14 .TH XScreenSaver 1 "09-Nov-99 (3.19)" "X Version 11"
16 xscreensaver-demo - interactively control the background xscreensaver daemon
19 [\-display \fIhost:display.screen\fP] [\-prefs] [\-xrm \fIresources\fP]
21 The \fIxscreensaver\-demo\fP program is a graphical front-end for
22 setting the parameters used by the background
25 It is essentially two things: a tool for editing the \fI~/.xscreensaver\fP
26 file; and a tool for demoing the various graphics hacks that
27 the \fIxscreensaver\fP daemon will launch.
30 this manual describes the Motif and Athena versions of
31 the \fIxscreensaver\-demo\fP command. At this point, the Gtk
32 version of \fIxscreensaver\-demo\fP is somewhat more advanced.
34 The main dialog box contains a scrolling list, a text field, and a number
37 Double-clicking on one of the programs in the list will run it. The screen
38 will go black, and the program will run in full-screen mode, just as it would
39 if the \fIxscreensaver\fP daemon had launched it. Clicking the mouse again
40 will stop the demo and un-blank the screen, making the dialog box visible
43 Single-clicking in the list will place the indicated program and its args
44 in the text field to be edited. Edit the arguments and hit return to run
45 the program with the parameters you have specified. This will also save
46 your changes to your \fI~/.xscreensaver\fP file: so any changes you make
47 in this way are persistent.
49 If one of the lines in the scrolling list begins with the character "-",
50 then that means that the program is disabled: \fIxscreensaver\fP will not
51 select it to be run (though you can still try it out by clicking on it.)
52 Rather than just deleting the programs you don't want to run, you might
53 want to disable them in this way instead, so that you can more easily change
56 If the line begins with the name of a visual, followed by a colon, then
57 that program will only be run on that kind of visual. For example, you can
58 specify that a particular program should only be run if color is available,
59 and another should only be run in monochrome. See the discussion of
60 the \fIprograms\fP parameter in the \fIConfiguration\fP section of the
67 Clicking this button will run the next program in the list after the
68 currently-selected one, and will wrap around to the top when it reaches
72 Opposite of Run Next; at the top, it wraps around to the bottom.
75 This pops up a second dialog box, in which you have the option to
76 interactively change most of the screensaver's operational parameters,
77 such as its timeouts, and whether it should lock the screen. When you
78 click OK, your chosen settings will take effect immediately, and will
79 also be saved to the \fI~/.xscreensaver\fP file in your home directory,
80 so that the settings will persist next time.
83 Exits the \fIxscreensaver-demo\fP program. The background \fIxscreensaver\fP
84 daemon will continue running as before.
86 The Preferences dialog box lets you change the following settings.
88 (There are more settings available, but these are the most commonly used
89 ones; see the manual for
91 for other parameters that can be set by editing the \fI~/.xscreensaver\fP
92 file, or the X resource database.)
95 After the user has been idle this long, the \fIxscreensaver\fP daemon
96 will blank the screen.
99 After the screensaver has been running for this long, the currently
100 running graphics demo will be killed, and a new one started.
101 If this is 0, then the graphics demo will never be changed:
102 only one demo will run until the screensaver is deactivated by user
106 Whether to print lots of debugging information.
109 Whether to install a private colormap while the screensaver is active, so
110 that the graphics hacks can get as many colors as possible. (This only
111 applies when the screen's default visual is being used, since non-default
112 visuals get their own colormaps automatically.) This can also be overridden
116 If selected, then when the screensaver activates, the current contents
117 of the screen will fade to black instead of simply winking out. This only
118 works on displays with writable colormaps, that is, if the screen's default
119 visual is a PseudoColor visual. A fade will also be done when
120 switching graphics hacks (when the \fICycle Timeout\fP expires.)
123 The complement to \fIFade Colormap\fP: if selected, then when the screensaver
124 deactivates, the original contents of the screen will fade in from black
125 instead of appearing immediately. This only works on displays with writable
126 colormaps, and when \fIFade Colormap\fP is also selected.
129 When fading or unfading are selected, this controls how long the fade will
133 This controls how many times a second the colormap will be changed to
134 effect a fade. Higher numbers yield smoother fades, but may make the
135 fades take longer than the specified number of seconds, if your server
136 isn't fast enough to keep up.
139 Whether the screen saver should lock the screen when it activates.
142 If \fIRequire Password\fP is selected, this controls the length of
143 the ``grace period'' between when the screensaver activates, and when the
144 screen becomes locked. For example, if this is 0:05:00,
145 and \fISaver Timeout\fP is 0:10:00, then after 10 minutes, the screen
146 would blank. If there was user activity at 12 minutes, no password
147 would be required to un-blank the screen. But, if there was user activity
148 at 15 minutes or later (that is, \fILock Timeout\fP minutes after
149 activation) then a password would be required. The default is 0, meaning
150 that if locking is enabled, then a password will be required as soon as the
154 When the screensaver is prompting for a password, the prompt dialog box will
155 stay on the screen for this long before giving up, and reverting to
157 .SH COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS
158 .I xscreensaver\-demo
159 accepts the following command line options.
161 .B \-display \fIhost:display.screen\fP
162 The X display to use. The \fIxscreensaver\-demo\fP program will open its
163 window on that display, and also control the \fIxscreensaver\fP daemon that
164 is managing that same display.
167 Start up in Preferences mode: this is just like launching the program with
168 no arguments, and then pressing the \fIPreferences\fP button.
170 It is important that the \fIxscreensaver\fP and \fIxscreensaver\-demo\fP
171 processes be running on the same machine, or at least, on two machines
172 that share a file system. When \fIxscreensaver\-demo\fP writes a new version
173 of the \fI~/.xscreensaver\fP file, it's important that the \fIxscreensaver\fP
174 see that same file. If the two processes are seeing
175 different \fI~/.xscreensaver\fP files, things will malfunction.
180 to get the default host and display number.
183 to find the sub-programs to run. However, note that the sub-programs
184 are actually launched by the \fIxscreensaver\fP daemon, not
185 by \fIxscreensaver-demo\fP itself. So, what matters is what \fB$PATH\fP
186 the \fIxscreensaver\fP program sees.
189 for the directory in which to read and write the \fI.xscreensaver\fP file.
192 to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources
193 stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.
195 The latest version can always be found at
196 http://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/
199 .BR xscreensaver (1),
200 .BR xscreensaver\-command (1)
202 Copyright \(co 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999
203 by Jamie Zawinski. Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell
204 this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without
205 fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that
206 both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting
207 documentation. No representations are made about the suitability of this
208 software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied
211 Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>, 13-aug-92.
213 Please let me know if you find any bugs or make any improvements.
projects / xscreensaver / blob