XSelectInput(3)

XSelectInput3

Select input events

Usage

int XSelectInput(Display *display, Window w, long event_mask);

Arguments

display

Specifies the connection to the X server.

event_mask

Specifies the event mask.

w

Specifies the window whose events you are interested in.

Overview

The XSelectInput function requests that the X server report the events associated with the specified event mask. Initially, X will not report any of these events. Events are reported relative to a window. If a window is not interested in a device event, it usually propagates to the closest ancestor that is interested, unless the do_not_propagate mask prohibits it.

Setting the event-mask attribute of a window overrides any previous call for the same window but not for other clients. Multiple clients can select for the same events on the same window with the following restrictions:

•

Multiple clients can select events on the same window because their event masks are disjoint. When the X server generates an event, it reports it to all interested clients.

•

Only one client at a time can select CirculateRequest, ConfigureRequest, or MapRequest events, which are associated with the event mask SubstructureRedirectMask.

•

Only one client at a time can select a ResizeRequest event, which is associated with the event mask ResizeRedirectMask.

•

Only one client at a time can select a ButtonPress event, which is associated with the event mask ButtonPressMask.

The server reports the event to all interested clients.

XSelectInput 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

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