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1 perry 1 XScreenSaver
2 !!!XScreenSaver
3 NAME
4 SYNOPSIS
5 DESCRIPTION
6 MENU COMMANDS
7 GRAPHICS DEMOS TAB
8 SCREENSAVER OPTIONS TAB
9 COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS
10 ENVIRONMENT
11 UPGRADES
12 SEE ALSO
13 COPYRIGHT
14 AUTHOR
15 ----
16 !!NAME
17
18
19 xscreensaver-demo - interactively control the background xscreensaver daemon
20 !!SYNOPSIS
21
22
23 __xscreensaver-demo__ [[-display
24 ''host:display.screen''] [[-prefs] [[-xrm
25 ''resources'']
26 !!DESCRIPTION
27
28
29 The ''xscreensaver-demo'' program is a graphical
30 front-end for setting the parameters used by the background
31 xscreensaver(1) daemon. It is essentially two things:
32 a tool for editing the ''~/.xscreensaver'' file; and a
33 tool for demoing the various graphics hacks that the
34 ''xscreensaver'' daemon will launch.
35
36
37 The main window consists of a menu bar and two tabbed pages.
38 The first page is for editing the list of demos, and the
39 second is for editing various other parameters of the
40 screensaver.
41 !!MENU COMMANDS
42
43
44 All of these commands are on either the __File__ or
45 __Help__ menus:
46
47
48 __Blank Screen Now__
49
50
51 Activates the background ''xscreensaver'' daemon, which
52 will then run a demo at random. This is the same as running
5 perry 53 xscreensaver-command(1) with the ''-activate''
1 perry 54 option.
55
56
57 __Lock Screen Now__
58
59
60 Just like __Blank Screen Now__, except the screen will be
61 locked as well (even if it is not configured to lock all the
62 time.) This is the same as running
5 perry 63 xscreensaver-command(1) with the ''-lock''
1 perry 64 option.
65
66
67 __Kill Daemon__
68
69
70 If the xscreensaver daemon is running on this screen, kill
71 it. This is the same as running
5 perry 72 xscreensaver-command(1) with the ''-exit''
1 perry 73 option.
74
75
76 __Restart Daemon__
77
78
79 If the xscreensaver daemon is running on this screen, kill
80 it. Then launch it again. This is the same as doing
81 ``''xscreensaver-command -exit'''' followed by
82 ``''xscreensaver''''.
83
84
85 Note that it is ''not'' the same as doing
86 ``''xscreensaver-command -restart''''.
87
88
89 __Exit__
90
91
92 Exits the ''xscreensaver-demo'' program (this program)
93 without affecting the background ''xscreensaver'' daemon,
94 if any.
95
96
97 __About...__
98
99
100 Displays the version number of this program,
101 ''xscreensaver-demo''.
102
103
104 __Documentation...__
105
106
107 Opens up a web browser looking at the XScreenSaver web page,
108 where you can find online copies of the
5 perry 109 xscreensaver(1), xscreensaver-demo(1), and
110 xscreensaver-command(1) manuals.
1 perry 111 !!GRAPHICS DEMOS TAB
112
113
114 On the left is a list of the names of the various display
115 modes, and on the right are some fields that let you edit
116 their behavior.
117
118
119 __Demo List__
120
121
122 Double-clicking in the list on the left will let you try out
123 the indicated demo. The screen will go black, and the
124 program will run in full-screen mode, just as it would if
125 the ''xscreensaver'' daemon had launched it. Clicking the
126 mouse again will stop the demo and un-blank the screen,
127 making the dialog box visible again.
128
129
130 Single-clicking in the list will populate the fields on the
131 right side of the window.
132
133
134 Each name in the list has a checkbox next to it: this is a
135 duplicate of the ''Enabled'' checkbox, and indicates (and
136 controls) whether xscreensaver will use this display mode at
137 all. If the box is not checked, then this demo will not be
138 run automatically (though you can run it explicitly by
139 double-clicking on its name.)
140
141
142 __Arrow Buttons__
143
144
145 Beneath the list are a pair of up and down arrows. Clicking
146 on the down arrow will select the next item in the list, and
147 then run it in full-screen mode, just as if you had
148 double-clicked on it. The up arrow goes the other way. This
149 is just a shortcut for trying out all of the display modes
150 in turn.
151
152
153 __Program Description__
154
155
156 At the top will be a brief description of the program. Below
157 that is a text field where you can edit the arguments to the
158 program as xscreensaver will invoke it. (Note that most of
159 these programs have their own man pages that describe the
160 command-line options they take.)
161
162
163 __Enabled__
164
165
166 The ''Enabled'' checkbox controls whether xscreensaver
167 will use this display mode at all. This way, all the modes
168 can remain available, but you can choose which ones will be
169 automatically run.
170
171
172 __Visual__
173
174
175 The ''Visual'' field is where you can select the X visual
176 type that this demo will require. If you specify one (other
177 than ''Any'') then the program will only be run on that
178 kind of visual. For example, you can specify that a
179 particular program should only be run if color is available,
180 and another should only be run in monochrome. See the
181 discussion of the ''programs'' parameter in the
182 ''Configuration'' section of the xscreensaver(1)
183 manual.
184
185
186 This is a combo-box, so you can either select an item from
187 the popup menu, or type in a specific visual's hexadecimal
188 ID.
189
190
191 __Demo__
192
193
194 This button runs the demo in full-screen mode so that you
195 can try it out. Click the mouse to dismiss it.
196
197
198 __Documentation__
199
200
201 Since each of the display modes is actually a separate
202 program, they each may have their own manual. This opens a
203 window viewing the man page of this program, if it has
204 one.
205 !!SCREENSAVER OPTIONS TAB
206
207
208 This tab lets you change various settings used by the
209 xscreensaver daemon itself, rather than its
210 sub-programs.
211
212
213 __Blank After__
214
215
216 After the user has been idle this long, the
217 ''xscreensaver'' daemon will blank the
218 screen.
219
220
221 __Cycle After__
222
223
224 After the screensaver has been running for this long, the
225 currently running graphics demo will be killed, and a new
226 one started. If this is 0, then the graphics demo will never
227 be changed: only one demo will run until the screensaver is
228 deactivated by user activity.
229
230
231 __Require Password__
232
233
234 Whether the screen saver should lock the screen when it
235 activates.
236
237
238 __Lock After__
239
240
241 If ''Require Password'' is selected, this controls the
242 length of the ``grace period'' between when the screensaver
243 activates, and when the screen becomes locked. For example,
244 if this is 0:05:00, and ''Blank After'' is 0:10:00, then
245 after 10 minutes, the screen would blank. If there was user
246 activity at 12 minutes, no password would be required to
247 un-blank the screen. But, if there was user activity at 15
248 minutes or later (that is, ''Lock After'' minutes after
249 activation) then a password would be required. The default
250 is 0, meaning that if locking is enabled, then a password
251 will be required as soon as the screen blanks.
252
253
254 __Grab Desktop Images__
255
256
257 Some of the graphics hacks manipulate images. If this option
258 is selected, then they are allowed to manipulate the desktop
259 image, that is, a display mode might draw a picture of your
260 desktop melting, or being distorted in some way. The
261 security-paranoid might want to disable this option, because
262 if it is set, it means that the windows on your desktop will
263 occasionally be visible while your screen is locked. Others
264 will not be able to ''do'' anything, but they may be able
265 to ''see'' whatever you left on your screen.
266
267
268 __Grab Video Frames__
269
270
271 If your system has a video capture card, selecting this
272 option will allow the image-manipulating modes to capture a
273 frame of video to operate on.
274
275
276 __Choose Random Image__
277
278
279 If this option is set, then the image-manipulating modes
280 will select a random image file from disk, from the
281 directory you specify in the text entry field. That
282 directory will be recursively searched for files, and it is
283 assumed that all the files under that directory are
284 images.
285
286
287 If more than one of these options are selected, then one
288 will be chosen at random. If none of them are selected, then
289 an image of video colorbars will be used
290 instead.
291
292
293 (All three of these options work by invoking the
5 perry 294 xscreensaver-getimage(1) program, which is what
1 perry 295 actually does the work.)
296
297
298 __Verbose Diagnostics__
299
300
301 Whether to print lots of debugging information.
302
303
304 __Display Subprocess Errors__
305
306
307 If this is set, then if one of the graphics demos prints
308 something to stdout or stderr, it will show up on the screen
309 immediately (instead of being lost in a hidden terminal or
310 file that you can't see.)
311
312
313 If you change this option, it will only take effect the next
314 time the xscreensaver daemon is restarted. (All other
315 settings take effect immediately.)
316
317
318 __Display Splash Screen at Startup__
319
320
321 Normally when xscreensaver starts up, it briefly displays a
322 splash dialog showing the version number, a ''Help''
323 button, etc. If this option is turned off, the splash screen
324 will not be shown at all.
325
326
327 __Power Management Enabled__
328
329
330 Whether the monitor should be powered down after a period of
331 inactivity.
332
333
334 If this option is grayed out, it means your X server does
335 not support the XDPMS extension, and so control over the
336 monitor's power state is not available.
337
338
339 If you're using a laptop, don't be surprised if this has no
340 effect: many laptops have monitor power-saving behavior
341 built in at a very low level that is invisible to Unix and
342 X. On such systems, you can typically only adjust the
343 power-saving delays by changing settings in the BIOS in some
344 hardware-specific way.
345
346
347 __Standby After__
348
349
350 If ''Power Management Enabled'' is selected, the monitor
351 will go black after this much idle time. (Graphics demos
352 will stop running, also.)
353
354
355 __Suspend After__
356
357
358 If ''Power Management Enabled'' is selected, the monitor
359 will go into power-saving mode after this much idle time.
360 This duration should be greater than or equal to
361 ''Standby''.
362
363
364 __Off After__
365
366
367 If ''Power Management Enabled'' is selected, the monitor
368 will fully power down after this much idle time. This
369 duration should be greater than or equal to
370 ''Suspend''.
371
372
373 __Install Colormap__
374
375
376 Whether to install a private colormap while the screensaver
377 is active, so that the graphics hacks can get as many colors
378 as possible. (This only applies when the screen's default
379 visual is being used, since non-default visuals get their
380 own colormaps automatically.) This can also be overridden on
381 a per-demo basis.
382
383
384 __Fade To Black When Blanking__
385
386
387 If selected, then when the screensaver activates, the
388 current contents of the screen will fade to black instead of
389 simply winking out. (Note: this doesn't work with all X
390 servers.) A fade will also be done when switching graphics
391 hacks (when the ''Cycle After'' expires.)
392
393
394 __Unfade From Black When Unblanking__
395
396
397 The complement to ''Fade Colormap'': if selected, then
398 when the screensaver deactivates, the original contents of
399 the screen will fade in from black instead of appearing
400 immediately. This is only done if ''Fade Colormap'' is
401 also selected.
402
403
404 __Fade Duration__
405
406
407 When fading or unfading are selected, this controls how long
408 the fade will take.
409
410
411 There are more settings than these available, but these are
412 the most commonly used ones; see the manual for
413 xscreensaver(1) for other parameters that can be set
414 by editing the ''~/.xscreensaver'' file, or the X
415 resource database.
416 !!COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS
417
418
419 ''xscreensaver-demo'' accepts the following command line
420 options.
421
422
423 __-display__ ''host:display.screen''
424
425
426 The X display to use. The ''xscreensaver-demo'' program
427 will open its window on that display, and also control the
428 ''xscreensaver'' daemon that is managing that same
429 display.
430
431
432 __-prefs__
433
434
435 Start up with the __Screensaver Options__ tab selected by
436 default instead of the __Graphics Demos__
437 tab.
438
439
440 It is important that the ''xscreensaver'' and
441 ''xscreensaver-demo'' processes be running on the same
442 machine, or at least, on two machines that share a file
443 system. When ''xscreensaver-demo'' writes a new version
444 of the ''~/.xscreensaver'' file, it's important that the
445 ''xscreensaver'' see that same file. If the two processes
446 are seeing different ''~/.xscreensaver'' files, things
447 will malfunction.
448 !!ENVIRONMENT
449
450
451 __DISPLAY__
452
453
454 to get the default host and display number.
455
456
457 __PATH__
458
459
460 to find the sub-programs to run. However, note that the
461 sub-programs are actually launched by the
462 ''xscreensaver'' daemon, not by ''xscreensaver-demo''
463 itself. So, what matters is what __$PATH__ the
464 ''xscreensaver'' program sees.
465
466
467 __HOME__
468
469
470 for the directory in which to read and write the
471 ''.xscreensaver'' file.
472
473
474 __XENVIRONMENT__
475
476
477 to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global
478 resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER
479 property.
480 !!UPGRADES
481
482
483 The latest version can always be found at
484 http://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/
485 !!SEE ALSO
486
487
5 perry 488 X(1), xscreensaver(1),
489 xscreensaver-command(1),
490 xscreensaver-getimage(1)
1 perry 491 !!COPYRIGHT
492
493
494 Copyright 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 by Jamie
495 Zawinski. Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and
496 sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is
497 hereby granted without fee, provided that the above
498 copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that
499 copyright notice and this permission notice appear in
500 supporting documentation. No representations are made about
501 the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is
502 provided
503 !!AUTHOR
504
505
506 Jamie Zawinski
507
508
509 Please let me know if you find any bugs or make any
510 improvements.
511 ----
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