XLIB_SKIP_ARGB_VISUALS

Controls the new visuals created by the Composite extension on Linux platforms.

Syntax

XLIB_SKIP_ARGB_VISUALS value

Type

HyperWorks Environment Variable

Description

When the Composite extension is enabled via xorg.conf or the command line, a new visual is created. This visual is different from the other visuals used by X applications in that it includes an alpha component. It is used by the compositing manager and other Composite aware applications. Most X applications ignore this visual since it is not useful to them. An environment variable, XLIB_SKIP_ARGB_VISUALS, was added to the X11 library to hide this visual from applications that may mistakenly try to use it.

Since Composite is not enabled by default, it is not expected that this issue will be visible to most users.

By default HyperWorks GUI applications set the value of XLIB_SKIP_ARGB_VISUALS to 1 to ignore the new visual. However, there are some behaviors that are affected by either setting or not setting this variable.

If composite desktop managers are ON and XLIB_SKIP_ARGB_VISUALS is not set or set to 0:
  • Icons may appear washed out.
  • Flickering and re-draw issues may occur with panels.
  • Multiple windows may fail to refresh when changing from a single to multi window layout (new windows are grayed out) until clicking into a grayed out window to give focus to the redraw.
  • Pull-down menus behave normally.
If composite desktop managers are OFF and XLIB_SKIP_ARGB_VISUALS is not set or set to 0:
  • Flickering and re-draw issues may occur with panels.
  • Multiple windows may fail to refresh when changing from a single to multi window layout (new windows are grayed out) until clicking into a grayed out window to give focus to the redraw.
  • Pull-down menus behave normally.
If composite desktop managers are either ON or OFF and XLIB_SKIP_ARGB_VISUALS is set to 1:
  • Pull-down menus are slow to draw on top of graphics windows.
  • All other issues noted above are not seen, or are less noticeable.
value
The value that defines whether to skip (non-zero) or not skip (0) the new visual. By default HyperWorks sets the value to 1.

Examples

To allow visuals within HyperWorks GUI applications: XLIB_SKIP_ARGB_VISUALS 0.

Errors

None.