Using MacX to turn your Macintosh into an X-Terminal

By Steve Ledzian dcs-mac-support@cs.rutgers.edu Created Jan 24, 95

What is MacX?

MacX, is communications software that will allow your Macintosh to behave as an X-Terminal. This interface goes beyond the "text only" limitation that Telnet has and gives support to programs that were made for XWindows.

Where is MacX?

You can find MacX in the MacX 1.2 folder in the Public Utils folder on the Local Course Support Volume on every DCS Macintosh. Double Click on RU.sample.X.set to run it. This will load the Rutgers configuration into MacX and will save you the trouble of having to configure it yourself.

Connecting

Connecting to your account via MacX is simple, all of the configurations have been pre-entered for you and are stored in a file called: RU.sample.X.set. This file can be found in the same folder that MacX is in. When you open this file all of the configurations will be loaded. To open a connection to a host server go to the remote file menu and choose one of the options. You will be prompted for your username and your password. Below 0.remus.xterm is chosen.

The Configurations are broken into 3 parts. Number.Hostname.command The Hostname should be the name of the host you wish to make a connection to. If the Command is xterm you will be using the Macintosh's windows. If the command is .twm you will be using twm as a window manager. The Number can range from 0-3 and its meaning is shown below.

0	Black & White Rootless
1	Black & White Rooted
2	Color Rootless
3	Color Rooted

The difference between a Rooted and Rootless connection will be described below. If you are not sure what to use we suggest that you always select a color Rootless connection.

Using MacX

If you have entered your username and password correctly an iconified window will appear on the screen, double click on it.

When you double click on this icon, you will see the familiar terminal window.

Using the Root Window

Sometimes it useful to have the "root" (the equivalent of the Macintosh's Desktop) in a window. This option its called Show Color Root Window and can be found in the Window Menu. With the root window you can use your favorite X window manager, as well as run some XWindows programs that run on the root rather than in any window at all. Without the root window you will have the standard Macintosh windows.

Quitting MacX

To quit MacX close all of your connections by issuing a logout command, then choose Quit from the File Menu.

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