.xinitrc file

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The xinit command uses a customizable shell script file that lists the X Client programs to start. The .xinitrc file in your home directory controls the windows and applications that start when you start AIXwindows.

The xinit command works with shell scripts in the following order:
  1. The xinit command first looks for the $XINITRC environment variable to start AIXwindows.
  2. If the $XINITRC environment variable is not found, the xinit command looks for the $HOME/.xinitrc shell script.
  3. If the $HOME/.xinitrc shell script is not found, the xinit command starts the /usr/lib/X11/$LANG/xinitrc shell script.
  4. If /usr/lib/X11/$LANG/xinitrc is not found, it looks for the /usr/lpp/X11/defaults /$LANG/xinitrc shell script. If that script is not found, it searches for the /usr/lpp/X11/defaults/xinitrc shell script.
  5. The xinitrc shell script starts commands, such as the mwm (AIXwindows Window Manager), aixterm, and xclock commands.

The xinit command performs the following operations:

  • Starts an X Server on the current display
  • Sets up the $DISPLAY environment variable
  • Runs the xinitrc file to start the X Client programs

The following example shows the part of the xinitrc file you can customize:

# This script is invoked by /usr/lpp/X11/bin/xinit
  
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#***************************************************************
#  Start the X clients. Change the following lines to         *
#  whatever command(s) you desire!                          *
#  The default clients are an analog clock (xclock), an lft  *
#  terminal emulator (aixterm), and the Motif Window  Manager  *
#  (mwm).  *
#****************************************************************
exec mwm