NCD & InfoExplorer at 3003

[Ed Kubaitis]

Recently had a few hours of unexpected grief with my NCD 19 X-Terminal and
InfoExplorer at AIX 3.1-3003. While InfoExplorer worked fine with the NCD
at 3001, at 3003 observed the following problems:

   1. The info windows came up garbled with legible fonts only in the
      buttons.

   2. After info execution, *all* applications (xterms, etc) had incorrect
      fonts.

   3. After info execution, all of my resource database items were gone.

Here is what I was able to discover as to the nature of the problems:

Problems 1 & 2 
--------------
Info-explorer sets (and does not restore) the server font path to include
/usr/lpp/info/X11fonts. Since my NCD uses an AIX 3.1-3003 system as its 
primary font server (for standard MIT X11R4 fonts stored there) it will find 
this directory. As it turns out, there are no guarantees that server brand X 
can read fonts designed for server brand Y. And NCD servers, in fact, cannot 
handle these IBM fonts. At 3001, InfoExplorer appended this font directory
to the server font list (used xset fp+). Thus, the NCD was able to satisfy
InfoExplorer's font requests from the MIT font directories earlier in the
list and thus both it, and all subsequently executed X applications, worked
fine.  But at 3003, InfoExplorer *prepends* the IBM server font directory
to the list (xset +fp), hence the garble fonts for it and subsequent
applications.

   CIRCUMVENTION: NCD users using an AIX 3.1-3003 system as a font server
   can keep InfoExplorer from *prepending* the problem directory to their
   font paths by placing it at the *end* before InfoExplorer execution:

         xset fp default  # or whatever you usually use
	 xset fp+ /usr/lpp/info/X11fonts

Problem 3
---------
At 3003, InfoExplorer (actually the /usr/bin/info shellscript frontend)
does an xrdb [-load] of a file. Hence the disappearance of all of my
painfully wrought tailoring options after InfoExplorer execution. This 
appears to be a bug, as the file in question looks like input to xmodmap, 
not xrdb.

   CIRCUMVENTION: Grab a copy of the /usr/bin/info frontend shell script
   and comment out the "xrdb" invocation. Give it a name other than info
   or place it in a directory earlier in your search path then /usr/bin.


Ultimate Solutions
------------------
Doug Klein of support at ncd.com tells me that server font compatibility
is being addressed in upcoming 'font server' technology in X11 R5. So I 
guess problems 1 & 2 will be dealt with eventually.

On another front, there seems to be a serious question as to whether it
is proper for any X client (other than a display manager) to be altering
server font paths or resource database items as InfoExplorer does. The
replies I received to a comp.windows.x query regarding this practice
(including one from a MIT X Consortium staff member) indicate that it
is definitely *not* proper client behavior.

In a recent string on comp.unix.aix (Re: info customization and improvements) 
one of the InfoExplorer authors graciously solicited suggestions for 
improvements. I would like to add to that list:

    Please review the InfoExplorer practice of altering server font paths, 
    resource database, etc. This questionable practice can generate gratuitous
    confusion and grief. If it is absolutely necessary to do such things 
    (for the benefit of exclusively IBM server environments?), then please 
    keep all these actions in the info frontend shellscript where they can 
    be tailored more easily, perhaps with a "foreign server" option or
    environment variable.

----------------------------------
Ed Kubaitis (ejk at uxh.cso.uiuc.edu)
Computing Services Office - University of Illinois, Urbana