14 .TH XScreenSaver 1 "29-Mar-2001 (3.31)" "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 window consists of a menu bar and two tabbed pages. The first page
30 is for editing the list of demos, and the second is for editing various other
31 parameters of the screensaver.
33 All of these commands are on either the \fBFile\fP or \fBHelp\fP menus:
36 Activates the background \fIxscreensaver\fP daemon, which will then run
37 a demo at random. This is the same as running
38 .BR xscreensaver-command (1)
39 with the \fI\-activate\fP option.
42 Just like \fBBlank Screen Now\fP, except the screen will be locked as
43 well (even if it is not configured to lock all the time.) This is the
45 .BR xscreensaver-command (1)
46 with the \fI\-lock\fP option.
49 If the xscreensaver daemon is running on this screen, kill it.
50 This is the same as running
51 .BR xscreensaver-command (1)
52 with the \fI\-exit\fP option.
55 If the xscreensaver daemon is running on this screen, kill it.
56 Then launch it again. This is the same as doing
57 ``\fIxscreensaver-command -exit\fP'' followed by ``\fIxscreensaver\fP''.
59 Note that it is \fInot\fP the same as doing
60 ``\fIxscreensaver-command -restart\fP''.
63 Exits the \fIxscreensaver-demo\fP program (this program) without
64 affecting the background \fIxscreensaver\fP daemon, if any.
67 Displays the version number of this program, \fIxscreensaver-demo\fP.
70 Opens up a web browser looking at the XScreenSaver web page, where you
71 can find online copies of the
73 .BR xscreensaver\-demo (1),
75 .BR xscreensaver\-command (1)
77 .SH GRAPHICS DEMOS TAB
78 On the left is a list of the names of the various display modes, and
79 on the right are some fields that let you edit their behavior.
82 Double-clicking in the list on the left will let you try out the indicated
83 demo. The screen will go black, and the program will run in full-screen
84 mode, just as it would if the \fIxscreensaver\fP daemon had launched it.
85 Clicking the mouse again will stop the demo and un-blank the screen, making
86 the dialog box visible again.
88 Single-clicking in the list will populate the fields on the right side of
91 Each name in the list has a checkbox next to it: this is a duplicate of
92 the \fIEnabled\fP checkbox, and indicates (and controls) whether
93 xscreensaver will use this display mode at all. If the box is not
94 checked, then this demo will not be run automatically (though you can
95 run it explicitly by double-clicking on its name.)
98 Beneath the list are a pair of up and down arrows. Clicking on the down
99 arrow will select the next item in the list, and then run it in full-screen
100 mode, just as if you had double-clicked on it. The up arrow goes the other
101 way. This is just a shortcut for trying out all of the display modes in turn.
103 .B Program Description
104 At the top will be a brief description of the program. Below that is a
105 text field where you can edit the arguments to the program as xscreensaver
106 will invoke it. (Note that most of these programs have their own man pages
107 that describe the command-line options they take.)
110 The \fIEnabled\fP checkbox controls whether xscreensaver will use this
111 display mode at all. This way, all the modes can remain available, but
112 you can choose which ones will be automatically run.
115 The \fIVisual\fP field is where you can select the X visual type that this
116 demo will require. If you specify one (other than \fIAny\fP) then the
117 program will only be run on that kind of visual. For example, you can
118 specify that a particular program should only be run if color is available,
119 and another should only be run in monochrome. See the discussion of the
120 \fIprograms\fP parameter in the \fIConfiguration\fP section of the
124 This is a combo-box, so you can either select an item from the popup menu,
125 or type in a specific visual's hexadecimal ID.
128 This button runs the demo in full-screen mode so that you can try it out.
129 Click the mouse to dismiss it.
132 Since each of the display modes is actually a separate program, they each
133 may have their own manual. This opens a window viewing the man page of
134 this program, if it has one.
135 .SH SCREENSAVER OPTIONS TAB
136 This tab lets you change various settings used by the xscreensaver daemon
137 itself, rather than its sub-programs.
140 After the user has been idle this long, the \fIxscreensaver\fP daemon
141 will blank the screen.
144 After the screensaver has been running for this long, the currently
145 running graphics demo will be killed, and a new one started.
146 If this is 0, then the graphics demo will never be changed:
147 only one demo will run until the screensaver is deactivated by user
151 Whether the screen saver should lock the screen when it activates.
154 If \fIRequire Password\fP is selected, this controls the length of
155 the ``grace period'' between when the screensaver activates, and when the
156 screen becomes locked. For example, if this is 0:05:00,
157 and \fIBlank After\fP is 0:10:00, then after 10 minutes, the screen
158 would blank. If there was user activity at 12 minutes, no password
159 would be required to un-blank the screen. But, if there was user activity
160 at 15 minutes or later (that is, \fILock After\fP minutes after
161 activation) then a password would be required. The default is 0, meaning
162 that if locking is enabled, then a password will be required as soon as the
165 .B Verbose Diagnostics
166 Whether to print lots of debugging information.
168 .B Display Subprocess Errors
169 If this is set, then if one of the graphics demos prints something to
170 stdout or stderr, it will show up on the screen immediately (instead of
171 being lost in a hidden terminal or file that you can't see.)
173 If you change this option, it will only take effect the next time the
174 xscreensaver daemon is restarted. (All other settings take effect
177 .B Display Splash Screen at Startup
178 Normally when xscreensaver starts up, it briefly displays a splash dialog
179 showing the version number, a \fIHelp\fP button, etc. If this option is
180 turned off, the splash screen will not be shown at all.
182 .B Power Management Enabled
183 Whether the monitor should be powered down after a period of inactivity.
185 If this option is grayed out, it means your X server does not support
186 the XDPMS extension, and so control over the monitor's power state is
189 If you're using a laptop, don't be surprised if this has no effect:
190 many laptops have monitor power-saving behavior built in at a very low
191 level that is invisible to Unix and X. On such systems, you can
192 typically only adjust the power-saving delays by changing settings
193 in the BIOS in some hardware-specific way.
196 If \fIPower Management Enabled\fP is selected, the monitor will go black
197 after this much idle time. (Graphics demos will stop running, also.)
200 If \fIPower Management Enabled\fP is selected, the monitor will go
201 into power-saving mode after this much idle time. This duration should
202 be greater than or equal to \fIStandby\fP.
205 If \fIPower Management Enabled\fP is selected, the monitor will fully
206 power down after this much idle time. This duration should be greater
207 than or equal to \fISuspend\fP.
210 Whether to install a private colormap while the screensaver is active, so
211 that the graphics hacks can get as many colors as possible. (This only
212 applies when the screen's default visual is being used, since non-default
213 visuals get their own colormaps automatically.) This can also be overridden
216 .B Fade To Black When Blanking
217 If selected, then when the screensaver activates, the current contents
218 of the screen will fade to black instead of simply winking out. This only
219 works on displays with writable colormaps, that is, if the screen's default
220 visual is a PseudoColor visual. A fade will also be done when
221 switching graphics hacks (when the \fICycle After\fP expires.)
223 .B Unfade From Black When Unblanking
224 The complement to \fIFade Colormap\fP: if selected, then when the screensaver
225 deactivates, the original contents of the screen will fade in from black
226 instead of appearing immediately. This only works on displays with writable
227 colormaps, and when \fIFade Colormap\fP is also selected.
230 When fading or unfading are selected, this controls how long the fade will
233 There are more settings than these available, but these are the most
234 commonly used ones; see the manual for
236 for other parameters that can be set by editing the \fI~/.xscreensaver\fP
237 file, or the X resource database.
238 .SH COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS
239 .I xscreensaver\-demo
240 accepts the following command line options.
242 .B \-display \fIhost:display.screen\fP
243 The X display to use. The \fIxscreensaver\-demo\fP program will open its
244 window on that display, and also control the \fIxscreensaver\fP daemon that
245 is managing that same display.
248 Start up with the \fBScreensaver Options\fP tab selected by default
249 instead of the \fBGraphics Demos\fP tab.
251 It is important that the \fIxscreensaver\fP and \fIxscreensaver\-demo\fP
252 processes be running on the same machine, or at least, on two machines
253 that share a file system. When \fIxscreensaver\-demo\fP writes a new version
254 of the \fI~/.xscreensaver\fP file, it's important that the \fIxscreensaver\fP
255 see that same file. If the two processes are seeing
256 different \fI~/.xscreensaver\fP files, things will malfunction.
261 to get the default host and display number.
264 to find the sub-programs to run. However, note that the sub-programs
265 are actually launched by the \fIxscreensaver\fP daemon, not
266 by \fIxscreensaver-demo\fP itself. So, what matters is what \fB$PATH\fP
267 the \fIxscreensaver\fP program sees.
270 for the directory in which to read and write the \fI.xscreensaver\fP file.
273 to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources
274 stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.
276 The latest version can always be found at
277 http://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/
280 .BR xscreensaver (1),
281 .BR xscreensaver\-command (1)
283 Copyright \(co 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
284 by Jamie Zawinski. Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell
285 this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without
286 fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that
287 both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting
288 documentation. No representations are made about the suitability of this
289 software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied
292 Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>, 13-aug-92.
294 Please let me know if you find any bugs or make any improvements.
projects / xscreensaver / blob