DOKK / manpages / debian 10 / x11-apps / xclipboard.1.en
XCLIPBOARD(1) General Commands Manual XCLIPBOARD(1)

xclipboard - X clipboard client

xclipboard [ -toolkitoption ... ] [ -w ] [ -nw ]

The xclipboard program is used to collect and display text selections that are sent to the CLIPBOARD by other clients. It is typically used to save CLIPBOARD selections for later use. It stores each CLIPBOARD selection as a separate string, each of which can be selected. Each time CLIPBOARD is asserted by another application, xclipboard transfers the contents of that selection to a new buffer and displays it in the text window. Buffers are never automatically deleted, so you'll want to use the delete button to get rid of useless items.

Since xclipboard uses a Text Widget to display the contents of the clipboard, text sent to the CLIPBOARD may be re-selected for use in other applications. xclipboard also responds to requests for the CLIPBOARD selection from other clients by sending the entire contents of the currently displayed buffer.

An xclipboard window has the following buttons across the top:

When this button is pressed, xclipboard exits.
When this button is pressed, the current buffer is deleted and the next one displayed.
Creates a new buffer with no contents. Useful in constructing a new CLIPBOARD selection by hand.
Displays a File Save dialog box. Pressing the Accept button saves the currently displayed buffer to the file specified in the text field.
Displays the next buffer in the list.
Displays the previous buffer.

The xclipboard program accepts all of the standard X Toolkit command line options as well as the following:

This option indicates that lines of text that are too long to be displayed on one line in the clipboard should wrap around to the following lines.
This option indicates that long lines of text should not wrap around. This is the default behavior.

In order to specify resources, it is useful to know the hierarchy of the widgets which compose xclipboard. In the notation below, indentation indicates hierarchical structure. The widget class name is given first, followed by the widget instance name.

XClipboard  xclipboard


        Form  form


                Command  Quit


                Command  delete


                Command  new


                Command  Save


                Command  next


                Command  prev


                Label  index


                Text  text


        TransientShell  fileDialogShell


                Dialog  fileDialog


                        Label  label


                        Command  accept


                        Command  cancel


                        Text value


        TransientShell  failDialogShell


                Dialog  failDialog


                        Label  label


                        Command  continue

Text is copied to the clipboard whenever a client asserts ownership of the CLIPBOARD selection. Text is copied from the clipboard whenever a client requests the contents of the CLIPBOARD selection. Examples of event bindings that a user may wish to include in a resource configuration file to use the clipboard are:

*VT100.Translations: #override \


        <Btn3Up>:       select-end(CLIPBOARD) \n\


        <Btn2Up>:       insert-selection(PRIMARY,CLIPBOARD) \n\


        <Btn2Down>:     ignore ()

X(7), xcutsel(1), xterm(1), individual client documentation for how to make a selection and send it to the CLIPBOARD.

to get the default host and display number.
to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.

/etc/X11/app-defaults/XClipboard
specifies required resources

Ralph R. Swick, DEC/MIT Project Athena
Chris D. Peterson, MIT X Consortium
Keith Packard, MIT X Consortium

xclipboard 1.1.3 X Version 11