ref: ccd7f9f1597e56d121e1d05cf6af86f688ef2c48
dir: /man/8/plumber/
.TH PLUMBER 8 .SH NAME plumber \- plumber for interapplication message routing .SH SYNOPSIS .B plumber [ .B -v ] [ .B -w ] [ .BI -c " wmchan" ] [ .I rulefile \&... ] .SH DESCRIPTION .I Plumber provides high-level message-passing between applications. In a plumbed environment, applications can receive messages on an input port, which is given a logical name. Messages are not sent directly between applications but are routed via the plumber, following user-specified rules. .PP .I Plumber is typically started by .IR wm (1)'s startup script. It reads each .I rulefile (default: .BI /usr/ user /lib/plumbing ) in turn. Each file has the form described in .IR plumbing (6); the rules direct the routing of each message .I plumber receives. .I Plumber then lurks in the background with its mate, awaiting plumbing requests sent by .IR plumbmsg (2), by windowing applications in response to events such as button clicks or drag-and-drop, or by .IR plumb (1). .PP When a message arrives, .I plumber applies the rules to decide how to route it. It forwards the message to the selected application's input port, starting it if necessary. If no rule applies (or some other error occurs), .I plumber returns an error to the message's sender. The .B -v option causes .I plumber to log the contents of messages it receives, to help debug plumbing rules and applications. .PP .I Plumber normally starts applications directly. For use on devices that have specialised window managers, not .IR wm (1), the .B -w option causes .I plumber to start applications indirectly, by sending a message to a window manager listening on .BR /chan/wm , allowing the window manager to track every application started. The .B -c option can select an alternative .I wmchan to .BR /chan/wm . .SH FILES .TF /usr/user/lib/plumbing .TP .BI /usr/ user /lib/plumbing default plumbing rules for .I user .SH SOURCE .B /appl/cmd/plumber.b .br .B /appl/lib/plumbing.b .SH SEE ALSO .IR plumb (1), .IR wm (1), .IR plumbmsg (2), .IR plumbing (6)