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XScreenSaver !!!XScreenSaver NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION OPTIONS DIAGNOSTICS ENVIRONMENT UPGRADES SEE ALSO COPYRIGHT AUTHOR ---- !!NAME xscreensaver-command - control a running xscreensaver process !!SYNOPSIS __xscreensaver-command__ [[-display ''host:display.screen''] [[-help] [[-demo] [[-prefs] [[-activate] [[-deactivate] [[-cycle] [[-next] [[-prev] [[-select ''n''] [[-exit] [[-restart] [[-lock] [[-throttle] [[-unthrottle] [[-version] [[-time] [[-watch] !!DESCRIPTION The ''xscreensaver-command'' program controls a running ''xscreensaver'' process by sending it client-messages. xscreensaver(1) has a client-server model: the xscreensaver process is a daemon that runs in the background; it is controlled by other foreground programs such as ''xscreensaver-command'' and xscreensaver-demo(1). This program, ''xscreensaver-command'', is a command-line-oriented tool; the xscreensaver-demo(1). program is a graphical tool. !!OPTIONS ''xscreensaver-command'' accepts the following command-line options: __-help__ Prints a brief summary of command-line options. __-demo__ This just launches the xscreensaver-demo(1) program, in which one can experiment with the various graphics hacks available, and edit parameters. __-demo__ ''number'' When the ''-demo'' option is followed by an integer, it instructs the ''xscreensaver'' daemon to run that hack, and wait for the user to click the mouse before deactivating (i.e., mouse motion does not deactivate.) This is the mechanism by which xscreensaver-demo(1) communicates with the xscreensaver(1) daemon. (The first hack in the list is numbered 1, not 0.) __-prefs__ Like the no-argument form of ''-demo'', but brings up that program's Preferences panel by default. __-activate__ Tell xscreensaver to turn on immediately (that is, blank the screen, as if the user had been idle for long enough.) The screensaver will deactivate as soon as there is any user activity, as usual. It is useful to run this from a menu; you may wish to run it as sleep 5 ; xscreensaver-command -activate to be sure that you have time to take your hand off the mouse before the screensaver comes on. (Because if you jiggle the mouse, xscreensaver will notice, and deactivate.) __-deactivate__ If the screensaver is active (the screen is blanked), this command will deactivate it just as if there had been keyboard or mouse activity. If locking is enabled, then the screensaver will prompt for a password as usual. __-cycle__ If the screensaver is active (the screen is blanked), then stop the current graphics demo and run a new one (chosen randomly.) __-next__ This is like either ''-activate'' or ''-cycle'', depending on which is more appropriate, except that the graphics hack that will be run is the next one in the list, instead of a randomly-chosen one. In other words, repeatedly executing -next will cause the xscreensaver process to invoke each graphics demo sequentially. (Though using the ''-demo'' option is probably an easier way to accomplish that.) __-prev__ This is like ''-next'', but cycles in the other direction. __-select__ ''number'' Like ''-activate'', but runs the ''N''th element in the list of hacks. By knowing what is in the ''programs'' list, and in what order, you can use this to activate the screensaver with a particular graphics demo. (The first element in the list is numbered 1, not 0.) __-exit__ Causes the xscreensaver process to exit gracefully. This is roughly the same as killing the process with kill(1), but it is easier, since you don't need to first figure out the pid. __Warning:__ never use ''kill -9'' with ''xscreensaver'' while the screensaver is active. If you are using a virtual root window manager, that can leave things in an inconsistent state, and you may need to restart your window manager to repair the damage. __-lock__ Tells the running xscreensaver process to lock the screen immediately. This is like ''-activate'', but forces locking as well, even if locking is not the default (that is, even if xscreensaver's ''lock'' resource is false, and even if the ''lockTimeout'' resource is non-zero.) Note that locking doesn't work unless the ''xscreensaver'' process is running as you. See xscreensaver(1) for details. __-throttle__ Temporarily switch to ``blank screen'' mode, and don't run any display modes at all, until the screensaver is next de-activated. This is useful if you're using a machine remotely, and you find that some display modes are using too much CPU. (If you want to do this ''permanently'', that is, you want the screen saver to only blank the screen and not run demos at all, then set the ''programs'' resource to an empty list: See xscreensaver(1) for details.) __-unthrottle__ Turn `-throttle' mode off and resume normal behavior. __-version__ Prints the version of xscreensaver that is currently running on the display: that is, the actual version number of the running xscreensaver background process, rather than the version number of xscreensaver-command. (To see the version number of ''xscreensaver-command'' itself, use the ''-help'' option.) __-time__ Prints the time at which the screensaver last activated or deactivated (roughly, how long the user has been idle or non-idle: but not quite, since it only tells you when the screen became blanked or un-blanked.) __-restart__ Causes the screensaver process to exit and then restart with the same command line arguments as last time. Do this after you've changed the resource database, to cause xscreensaver to notice the changes. __Warning:__ if you have a ''.xscreensaver'' file, this might not do what you expect. You're probably better off killing the existing xscreensaver (with ''xscreensaver-command -exit'') and then launching it again. The important point is, you need to make sure that the xscreensaver process is running as you. If it's not, it won't be reading the right ''.xscreensaver'' file. __-watch__ Prints a line each time the screensaver changes state: when the screen blanks, locks, unblanks, or when the running hack is changed. This option never returns; it is intended for use by shell scripts that want to react to the screensaver in some way. An example of its output would be: BLANK Fri Nov 5 01:57:22 1999 RUN 34 RUN 79 RUN 16 LOCK Fri Nov 5 01:57:22 1999 RUN 76 RUN 12 UNBLANK Fri Nov 5 02:05:59 1999 The above shows the screensaver activating, running three different hacks, then locking (perhaps because the lock-timeout went off) then unblanking (because the user became active, and typed the correct password.) The hack numbers are their index in the `programs' list (starting with 1, not 0, as for the ''-select'' command.) For example, suppose you want to run a program that turns down the volume on your machine when the screen blanks, and turns it back up when the screen un-blanks. You could do that by running a Perl program like the following in the background. The following program tracks the output of the ''-watch'' command and reacts accordingly: #!/usr/bin/perl my $blanked = 0; open (IN, Note that LOCK might come either with or without a preceeding BLANK (depending on whether the lock-timeout is non-zero), so the above program keeps track of both of them. !!DIAGNOSTICS If an error occurs while communicating with the ''xscreensaver'' daemon, or if the daemon reports an error, a diagnostic message will be printed to stderr, and ''xscreensaver-command'' will exit with a non-zero value. If the command is accepted, an indication of this will be printed to stdout, and the exit value will be zero. !!ENVIRONMENT __DISPLAY__ to get the host and display number of the screen whose saver is to be manipulated. __PATH__ to find the executable to restart (for the ''-restart'' command). Note that this variable is consulted in the environment of the ''xscreensaver'' process, not the ''xscreensaver-command'' process. !!UPGRADES The latest version of xscreensaver(1) and related tools can always be found at http://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/ !!SEE ALSO X(1), xscreensaver(1) xscreensaver-demo(1) !!COPYRIGHT Copyright 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 by Jamie Zawinski. Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. No representations are made about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided !!AUTHOR Jamie Zawinski Please let me know if you find any bugs or make any improvements. ----
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xscreensaver-command(1)
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xscreensaver(1)
xscreensaver-demo(1)
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critical(1)
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