Setting Up An X Environment For Using With Emacspeak, ChromeVox and StumpWM

[raman@xxxxxxxxxxx]

Published at 
http://tvraman.github.io/emacspeak/blog/x-environment-setup.html

* Executive Summary

This is a follow-up to [[./stumpwm-setup.html][the article on my Window Manager  set-up]]
and details the setup of my X environment. This setup is specifically geared around the following use-cases:

  1. Emacspeak running in a window to provide a local audio desktop.
  2. ChromeVox running in a second window to provide access to JS-powered WebApps. Note  that for the content-oriented Web, I  use Emacs' built-in EWW browser.
  3. SSH running in an XTerm to my remote Linux desktop  in a third window. The remote desktop runs Emacspeak and produces  auditory feedback through a local speech server.

The setup described below is implemented via my personal =.XResources=
file --- that file along with my =.xsession= file that loads it are
both checked into the GitHub repo under =emacspeak/stumpwm= along with any needed helper files.

The remaining sections give a brief descriptive overview of the
=.XResources= and =.xsession= files as they exist  at the time of
writing.


* Resulting Functionality: What This Gives  Us

  1. You can cut-and-paste between the local Chrome and local Emacspeak using standard clipboard copy/paste commands. Make sure Emacs is set up to use the clipboard, and not the primary X selection.
  2. Output displayed in the Xterm, e.g., by the remote Emacspeak session, can be brought into the local Emacspeak session by hitting =PrintEverything= bound to =Ctrl-Return= in the XTerm window.
  3. Contents of  the local clipboard, i.e. Chrome, Emacspeak etc., can be pasted into the remote Emacspeak  running in the XTerm using key =Ctrl-Shift-Space=.


* Initializing X Session Via File =.xsession=

: #!/bin/sh
: #Caps Lock is Control
: setxkbmap -option ctrl:nocaps       
: #load in XResources to customize X environment 
: xrdb -merge $HOME/.Xresources &
: #Display locks after  30 minutes of inactivity
: xautolock -detectsleep -time 30  -locker  "$HOME/bin/xlock" & 
: # Launch Emacs 
: emacs  -title Emacs &
: # XTerm for SSH to remote desktop
: xterm  -title Retriever &
: # StumpWM Setup: Use SBCL 
: export LISP=sbcl
: # Export our  X auth environment 
: ${HOME}/bin/export_x_info &
: # Launch StumpWM
: exec  /usr/local/bin/stumpwm

* Customizing X Environment Via File =.XResources=


: ! Setup Emacs Visual Look And Feel
: Emacs*font:	-adobe-Utopia-normal-normal-normal-*-*-*-*-*-*-0-iso10646-1
: Emacs.FontBackend:	xft,x
: Emacs.menuBar:	off
: Emacs.toolBar:	off
: Emacs.verticalScrollBars:	off
:! Setup XTerm Look And Feel:

: XTerm*Background:	black
: XTerm*Foreground:	white
: ! Setup XTerm key-bindings to match Emacspeak
: XTerm*VT100.translations:	#override \n\
 : Ctrl <Key>semicolon: string(0x18) string("@h") \n\
 : Ctrl <Key>comma: string(0x18) string("@a") \n\
 : Ctrl <Key>period: string(0x18) string("@s") \n\
 : Ctrl <Key>apostrophe: string(0x18) string("@s") \n\
 : Shift <Key>Return: string(0x18) string("@s") string(0x0d)\n\
 : Ctrl <Key>Return: print-everything()\n\
 : Ctrl Shift <Key>space:    insert-selection(CLIPBOARD) 
:! Configure rest of XTerm 
: XTerm*eightBitInput:	false
: XTerm*faceName:	xft:Inconsolata:pixelsize=14
: XTerm*metaSendsEscape:	true

: ! emacs-pipe.pl is under emacspeak/etc in the Emacspeak Git Repository
: ! This helps us view XTerm output in a buffer in the locally running Emacspeak

: XTerm.*.printerCommand:     /usr/local/bin/emacs-pipe.pl
: XTerm.*.printAttributes: 0

: !X Font environment
: Xft*antialias:	true
: Xft*dpi:	96
: Xft*hinting:	true
: Xft*hintstyle:	hintfull
: Xft*rgba:	rgb

#+OPTIONS: ':nil *:t -:t ::t <:t H:3 \n:nil ^:t arch:headline
#+OPTIONS: author:t c:nil creator:nil d:(not "LOGBOOK") date:t e:t
#+OPTIONS: email:nil f:t inline:t num:t p:nil pri:nil prop:nil stat:t
#+OPTIONS: tags:t tasks:t tex:t timestamp:t title:t toc:nil todo:t |:t
#+TITLE:Setting Up An X Environment For Using With Emacspeak, ChromeVox and StumpWM
#+DATE: <2015-09-21 Mon>
#+AUTHOR: raman
#+EMAIL: raman@xxxxxxxxxxx
#+LANGUAGE: en
#+SELECT_TAGS: export
#+EXCLUDE_TAGS: noexport
#+CREATOR: Emacs 25.0.50.1 (Org mode 8.3.1)

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