XQueryTree(3)

XQueryTree3

Query window tree information

Usage

Status XQueryTree(Display *display, Window w, Window *root_return, Window *parent_return, Window **children_return, unsigned int *nchildren_return);

Arguments

children_return

Returns the list of children.

display

Specifies the connection to the X server.

nchildren_return

Returns the number of children.

parent_return

Returns the parent window.

root_return

Returns the root window.

w

Specifies the window whose list of children, root, parent, and number of children you want to obtain.

Overview

The XQueryTree function returns the root ID, the parent window ID, a pointer to the list of children windows (NULL when there are no children), and the number of children in the list for the specified window. The children are listed in current stacking order, from bottom-most (first) to top-most (last). XQueryTree returns zero if it fails and nonzero if it succeeds. To free a non-NULL children list when it is no longer needed, use XFree.

XQueryTree can generate a BadWindow error.

Diagnostics

BadWindow

A value for a Window argument does not name a defined Window.

Releases

11 releases since Debian 4.0 (Etch); the text changed 10 times.

  1. 4.0
  2. 5.0
  3. 6.0
  4. 7
  5. 8
  6. 9
  7. 10
  8. 11
  9. 12
  10. 13
  11. Arch

Bugs

This really should return a screen *, not a root window ID.

From libx11 1.8.14-1 in Arch Linux 2026-11-01. Parsed by carta from the page's man source.