How to use the chapters in this book

Most of the chapters in this book describe how to perform a general task, such as changing colors, or creating new window manager menus. Other chapters are more reference-oriented, providing overviews of how to use major configuration components of the Graphical Environment, such as X resources and Desktop rules.

In general, the task-oriented chapters consist of several sections:

• Background information, such as important concepts and terms, is presented first.

• The next sections cover the procedures that relate to performing the task covered by the chapter. (In many cases, not all of the procedures covered in a chapter are necessary to perform a task.) For example, the chapter that covers the task of changing fonts includes several related procedures, including how to preview available fonts on your system, how to create font aliases, and how to implement a font resource specification for a client.

  The procedure sections are designed to accommodate both new and experienced users. Each procedure begins with a list of steps that provides the essential information for completing the procedure. Following the list of steps are several subsections, one for each step required by the procedure. These subsections provide details on performing the steps, including explanations of command or file syntax. If you are unclear about the goal or desired outcome of performing a particular step, refer to that step's subsection for more information.

• Finally, most chapters provide an example section. These examples describe realistic scenarios and tie together many of the concepts and procedures described throughout the chapter.