XRGB(l) NCAR XRGB(l)
X11 Local Command X11 Local Command
May 1994
NAME
xrgb - X Window System Red Green and Blue color selector
SYNOPSIS
xrgb
DESCRIPTION
Xrgb is an X Window System application that allows the user to set one
of 2^^24 colors by adjusting the levels of 3 additive primary color
sliders. Once a color has been set its X11 color string can be
transferred into the mouse buffer for use by other X Window System
applications. The xrgb window consists of a color string select
button on the top, 3 hexidecimal primary value displays and a quit
button in the middle, 3 primary color sliders on the left, and a mixed
color area on the right,
ADJUSTING COLORS
The color can be set by adjusting the values of the three additive
primary colors (red, green, and blue) using a mouse and X sliders.
Clicking the left mouse button on one of the primary color sliders
causes the amount of the primary in the selected color cell to
increment. Clicking the right mouse button causes the primary to
decrement. Clicking and dragging the middle mouse button causes the
primary to move with the mouse. There is a hexadecimal numeric
display over each primary color slider that indicates the current
value.
FUNCTIONS
There are 2 basic function buttons for xrgb, select and quit. A
function is executed by moving the mouse pointer over the button and
pressing the left mouse button.
[Select] The Select button causes the currently selected color to be
turned into an X11 compatible color string which gets stuffed into the
mouse buffer. Note that the mouse buffer is cleared after xrgb exits.
[Quit] The Quit button causes xrgb to exit to the operating system, no
questions asked.
EXAMPLE
To create an xterm with a custom background color run xrgb and dial up
a nice color using the RGB sliders. When the desired color is
displayed, press the left mouse button on the Select button 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
- 1 - Formatted: August 21, 2025
XRGB(l) NCAR XRGB(l)
X11 Local Command X11 Local Command
May 1994
by a press of the middle mouse button and a carriage return. An xterm
with the desired background color should show up. The command will
look something like: "xterm -bg rgb:a8/dd/ff". It is also possible to
select another color for a foreground color so that the command
resembles: "xterm -bg rgb:a8/dd/ff -fg rgb:59/00/67".
BUGS
Xrgb was designed to run on a machine with a pallette of 256 colors
out of 16.7 million possible colors (2^^24), or in other words 8 bit
video DACs. It may not work properly on some video displays.
AUTHORS
G. Forrest Cook, Jon Corbet, NCAR/ATD/SSSF/RDP
- 2 - Formatted: August 21, 2025
