14 .TH XScreenSaver 1 "27-Apr-99 (3.10)" "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.
29 The main dialog box contains a scrolling list, a text field, and a number
32 Double-clicking on one of the programs in the list will run it. The screen
33 will go black, and the program will run in full-screen mode, just as it would
34 if the \fIxscreensaver\fP daemon had launched it. Clicking the mouse again
35 will stop the demo and un-blank the screen, making the dialog box visible
38 Single-clicking in the list will place the indicated program and its args
39 in the text field to be edited. Edit the arguments and hit return to run
40 the program with the parameters you have specified. This will also save
41 your changes to your \fI~/.xscreensaver\fP file: so any changes you make
42 in this way are persistent.
44 If one of the lines in the scrolling list begins with the character "-",
45 then that means that the program is disabled: \fIxscreensaver\fP will not
46 select it to be run (though you can still try it out by clicking on it.)
47 Rather than just deleting the programs you don't want to run, you might
48 want to disable them in this way instead, so that you can more easily change
51 If the line begins with the name of a visual, followed by a colon, then
52 that program will only be run on that kind of visual. For example, you can
53 specify that a particular program should only be run if color is available,
54 and another should only be run in monochrome. See the discussion of
55 the \fIprograms\fP parameter in the \fIConfiguration\fP section of the
62 Clicking this button will run the next program in the list after the
63 currently-selected one, and will wrap around to the top when it reaches
67 Opposite of Run Next; at the top, it wraps around to the bottom.
70 This pops up a second dialog box, in which you have the option to
71 interactively change most of the screensaver's operational parameters,
72 such as its timeouts, and whether it should lock the screen. When you
73 click OK, your chosen settings will take effect immediately, and will
74 also be saved to the \fI~/.xscreensaver\fP file in your home directory,
75 so that the settings will persist next time.
78 Exits the \fIxscreensaver-demo\fP program. The background \fIxscreensaver\fP
79 daemon will continue running as before.
81 The Preferences dialog box lets you change the following settings.
83 (There are more settings available, but these are the most commonly used
84 ones; see the manual for
86 for other parameters that can be set by editing the \fI~/.xscreensaver\fP
87 file, or the X resource database.)
90 After the user has been idle this long, the \fIxscreensaver\fP daemon
91 will blank the screen.
94 After the screensaver has been running for this long, the currently
95 running graphics demo will be killed, and a new one started.
96 If this is 0, then the graphics demo will never be changed:
97 only one demo will run until the screensaver is deactivated by user
101 Whether to print lots of debugging information.
104 Whether to install a private colormap while the screensaver is active, so
105 that the graphics hacks can get as many colors as possible. (This only
106 applies when the screen's default visual is being used, since non-default
107 visuals get their own colormaps automatically.) This can also be overridden
111 If selected, then when the screensaver activates, the current contents
112 of the screen will fade to black instead of simply winking out. This only
113 works on displays with writable colormaps, that is, if the screen's default
114 visual is a PseudoColor visual. A fade will also be done when
115 switching graphics hacks (when the \fICycle Timeout\fP expires.)
118 The complement to \fIFade Colormap\fP: if selected, then when the screensaver
119 deactivates, the original contents of the screen will fade in from black
120 instead of appearing immediately. This only works on displays with writable
121 colormaps, and when \fIFade Colormap\fP is also selected.
124 When fading or unfading are selected, this controls how long the fade will
128 This controls how many times a second the colormap will be changed to
129 effect a fade. Higher numbers yield smoother fades, but may make the
130 fades take longer than the specified number of seconds, if your server
131 isn't fast enough to keep up.
134 Whether the screen saver should lock the screen when it activates.
137 If \fIRequire Password\fP is selected, this controls the length of
138 the ``grace period'' between when the screensaver activates, and when the
139 screen becomes locked. For example, if this is 0:05:00,
140 and \fISaver Timeout\fP is 0:10:00, then after 10 minutes, the screen
141 would blank. If there was user activity at 12 minutes, no password
142 would be required to un-blank the screen. But, if there was user activity
143 at 15 minutes or later (that is, \fILock Timeout\fP minutes after
144 activation) then a password would be required. The default is 0, meaning
145 that if locking is enabled, then a password will be required as soon as the
149 When the screensaver is prompting for a password, the prompt dialog box will
150 stay on the screen for this long before giving up, and reverting to
152 .SH COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS
153 .I xscreensaver\-demo
154 accepts the following command line options.
156 .B \-display \fIhost:display.screen\fP
157 The X display to use. The \fIxscreensaver\-demo\fP program will open its
158 window on that display, and also control the \fIxscreensaver\fP daemon that
159 is managing that same display.
162 Start up in Preferences mode: this is just like launching the program with
163 no arguments, and then pressing the \fIPreferences\fP button.
165 It is important that the \fIxscreensaver\fP and \fIxscreensaver\-demo\fP
166 processes be running on the same machine, or at least, on two machines
167 that share a file system. When \fIxscreensaver\-demo\fP writes a new version
168 of the \fI~/.xscreensaver\fP file, it's important that the \fIxscreensaver\fP
169 see that same file. If the two processes are seeing
170 different \fI~/.xscreensaver\fP files, things will malfunction.
175 to get the default host and display number.
178 to find the sub-programs to run. However, note that the sub-programs
179 are actually launched by the \fIxscreensaver\fP daemon, not
180 by \fIxscreensaver-demo\fP itself. So, what matters is what \fB$PATH\fP
181 the \fIxscreensaver\fP program sees.
184 for the directory in which to read and write the \fI.xscreensaver\fP file.
187 to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources
188 stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.
190 The latest version can always be found at
191 http://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/
194 .BR xscreensaver (1),
195 .BR xscreensaver\-command (1)
197 Copyright \(co 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999
198 by Jamie Zawinski. Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell
199 this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without
200 fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that
201 both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting
202 documentation. No representations are made about the suitability of this
203 software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied
206 Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>, 13-aug-92.
208 Please let me know if you find any bugs or make any improvements.
projects / xscreensaver / blob