Motif Central
Motif Central brings together information about Motif, Xt, Xlib and X11: how they fit together, how to program with them, and where to find the manuals, examples and historical material that explain them.
Begin with the X programming stack, build your first Motif application, or explore the programming resources. The history pages describe the libraries' origins, while the archive guide helps you navigate older documentation.
Learn
Understand the layers, then build your first application.
◆ The X programming stack
How X11, Xlib, Xt, Athena, Motif and the window manager fit together.
◆ Your first Motif application
Build a small C program, connect callbacks, and understand its widget tree.
◆ Widget gallery
Recognise common Motif controls, try them in a working program, and choose widgets for your own interface.
◆ X resources
Use widget names, classes, application defaults and xrdb to change an Xt application without rebuilding it.
Toolkits
Explore the libraries, their history and working examples.
◆ Xt and Athena
How the X Toolkit Intrinsics support Athena and Motif, and where the framework came from.
◆ Motif
The toolkit, its place in UNIX desktops, and the distinction between Motif, Open Motif and LessTif.
◆ Xmt: Motif Tools
David Flanagan’s Motif Tools library: its origins, approach to interface construction, and resources for programmers.
Projects
Maintained Motif software, related X11 projects and preservation efforts.
◆ CDE
A complete Motif desktop, with a workspace manager and integrated applications.
◆ MWM
Motif’s window manager, including the maintained Motif forks that carry it.
◆ EMWM
An MWM fork with workspaces, current X extensions and compatibility improvements.
◆ FVWM3
A maintained, highly configurable X11 window manager in the wider Motif ecosystem.
◆ X11CP
Preserving and maintaining classic X11 applications, including Motif and Xt programs.
◆ XNEdit
A Motif text editor continuing NEdit, with Unicode and antialiased text rendering.
◆ XFile
A compact Motif file manager with resource-based customisation and file associations.
◆ XmBDFEditor
A Motif bitmap-font editor for drawing glyphs, adjusting metrics and working with BDF fonts.
Resources
Find programming references, books and historical documentation.
◆ Programming guide
An annotated reading guide to tutorials, books, specifications and example programs.
◆ Language bindings
For users that don't want to use C/C++
◆ Books
An illustrated catalogue of the O’Reilly X Window System series, Volumes 0–6B, and other Motif books.
◆ Archives
Using (mostly) archived material
Ready.
libXm / Xt / Xlib