xcol(1) X Version 11 xcol(1)
4 October 1995
NAME
xcol - display available colors & change color entries in text files
SYNOPSIS
xcol [-options ...] [filename]
DESCRIPTION
XCol displays the colors defined in the rgb.txt file of the X server.
The colors are sorted by their names and their RGB values and shown in
a cube in the ColorView window. The positions of colors in the window
represent their RGB values (the upper right front corner is the zero
point; toward the upper rear left corner is more green, toward the
lower right rear corner is more red; and toward the lower left front
corner is more blue).
Since there usually are more colors defined in the file than cells in
the colormap, entries with the same name but different RGB values (for
different intensities) are grouped together.
If a filename is given as a parameter, all occurrences of color names
in that file are shown in an additional TextView window. To change the
colors, a text line has to be made active, and then a new color can be
selected in the ColorView window. To get a better impression of the
color, a help color (background) can be selected for each text line.
If two lines define a foreground and a background color, an
association can be made and the colors of both lines can be selected
together.
BUTTONS
In the ColorView window:
left: select color for the active line.
middle: select help color for the active line.
right: warp pointer to color of active line.
In the TextView Window:
left: select line as active line.
middle: toggle reverse-mode or
connect/disconnect 2 lines.
right: show line in the textfile.
OPTIONS
-rv Color positions are reversed in the cube. Some new colors can
become visible in the area of the very bright colors.
-bn The size of color blocks is set to the constant n. By default,
it depends on the size of the ColorView window.
-grann The maximum number of associated colors is set to n. By
default, this value is 11. (You can see the effect when
- 1 - Formatted: October 27, 2025
xcol(1) X Version 11 xcol(1)
4 October 1995
reaching the "gray" field, where 101 associated entries are
possibly available.)
-darkn Specify the intensity of the other colors on the screen (i.e.
the colors outside of the xcol windows) to be n percent
(default: 50). For example, specifying ``0'' to this option
will completely black out the rest of the screen, when xcol's
colormap is in effect. This is useful because it is easier to
select colors if the screen is darkened slightly.
+char_list
Add the characters in char_list to the list of ``space''
chararacters. Color names in the text file have to occur
between two ``space'' characters to be recognized. By
default, these letters are ' ', '\t', '\n', ':', and '"'.
-strings
Names of colors in the text file are only recognized when used
in a string (useful for C source code). This means that the
list of ``space'' characters is set to '"' only.
-case All occurrences of color names in the wrong case are replaced
by the color name in the of the rgb.txt file.
-help Print a usage message.
-file name
name of a different rgb.txt file. It is also possible to
supply a file in the style of the XCMSDB-files. Since these
files are not exactly defined, they are parsed 'as good as
possible'.
FILES
/usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt
SEE ALSO
X(1)
BUGS
The selection is only copied to CUT_BUFFER0 instead of a complete
implementation of the select mechanism.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 1990, University of Kaiserslautern.
Author: Helmut Hoenig (Helmut.Hoenig@hub.de)
Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
copyright notice appear in all copies.
- 2 - Formatted: October 27, 2025
