The following is a problem reported to the Debian bug tracking system:
--- BUG REPORT -------------------------
Contrary to what the manual pages say:
Note that when reading X resources, rxvt recognizes two class
names: XTerm and Rxvt. The class name XTerm allows resources
common to both rxvt and xterm to be easily configured, while
the class name Rxvt allows resources unique to rxvt, notably
colors and key-handling, to be shared between different rxvt
configurations.
...it's not possible to have this:
*background: WhiteSmoke
XTerm*background: foo
Rxvt*background: foo
I had to make the Rxvt class name lowercase for the program to recognize it.
Surprisingly, the foreground and font settings were accepted.
Please either fix this or adjust the manual pages to describe it properly.
----------------------------------------
I tracked down the source is this behavior. My response was the
following:
--- DIAGNOSIS --------------------------
The "*background" line is the source of the problem. To see this, one
must realize that rxvt and its derivatives check the resource database
for each resource using the following procedure:
(1) search for the resource using the (lowercase) application name
(e.g., "rxvt");
(2) if not found, search for the resource using the (uppercase) class
name (e.g., "Rxvt");
(3) if still not found, search for the resource using the xterm class
name (i.e., "XTerm").
Therefore, rxvt does indeed behave according to its documentation, since
it checks the "Rxvt" class and then the "XTerm" class. Your problem
occurs because the loose binding "*background" evaluates as
"rxvt.background", and therefore, the resource is set in step 1 above
and the class names are never checked.
As I mentioned above, the man pages of rxvt is not incorrect;
however, this programs does not adhere to the rules listed in the
"RESOURCES" section of the X(1) man page. That is, an entry that elides
a level is taking precedence over an entry that contains a matching
component. This is the source of your confusion.
----------------------------------------
Are there any plans to make rxvt behave more like other X programs? Any
insight would be appreciated.
Thanks,
- Brian
