Creating Icons for the Desktop
Desktop icons are associated with:
Action files and data types in File Manager and Application Manager
Front Panel controls
Minimized application windows
Graphics used by applications such as palettes and toolbars
Workspace backdrop
Note - The development environment documentation contains additional information about desktop icons. See Chapter 4, "Visual Design," in theCommon Desktop Environment: Style Guide and Certification Checklist.
Icon Image Files
For the desktop to use an icon image, the icon image file must:
Be in the proper format.
Use the proper file-naming conventions.
Use the desktop size conventions.
Be located in a directory along the icon search path.
Be called by the desktop construct using the proper syntax. For example, if you create a new control for the Front Panel, use the ICON field in the Front Panel definition to specify the icon image to use for the control.
Icon File Formats
For a color display, use X pixmap (XPM) format icon files, which typically have a.pm suffix. Otherwise, use X bitmap (XBM) format files, which typically have a .bm suffix. If transparency is used in the pixmap file, a mask file (_m.bm) is generated when the .bm file is created. See "Icon Search Path" for more information about how the desktop finds these files.
Icon File Names
Each icon and backdrop image is stored as a separate file. Typically, an icon is specified with the base part of its file name. For example, an icon might be referenced with the name mail when the file is actually stored as:
/usr/dt/appconfig/icons/language/mail.l.pm |
The file-naming convention of adding suffixes helps group icons by size and type. Icon names for desktop components are in these general formats:
basename.size.format
Or
basename.format
where:
basename--the image base name used to reference the image
size--a letter indicating the size: l (large) m (medium) s (small) t (tiny)
format--file format: pm (pixmap) bm (bitmap)
Icon Size Conventions
Table 14-1shows the recommended pixel dimensions for desktop icons.
Table 14-1 Icon Sizes and File Names
Icon Size | Bitmap Name | Pixmap Name |
|---|---|---|
16 by 16 (tiny) | name.t.bm | name.t.pm |
24 by 24 (small) | name.s.bm | name.s.pm |
32 by 32 (medium) | name.m.bm | name.m.pm |
48 by 48 (large) | name.l.bm | name.l.pm |
Table 14-2 shows the icon sizes used by the desktop components. In some cases, the size of the icon used depends on the display resolution.
Table 14-2 Desktop Components and Their Icon Sizes
Desktop Component | High Resolution | Medium Resolution | Low Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|
File Manager and Application Manager (View by Name and Icon) | medium | medium | medium |
File Manager and Application Manager (View by Name and Small Icon) | tiny | tiny | tiny |
Main Front Panel controls | large | large | medium |
Front Panel subpanels | medium | medium | tiny |
Front Panel switch controls | small | small | tiny |
Minimized windows | large | large | medium |
For example, if you specify an icon named mail for a data type, have a color display, and have set the File Manager preferences to small icons, the icon image used is mail.t.pm.
Icon Search Path
The desktop finds an icon file, or image, by searching for the file in a list of directories. This list of directories, called the icon search path, is determined by the value of several environment variables. Which variables are used and how they are put together to create the icon search path are discussed in "Icon Search Path".
The default search path is:
Built-in icons: /usr/dt/appconfig/icons/language
System-wide icons: /etc/dt/appconfig/icons/language
Personal icons: HomeDirectory/.dt/icons