code: def intern_atom(self, name, only_if_exists = 0):
          
          r = request.InternAtom(display = self.display,
                                 name = name,
                                 only_if_exists = only_if_exists)
          return r.atom
docs: Intern the string name, returning its atom number. If
          only_if_exists is true and the atom does not already exist, it
          will not be created and X.NONE is returned.