It is suggested that the selection named by xa_secondary be used:
• As the second argument to commands taking two arguments. For example, it might be used when exchanging the primary and secondary selections.
As a means of obtaining data when there is a primary selection, and the user does not wish to disturb it.
The CLIPBOARD selection can be used to hold deleted data (it has no predefined atom). There is a client called xclipboard that will display the contents of the CLIPBOARD, even if the client where the data was selected has already been killed.
12.4.9 Target Atoms
The atom that a requestor supplies as the target argument of XConvertSelection ( ) determines the form of the data supplied. The set of such atoms is extensible, but a generally accepted base set of target atoms is needed. The set specified in the conventions is shown in Appendix L, Interclient Communication Conventions, of Volume Zero, X Protocol Refer-ence Manual (as of the second printing). However, some types are already predefined properties, and these can safely be used.
Target properties describe types of data. They contain the C language types of the structures that are used for many of the Xlib functions. The predefined target atoms are shown in Table 12-6.
Table 12-6. Predefined Target Type Atoms
Type Atom |
C Language Type |
XA_ARC |
|
XA_POINT |
|
XA_ATOM |
Atom |
XA_RGB_COLOR_MAP |
Atom (standard colormap) |
XA_BITMAP |
Pixmap (of depth 1) |
XA_RECTANGLE |
|
XA_CARDINAL |
|
XA_STRING |
char * |
XA_COLORMAP |
Colormap |
XA_VISUALID |
|
XA_CURSOR |
Cursor |
XA_WINDOW |
Window |
XA_DRAWABLE |
|
XA_WMHINTS |
|
XA_FONT |
Font |
XA_INTEGER |
int |
XA_WM_SIZE_HINTS |
|
XA_PIXMAP |
Pixmap |
Interclient Communication