Defining Bitmaps and Pixmaps

Off screen memory (a pixmap) is often used to define images for later use in graphics operations. Pixmaps are also used to define tiles, or patterns, for use as window backgrounds, borders, or cursors. A single bit plane pixmap is sometimes referred to as a bitmap.

To create a Pixmap, use

Pixmap XCreatePixmap(display,d,width,height,depth)
   unsigned int width, height, depth;

To read a bitmap from a file (created by the bitmap program, perhaps), use

int XReadBitmapFile(display,d,filename,width,height,bitmap,x_hot,y_hot)
     /* possible return values are BitmapOpenFailed, BitmapFileInvalid 
                                   BitmapNoMemory, BitmapSuccess */
   int *width, *height;    /*RETURN*/
   Pixmap *bitmap;         /*RETURN*/
   int *x_hot,*y_hot;       /*RETURN*/

To write a bitmap to a file, use

int XWriteBitmapFile(display,filename,bitmap,width,height,x_hot,y_hot)
     /* possible return values are BitmapOpenFailed, BitmapNoMemory 
                                   BitmapSuccess */
   int width, height;
   Pixmap bitmap;
   int x_hot,y_hot;

If you #include a bitmap file in your program you can use

Pixmap XCreateBitmapFromData(display,d,data,width,height)
   char *data

Pixmaps consume a lot of memory. Use

XFreePixmap(display,pixmap)

as soon as possible to release memory.