An opaque type representing a string as an index into a table of strings on the X server.

An atom is a numeric index represented as a pointer into a string table on the X server. They are used to transfer strings efficiently between clients without having to transfer the entire string.

Use the function gdk-atom-intern to get the pointer for a string representing an atom and the function gdk-atom-name to get the string for an atom.

(gdk-atom-intern "CLIPBOARD") => #.(SB-SYS:INT-SAP #X00000045)
(gdk-atom-name (make-pointer #x45)) => "CLIPBOARD"