Send Desktop

When an application is started by ttsession to handle some ToolTalk request, it is a child of ttsession rather than of the request sender. The application will usually be started on the same X display session as the sender, but not necessarily on the same X11 screen or in the same current directory context. If the application is implemented as a server process, it may already be displaying on a particular screen or in a particular directory context.

Using desktop requests, a handling application can inherit from the sender attributes that might otherwise be inherited through command-line invocation. Use the desktop message set in this way to reset the handler's locale, current working directory, and even $DISPLAY. This enables a carefully coded receiving application to come up on the same X11 screen as the sender. A request handler can also find out the request sender's current directory and window geometry. Knowing the window geometry enables the request handler's window to avoid obscuring the request sender's window, if possible. For more information, see the ttdt_sender_imprint_on() man page.