Hints for using Xtme or Tkme

1.  Contact me if you have trouble!  Call (703) 648-6533 or
    FAX (703) 648-6252 or email pschweitzer@usgs.gov.

2.  Did you get the following message on your xterm window?

        Error: could not open help file xtme.hlp

    You'll want to tell xtme where to find its help file.  You
    can do this on the command line, using the -h option, like

        xtme -h /usr/local/lib/xtme.hlp

    You could put that into an alias if you're using csh, tcsh,
    or ksh but not if you're using sh.  Or you can put the location
    of the help file into an X resource using your .Xdefaults file,
    as described below.  Put into your .Xdefaults file the line

    xtme*helpFile: /usr/local/lib/xtme.hlp

    Then create in /usr/local/lib a symbolic link to the real
    xtme.hlp file, doing something like

        ln -s /wherever/tools/doc/xtme.hlp /usr/local/lib/xtme.hlp

    replacing "wherever" with the appropriate path on your system.

3.  If you don't like or can't use the colors, fonts, or keyboard
    translations that are built in as fall-back resources, load the
    app-defaults file.  To customize the look and feel, edit the
    file Xtme.ad to your liking, and load it into your server's
    resource database.  Normally this can be done by running xrdb:

        xrdb -merge Xtme.ad

    Another way to use the resources is to put them into your own
    .Xdefaults file.  You can also put a copy of Xtme.ad into the
    directory /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults (but name the copy Xtme).

    The key resources you may want to change are the default
    configuration file, the default help file, and the keyboard
    focus policy.

    The configuration file determines how blank lines are handled
    on input (that is, whether to ignore them or not) and indicates
    the file describing local extensions, element names that aren't
    part of the standard.  The default name of the configuration
    file is .mprc.  This means it will look in the current directory
    for the file.  If you want to use the same configuration file
    from any directory, set this resource to a file specification
    with an absolute path.  For example,

    xtme*configFile: /usr/local/include/.mprc

    The help file is basically a reepression of the standard.  But if
    you're using local extensions, you can append information about
    those extensions to the help file (following the format used for
    the standard elements).  By default help is found in xtme.hlp,
    so xtme will look in the current directory.  If you want to use
    one help file everywhere you are, give an absolute path, like

    xtme*helpFile: /usr/local/lib/xtme.hlp

    Keep in mind that you can always add translations to widgets
    that have actions.  This means, for example, that if you don't
    like the key bindings that come with the Athena text widget,
    you can change them.  To find out how to do that, you'll need
    to get a book that covers X resources in detail, such as volume
    3 of the O'Reilly & Associates' X Window System series.

4.  Start with an existing metadata file that looks like it has
    many of the elements that you want.  Then make a copy of it
    and edit the copy using xtme.

    I have provided a template that contains all of the standard
    elements.  The file is called "template" and comes with Xtme.
    Note that this template has too many elements in it.  If you start
    with it, you'll need to choose some to fill in and delete others.
    For example, it includes *all* of the map projections.  You only
    need one.

5.  Where a whole section needs to be reworded, select the top element
    in the section, and choose Clear from the Edit menu.  This causes
    all of the textual values in that subtree to be erased.  The
    logical structure will still be in place, but the values will be
    gone, so you can easily put the new values in.  Choose Cut if
    you want to delete a whole subtree.  That removes the structure
    as well as the values.  Be careful--there is no "undo".

6.  If you're unsure of what goes into the elements, choose Element
    from the Help menu, and don't dismiss the help window.  Move it
    off to the side and resize it for comfort.  This window shows
    the part of the standard that pertains to the selected element.
    As you move about from element to element in the structure, the
    help text changes accordingly.  This will help you see what elements
    you need and what elements are optional.

    An action is available to dismiss the help menu.  By default this
    action is bound to the Escape key.

7.  To view the metadata as it will be output, choose Output from the
    Help menu.  This does not get updated automatically; you need to
    click the Update button to display changes that you make.

8.  When you're finished, run mp to check the metadata.  Xtme doesn't
    prevent you from (a) leaving out required elements or values, (b)
    putting in too many elements of a particular type, or (c) including
    more than one of a set of elements from which you're only supposed
    to choose one.

9.  If you want to use local extensions, look carefully at the supplied
    files example.mprc and ext/parts.ext.  The first is the configuration
    file, which shows xtme (and also mp and cns) where to get extensions.
    The extensions feature is not experimental, but few people are
    actually doing it at the moment, so I encourage you to contact
    me for assistance in creating the extensions file.

10. Contact me if you have trouble!  Call (703) 648-6533 or
    FAX (703) 648-6252 or email pschweitzer@usgs.gov.

Peter
--
Peter N. Schweitzer
  Mail Stop 954, National Center
  U.S. Geological Survey
  Reston, VA 20192

  Tel: (703) 648-6533
  FAX: (703) 647-6252
  email: pschweitzer@usgs.gov
