WINDOWPATH environment variable?

[Samuel Thibault]

Hi,

We are building a framework for braille accessibility and have an issue
about knowing where applications run.

For instance, say I have a running :0 X server on VT7 of my linux box.
I also have a :1 Xnest server running in some window 31457308 of the :0
X server.  Some xterm is running in some window 2097171 of the :1 Xnest
server.  And some applications are running in the xterm (possibly through
ssh).
We'd need these applications to be able to determine where they live
logically, i.e. here to know the `path' 7 31457308 2097171.  The very
last part (2097171) can be obtained through the WINDOWID environment
variable that gets set by all xterms I know.  But the leading part can't
be known.

What we propose is to define at X session startup a WINDOWPATH
environment variable (whatever the name, we can discuss about it)
which would here contain "7" at :0 X server startup.  Applications
running in the session would inherit it, including the :1 Xnest server
startup script, which would just append the window ID that Xnest got,
and hence redefine WINDOWPATH to "7:31457308".  Applications running
in the :1 Xnest session would then inherit it, including xterms and
text applications running in it.  Applications (even through ssh
thanks to appropriate environment propagation) would then be able, by
concatenating WINDOWPATH and WINDOWID, to know precisely where it lives.

What do people think about this?

Regards,
Samuel