XCOLRSEL(l) NCAR XCOLRSEL(l)
X11 Local Command X11 Local Command
May 1994
NAME
xcolrsel - X Window System color selector
SYNOPSIS
xcolrsel [-f path/rgb.txt]
DESCRIPTION
xcolrsel is an X Window System application that allows the user to
display all of the standard X11 colors as backgrounds and foregrounds.
Once a color combination has been picked, its background and
foreground color names may be transferred into the mouse buffer for
use by other X Window System applications. The xcolrsel window
consists of a row of function buttons on the top, a background color
selection button, a foreground color selection button, and a display
area with text that shows the background and foreground colors.
FUNCTIONS
There are 4 basic function button types for xcolrsel: quit, movement,
background/foreground, and mouse selects. A function is executed by
moving the mouse pointer over the button and pressing the left mouse
button.
[Quit] The red Quit button causes xcolrsel to exit to the operating
system, no questions asked.
[bg/fg] The orange bg/fg button causes the movement buttons to affect
either the background (bg) or foreground (fg) color in the display
area.
[<<] The green << button causes the current background or foreground
color to be set to the first entry from the rgb.txt file.
[<8] The green <8 button causes the current background or foreground
color to be set to the color that is 8 positions before the current
color from the rgb.txt file.
[<] The green < button causes the current background or foreground
color to be set to the color that is one positions before the current
color from the rgb.txt file.
[>] The green > button causes the current background or foreground
color to be set to the color that is one positions after the current
color from the rgb.txt file.
[>8] The green >8 button causes the current background or foreground
color to be set to the color that is 8 positions after the current
color from the rgb.txt file.
- 1 - Formatted: November 5, 2025
XCOLRSEL(l) NCAR XCOLRSEL(l)
X11 Local Command X11 Local Command
May 1994
[>>] The green >> button causes the current background or foreground
color to be set to the last entry from the rgb.txt file.
[Background Select] The Background Select button causes the currently
selected background color to be stuffed into the mouse buffer. Note
that the mouse buffer is cleared after xcolrsel exits.
[Foreground Select] The Foreground Select button causes the currently
selected foreground color to be stuffed into the mouse buffer.
EXAMPLE
To create an xterm with custom colors run colorsel and select a pair
of nice background and foreground colors. Press the left mouse button
on the xcolrsel background Select button (upper) to store the color
into the mouse selection buffer. On a command line or inside of an x
startup script, enter the command "xterm -bg " followed by a press of
the middle mouse button. Type " -fg " on the command line and then
press the left mouse button on the xcolrsel foreground Select button
(lower). Move the mouse to the command line and press the middle
button. The command will look something like: "xterm -bg bisque4 -fg
yellow". Press return on the command line and an xterm with the
desired colors should show up.
FILES
rgb.txt
BUGS
Xcolrsel depends on the rgb.txt file to be in some reasonable order.
Duplicate colors are ignored as long as they are located sequentially
in rgb.txt.
AUTHOR
G. Forrest Cook, NCAR/ATD/SSSF/RDP
- 2 - Formatted: November 5, 2025
