I don't recall having to use .Xdefaults-`hostname` in the past, but it certainly behaves that way now. Maybe this is to support NFS mounted homedirs? In any case, I can't think of a case where I've ever wanted to change the behaviour of an X program based on which host it was executed from.
Consider using .Xresources rather than .Xdefaults: the former are loaded into the X server, so are linked to a particular display environment, whereas the latter are set based on the client. In my case, typically I care more about the server than the client for things like font size: for example, when using my laptop the resources are configured to suit a 14" screen at a particular resolution, and those same settings are used when I run xvile either locally, or remotely on my workstation over ssh. When sitting at my workstation which has a somewhat larger screen, I want different settings configured in the X server. By using .Xresources rather than .Xdefaults the same invocation of xvile behaves appropriately depending on where it is being displayed, rather than where was invoked from. For most desktop environments, ~/.Xresources should be loaded at login. Note that if you make changes you will need to run xrdb to pick them up. See also https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/x_resources On Sat, 9 Nov 2019 at 10:02, Thomas Dickey <dic...@his.com> wrote: > On Fri, Nov 08, 2019 at 12:34:14PM +0100, Gary Jennejohn wrote: > > Hi, > > > > I'm using Xvile 98.t and am trying to create a bash alias using > > -xrm to set various X resources. > > > > I'm doing this because I'm starting Xvile over a ssh login and > > for some reason the XVile settings in .Xdefaults are not being > > used by the Xorg server on the computer from which I'm logging > > in. Using ssh -X does not help. > > man X tells me > > XENVIRONMENT > Any user- and machine-specific resources may be > specified by > setting the XENVIRONMENT environment variable to the name > of a > resource file to be loaded by all applications. If this > vari‐ > able is not defined, a file named > $HOME/.Xdefaults-hostname is > looked for instead, where hostname is the name of the > host > where the application is executing. > > -xrm resourcestring > Resources can also be specified from the command line. > The > resourcestring is a single resource name and value as > shown > above. Note that if the string contains characters > interpreted > by the shell (e.g., asterisk), they must be quoted. Any > number > of -xrm arguments may be given on the command line. > > Perhaps your ".Xdefaults" isn't linked to ".Xdefaults-hostname" > > > The target computer has just enough of Xorg installed to allow > > Xvile to run. > > > > Unfortunately, the syntax required for -xrm isn't explained > > anywhere in the help file. > > > > Any examples on how to use -xrm? > > It's borrowed from xterm, but actually is an X Toolkit option. > > Here, "appres XVile" gives me a longish list, e.g., > > *menubar*foreground: black > *menubar*borderColor: grey > *menubar.hSpace: 1 > *menubar.vSpace: 1 > *menubar*background: grey > > and I could pass each of those as an -xrm option by quoting it, > e.g., > xterm \ > -xrm '*menubar*foreground: black' \ > -xrm '*menubar*borderColor: grey' \ > -xrm '*menubar.hSpace: 1' \ > -xrm '*menubar.vSpace: 1' \ > -xrm '*menubar*background: grey' > > but actually setting XAPPLRESDIR (mentioned just before the chunk I quoted) > lets one set up a directory where X will search for the "XVile" file: > > application-specific files > Directories named by the environment variable > XUSERFILESEARCH‐ > PATH or the environment variable XAPPLRESDIR (which > names a > single directory and should end with a '/' on POSIX > systems), > plus directories in a standard place (usually > under > /usr/share/X11/, but this can be overridden with the > XFILE‐ > SEARCHPATH environment variable) are searched for for > applica‐ > tion-specific resources. For example, application > default > resources are usually kept in > /usr/share/X11/app-defaults/. > See the X Toolkit Intrinsics - C Language Interface manual > for > details. > > > -- > Thomas E. Dickey <dic...@invisible-island.net> > https://invisible-island.net > ftp://ftp.invisible-island.net >
