XCB:

Xlib/XCB provides application binary interface compatibility with both Xlib and XCB, providing an incremental porting path. Xlib/XCB uses the protocol layer of Xlib, but replaces the Xlib transport layer with XCB, and provides access to the underlying XCB connection for direct use of XCB.

Aims

Secondary aims include making the C interface asynchronous, facilitating better multithreading and making extensions easier to implement (via XML protocol descriptions).

The core and extension protocol descriptions are in XML, with the C bindings created via a Python script. (Previous versions used XSLT and M4.) A tertiary aim is to repurpose these protocol descriptions for the creation of protocol documentation, further language bindings, and server-side stubs.

Massey and others have worked to prove key portions of XCB formally correct, using Z notation.^[2] (Xlib has long been known to contain errors.^[3])

Example

/* Simple XCB application drawing a box in a window */
 
#include <xcb/xcb.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
 
int main()
{
  xcb_connection_t    *c;
  xcb_screen_t        *s;
  xcb_window_t         w;
  xcb_gcontext_t       g;
  xcb_generic_event_t *e;
  uint32_t             mask;
  uint32_t             values[2];
  int                  done = 0;
  xcb_rectangle_t      r = { 20, 20, 60, 60 };
 
                        /* open connection with the server */
  c = xcb_connect(NULL,NULL);
  if (xcb_connection_has_error(c)) {
    printf("Cannot open display\n");
    exit(1);
  }
                        /* get the first screen */
  s = xcb_setup_roots_iterator( xcb_get_setup(c) ).data;
 
                       /* create black graphics context */
  g = xcb_generate_id(c);
  w = s->root;
  mask = XCB_GC_FOREGROUND | XCB_GC_GRAPHICS_EXPOSURES;
  values[0] = s->black_pixel;
  values[1] = 0;
  xcb_create_gc(c, g, w, mask, values);
 
                       /* create window */
  w = xcb_generate_id(c);
  mask = XCB_CW_BACK_PIXEL | XCB_CW_EVENT_MASK;
  values[0] = s->white_pixel;
  values[1] = XCB_EVENT_MASK_EXPOSURE | XCB_EVENT_MASK_KEY_PRESS;
  xcb_create_window(c, s->root_depth, w, s->root,
                    10, 10, 100, 100, 1,
                    XCB_WINDOW_CLASS_INPUT_OUTPUT, s->root_visual,
                    mask, values);
 
                        /* map (show) the window */
  xcb_map_window(c, w);
 
  xcb_flush(c);
 
                        /* event loop */
  while (!done && (e = xcb_wait_for_event(c))) {
    switch (e->response_type & ~0x80) {
    case XCB_EXPOSE:    /* draw or redraw the window */
      xcb_poly_fill_rectangle(c, w, g,  1, &r);
      xcb_flush(c);
      break;
    case XCB_KEY_PRESS:  /* exit on key press */
      done = 1;
      break;
    }
    free(e);
  }
                        /* close connection to server */
  xcb_disconnect(c);
 
  return 0;
}

XCB has a comparable, but slightly lower-level API than Xlib, as can be seen with this example.

XCB

Contents

Aims

Example

Notes

References

External links