X PixMap explained

X PixMap
Screenshot Size:	240px
Extension:	.xpm
Mime:	image/x-xpixmap^[1]
Owner:	BULL Research
Genre:	Image file formats
Extendedfrom:	XBM
Open:	yes

X PixMap (XPM) is an image file format used by the X Window System, created in 1989 by Daniel Dardailler and Colas Nahaboo working at Bull Research Center at Sophia Antipolis, France, and later enhanced by Arnaud Le Hors.^{[2] [3]}

It is intended primarily for creating icon pixmaps, and supports transparent pixels. Derived from the earlier XBM syntax, it is a plain text file in the XPM2 format or of a C programming language syntax, which can be included in a C program file.

History

XPM1

The first (1989) XPM format is relatively similar to the XBM format. Compared to XBM, it uses additional macro definitions and variables for indexed colors, and replaces bits with characters for describing the image. The following is a black-and-white image in the 1989 XPM format.

1. define XFACE_format 1
2. define XFACE_width 48
3. define XFACE_height 48
4. define XFACE_ncolors 2
5. define XFACE_chars_per_pixel 1

static char *XFACE_colors[] = ;static char *XFACE_pixels[] =

Notes and References

1. .xpm MIME type not registered at IANA
2. Book: Le Hors . Arnaud . XPM Manual: The X PixMap Format . 2014-01-01 . 1996-02-01 . . 7–8 . CITEREFLeHors1996 .
3. Web site: The XPM Story . https://web.archive.org/web/19970607024723/http://www.w3.org/People/danield/xpm_story.html . dead . 1997-06-07 . Daniel Dardailler. Colas Nahaboo and Arnaud Le Hors . 1996-07-15. 2014-01-01 .