.\"$SCCSID( @(#)startx.man	1.1 AIX ) Modified: 20:12:32 7/16/92 
.\" $XConsortium: startx.man,v 1.2 91/07/30 14:12:47 gildea Exp $
.TH STARTX 1 "Release 5" "X Version 11"
.SH NAME
startx \- initialize an X session
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B startx
[ [
.I client
]
.I options
\&\.\|.\|. ] [
.B \-\^\-
[
.I server
]
.I options
\&.\|.\|. ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
NOTE: The \fIstartx\fP script supplied with the X11 distribution is a sample
designed more as a base for customization than as a
finished product.  Site administrators are urged to customize it for
their site.  And to update this manual page when they do!
.PP
The \fIstartx\fP script is a front end to \fIxinit\fP that provides a
somewhat nicer user interface for running a single session of the X
Window System.  It is typically run with no arguments.
.PP
To determine the client to run,
.I startx
first looks for a file called
.I .xinitrc
in the user's home directory.  If that is not found, it uses
the file
.I xinitrc
in the
.I xinit
library directory.
If command line client options are given, they override this
behavior.
To determine the server to run,
.I startx
first looks for a file called
.I .xserverrc
in the user's home directory.  If that is not found, it uses
the file
.I xserverrc
in the
.I xinit
library directory.
If command line server options are given, they override this
behavior.  Users rarely need to provide a
.I .xserverrc
file.
See the
.IR xinit (1)
manual page for more details on the arguments.
.PP
The
.I .xinitrc
is typically a shell script which starts many clients according to the
user's preference.  When this shell script exits,
.I startx 
kills the server and performs any other session shutdown needed.
Most of the clients started by
.I .xinitrc
should be run in the background.  The last client should run in the
foreground; when it exits, the session will exit.  People often choose
a session manager, window manager, or \fIxterm\fP as the ``magic'' client.
.SH EXAMPLE
.PP
Below is a sample \fI\.xinitrc\fP that starts several applications and
leaves the window manager running as the ``last'' application.  Assuming that
the window manager has been configured properly, the user
then chooses the ``Exit'' menu item to shut down X.
.sp
.in +4
.nf
xrdb  \-load  $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot  \-solid  gray  &
xbiff  \-geometry  \-430+5  &
oclock  \-geometry  75x75\-0\-0  &
xload  \-geometry  \-80\-0  &
xterm  \-geometry  +0+60  \-ls  &
xterm  \-geometry  +0\-100  &
xconsole  \-geometry  \-0+0  \-fn  5x7  &
exec  twm
.fi
.in -4
.SH "ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES"
.TP 25
DISPLAY
This variable gets set to the name of the display to which clients should
connect.  Note that this gets
.I set,
not read.
.SH FILES
.TP 25
.I $(HOME)/.xinitrc
Client to run.  Typically a shell script which runs many programs in
the background.
.TP 25
.I $(HOME)/.xserverrc
Server to run.  The default is
.I X.
.TP 25
.I /usr/lib/X11/xinit/xinitrc
Client to run if the user has no
.I .xinitrc
file
.TP 25
.I /usr/lib/X11/xinit/xserverrc
Client to run if the user has no
.I .xserverrc
file.  This is only needed if the server needs special arguments or is
not named
.I X.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.IR xinit (1)