Windows Programming in C++: Part II

Continuing with our task of creating a C++ version of basicwin.c, we next look at XCreateSimpleWindow. Here’s some code snippets from basicwin.c showing the use of XCreateSimpleWindow:

/* basicwin.c */
#include <X11/Xlib.h>

Display *display;
int screen_num;

static char *progname; /* name this program was invoked by */

void main(argc, argv)
int argc;
char **argv;
{
	Window win;
/*
 .
 .
 .
 */

	/* connect to X server */
	if ( (display=XOpenDisplay(display_name)) == NULL )
	{
		(void) fprintf( stderr, "%s: cannot connect to X server %s\n", 
				progname, XDisplayName(display_name));
		exit( -1 );
	}

	/* get screen size from display structure macro */
	screen_num = DefaultScreen(display);
	display_width = DisplayWidth(display, screen_num);
	display_height = DisplayHeight(display, screen_num);

	/* Note that in a real application, x and y would default to 0
	 * but would be settable from the command line or resource database.  
	 */
	x = y = 0;

	/* size window with enough room for text */
	width = display_width/3, height = display_height/4;

	/* create opaque window */
	win = XCreateSimpleWindow(display, RootWindow(display,screen_num), 
			x, y, width, height, border_width, BlackPixel(display,
			screen_num), WhitePixel(display,screen_num));

/*
 .
 .
 .
 */

        /* Display window */
	XMapWindow(display, win);

/*
 .
 .
 .
 */

}

In the C++ version, we can do something like this:

/* basicwin.cpp */

#include " xwindow.h"

/*
 .
 .
 .
 */
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
  try
  {
    CXDisplayPtr display(CXDisplay::OpenDisplay()) ;

    /* get screen size from display structure macro */
    display_width = display->GetDisplayWidth();
    display_height = display->GetDisplayHeight();

    /* Note that in a real application, x and y would default to 0
     * but would be settable from the command line or resource database.  
     */
    x = y = 0;

    /* size window with enough room for text */
    width = display_width / 3 ;
    height = display_height / 4;

    /* create opaque window */
    CXWindowPtr win(CXWindow::CreateWindow(display,
                    x, y, width, height, border_width,
                    display->GetBlackPixel(),
                    display->GetWhitePixel())) ;

/*
 .
 .
 .
 */
    /* Display window */
    win->Map();
/*
 .
 .
 .
 */
  }
  catch(bad_CXDisplay& e)
  {
    cerr << e.what() << endl ;
  }
  catch(bad_CXWindow& e)
  {
    cerr << e.what() << endl ;
  }
      
  return -1 ;
}

CXWindowPtr is defined in xwindow.h. Creating a window is handled by the constructor for the class CXWindow. XDestoryWindow is called by CXWindow’s destructor. CXWindowPtr wraps CXWindow in a boost::shared_ptr. The static member function, CXWindow::CreateWindow creates a window by calling XCreateSimpleWindow (future versions will likely also support XCreateWindow). CXWindow::CreateWindow creates a window and returns a CXWindowPtr which can be used as a pointer to a Window by dereferencing it. CXWindow’s destructor is called when the CXWindowPtr goes out of scope and all references to it are released.

— start —

/*******************************************************************
 *
 * xdisplay.h -- Wrap Window with a boost::shared_ptr
 *
 *  Copyright (C) 2007 by James A. Chappell (rlrrlrll@gmail.com)
 *
 *  Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
 *  obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation
 *  files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without
 *  restriction, including without limitation the rights to use,
 *  copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or
 *  sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
 *  Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following
 *  condition:
 *
 *  THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
 *  EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES
 *  OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
 *  NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT
 *  HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
 *  WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
 *  FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR
 *  OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
 */

#ifndef __XWINDOW_H__
#define __XWINDOW_H__

#include "xdisplay.h"

class bad_CXWindow : public std::exception
{
public:
  virtual const char* what() const throw()
  {
    return "bad_CXWindow" ; // for now
  }
} ;


class CXWindow ;

typedef boost::shared_ptr<CXWindow> CXWindowPtr ;

class CXWindow : private boost::noncopyable
{
public:

  static CXWindowPtr CreateWindow(CXDisplayPtr& display,
                                  int x, int y,
                                  unsigned int width,
                                  unsigned int height,
                                  unsigned int border_width,
                                  unsigned long border,
                                  unsigned long background,
                                  int screen_num = USE_DEFAULT_SCREEN)
  {
    Window parent(display->GetRootWindow(screen_num)) ;
    return CXWindowPtr(new CXWindow(display, parent,
                                    x, y, width, height, 
                                    border_width, border, background)) ;
  }
  
  
  static CXWindowPtr CreateWindow(CXDisplayPtr& display,
                                  CXWindowPtr& parent,
                                  int x, int y,
                                  unsigned int width,
                                  unsigned int height,
                                  unsigned int border_width,
                                  unsigned long border,
                                  unsigned long background)
  {
    return CXWindowPtr(new CXWindow(display, *parent,
                                    x, y, width, height, 
                                    border_width, border, background)) ;
  }

  ~CXWindow()
  {
    XDestroyWindow(*display_, window_) ;
  }

  operator Window const () { return window_ ; }

  void GetWindowAttributes(XWindowAttributes &attr)
  {
    if (!XGetWindowAttributes(*display_, window_, &attr))
    {
      throw bad_CXWindow() ;
    }
  }

  void Map() const
  {
    XMapWindow(*display_, window_);
  }

  void Unmap()
  {
    XUnmapWindow(*display_, window_) ;
  }

private:
  Window window_ ;
  CXDisplayPtr display_ ;

  CXWindow(CXDisplayPtr& display, Window parent,
           int x, int y,
           unsigned int width, unsigned int height,
           unsigned int border_width,
           unsigned long border,
           unsigned long background)
    : display_(display)
  {
    window_ = XCreateSimpleWindow(*display_, parent,
                                   x, y, width, height, 
                                   border_width, border, background) ;
  }

  CXWindow() {} 
} ;

#endif

— end —