Specifying the scope explicitly

For icon_rules clauses, you specify the scope of the rule explicitly by providing a specification that matches the files or directories in which you are interested.

The format of the icon_rules clause is:

   icon_rules
   {
      pattern [/class]
      {
         clauses applying to specified files
      }
   }

The specification consists of two parts:

• a pattern, which specifies the names of files or directories to which you want the rules to apply, using wildcards to select groups of files

• an optional class, which allows you to filter out certain categories of file on the basis of the ownership permissions, or the type of file

See also:

• ``Patterns''

• ``Classes''

Patterns

Patterns look like filenames or pathnames, but can contain certain special characters or wildcards. There must be at least one space or newline before specifying a class.

The basename of a pattern can include the following wildcard characters:

?

any single character. For example, a?c includes the files aac, abc and so forth, but not the file abbc.

*

any sequence of characters, including none. For example, a*c includes the files ac, abc, acbc and so forth.

[chars]

any one of the specified set of characters. For example, [abc]d includes the files ad, bd and cd but no others.

[!chars]

none of the specified characters. For example, [!a]bc includes bbc, cbc and so forth, but not abc.

See also:

• ``Relative patterns''

• ``Absolute patterns''

• ``Rule file precedence''

• basename in the deskcommands(XC) manual page

Relative patterns

If the pattern does not begin with a ``/'', it is a ``relative pattern'', which can match files anywhere in the system. The pattern cannot include ``/''.

Rules following relative patterns in a local rule file apply to files in the directory that match the pattern. Rules following relative patterns in all other rule files apply to all files whose basenames match the pattern.

Absolute patterns

If the pattern begins with a ``/'', it is an ``absolute pattern'', which only matches files in a specific directory.

Absolute patterns cannot occur in local rule files. Wildcards can only be included after the last ``/'' in an absolute pattern.

Rules following absolute patterns apply to files in the directory given by the pattern up to the last ``/'', and whose basename matches the part after the last ``/''. These rules take precedence over those following relative patterns in any rule file.

Classes

Classes are used to represent the properties of files in a concise form. These properties fall into the following six sets:

• file type

• execute permissions

• read/write permissions

• ownership

• symbolic

• variation class

   FXWM-0

The classes restrict the group of files affected by the subsequent clauses, and so omitting a specifier from one set of options will match all the alternatives.

The following examples show some of the most useful class specifications:

none

everything

D

directories

F

files

FE

executable files

FX

files executable by the user

FN

data files

FNW

data files that the user can alter

FNR

data files that the user can read

See also:

• fileclass in the deskcommands(XC) manual page for details on the different class characters, and how to read the class of a file