http://se.aminet.net/pub/X11/ftp.x.org/contrib/vms/xscreensaver-124.zip

[xscreensaver] / driver / xscreensaver.hlp

1 XSCREENSAVER 
Run graphics hacks after the user has been idle for a while

SYNOPSIS

  $ xscreensaver [-display host:display.screen] [-timeout int] 
                 [-cycle int] [-nice int] [-verbose] [-silent] 
                 [-xidle] [-no-xidle] [-lock] [-no-lock] [-lock-timeout int] 
                 [-demo] [-visual visual] [-xrm resources]
2 DESCRIPTION
The xscreensaver program waits until the keyboard and mouse have been 
idle for a period, and then runs a graphics demo chosen at random.  It 
turns off as soon as there is any mouse or keyboard activity.

This program can lock your terminal in order to prevent others from using it,
though its default mode of operation is merely to display pretty pictures on
your screen when it is not in use.  

The benefit that this program has over the combination of the xlock (1)
and xautolock (1) programs is the ease with which new graphics hacks can be 
installed. You don't need to recompile (or even re-run) this program to add 
a new display mode.

2 OPTIONS
xscreensaver accepts the following options:

   -timeout minutes
The screensaver will activate after the keyboard and mouse have been idle
for this many minutes.

   -cycle minutes
After the screensaver has been running for this many minutes, the currently
running sub-process will be killed (with SIGTERM), and a new one 
started.  If this is 0, then the sub-process will not be killed; only one
demo will run until the screensaver is deactivated by user activity.

   -nice integer
The sub-processes created by xscreensaver will be ``niced'' to this
level, so that they do not consume cycles that are needed elsewhere.

   -verbose
Print diagnostics.

   -silent


   -xidle
Use the XIdle server extension to decide whether the user is idle.
This is the default if xscreensaver has been compiled with support
for XIdle.  The XIdle method is faster and more reliable than what will
be done otherwise, so use it if you can.  

   -no-xidle
Don't use XIdle.

   -lock
Enable locking: before the screensaver will turn off, it requires you to
type the password of the person who launched the screensaver, or the root
password.  (Note: this doesn't work if the screensaver is launched
by xdm (1) because it can't know the user-id of the logged-in user.)

   -no-lock
Disable locking.  This is the default.

   -lock-timeout minutes
This is how long after the screensaver activates that locking is enabled.
For example, if this is 5, then any user activity within five minutes of
the time when the screensaver activated will cause the screen to unblank
without requiring a password.  After 5 minutes, a password will be
required.  The default is 0, meaning that if locking is enabled, then
a password will be required as soon as the screensaver activates.

   -visual visual
Specify which visual to use.  Legal values are:

      best
  Use the visual which supports the most writable color cells; this is
  the default.

      default
  Use the screen's default visual (the visual of the root window.)  This is
  not necessarily the most colorful visual, which is why it is not the default.

      class
  One of StaticGray, StaticColor, TrueColor, GrayScale, 
  PseudoColor, or DirectColor.  Selects the deepest visual of
  the given class.

      number
  A number (decimal or hex) is interpreted as a visual id number, as reported
  by the xdpyinfo (1) program; in this way you can select a shallower visual 
  if desired.

   -demo
Enter the interactive demo mode immediately after startup.  Normally
demo mode is invoked via the xscreencommand (1) program.

2 X_RESOURCES
xscreensaver understands the following resources:

   timeout (class Time)
Same as the -timeout command-line option.  Default 10 minutes.

   cycle (class Time)
Same as the -cycle command-line option.  Default 10 minutes.

   nice (class Nice)
Same as the -nice command-line option.  Default 10.

   verbose (class Boolean)
Same as the -verbose command-line option.

   xidle (class Boolean)
Same as the -xidle command-line option.

   lock (class Boolean)
Same as the -lock command-line option.

   lockTimeout (class Time)
Same as the -lock-timeout command-line option.

   fade (class Boolean)
If this is true, then when the screensaver activates, the current contents
of the screen will fade to black instead of simply winking out.  This only
works on displays with writable colormaps.  Default true.  A fade will also
be done when switching graphics hacks (when the cycle timer expires.)

   unfade (class Boolean)
If this is true, then when the screensaver deactivates, the original contents
of the screen will fade in from black instead of appearing immediately.  This
only works on displays with writable colormaps, and if fade is true
as well.  Default false.

   fadeSeconds (class Time)
If fade is true, this is how long the fade will be in  seconds (default 1.)

   fadeTicks (class Integer)
If fade is true, this is how many times a second the colormap will
be changed to effect a fade.  Higher numbers yield smoother fades, but
may make the fades take longer if your server isn't fast enough to keep
up.  Default 75.

   installColormap (class Boolean)
Whether a new colormap should be installed while the screensaver is on,
so that the graphics hacks can get as many colors as possible.  Default
false.

   passwdTimeout (class Time)
If lock is true, this is how many seconds the password dialog box
should be left on the screen before giving up (default 30.)  This should
not be too large: the X server is grabbed for the duration that the password
dialog box is up (for security purposes) and leaving the server grabbed for
too long can cause problems.

   visualID (class VisualID)
Same as the -visual command-line option.  Default best.


   programs (class Programs)
The graphics hacks which xscreensaver runs when the user is idle.
The value of this resource is a string, one sh command per line.
Each line must contain exactly one command -- no semicolons.

When the screensaver starts up, one of these is selected at random, and
run.  After the cycle period expires, it is killed, and another
is selected and run.

If the value of this resource (and the applicable one of colorPrograms
or monoPrograms) is empty, then no programs will be run; the screen
will simply be made black.

Note that you must escape the newlines; here is an example of how you
might set this in your .Xdefaults file:

  xscreensaver.programs:  \\
        qix -root                        \\n\\
        ico -r -faces -sleep 1 -obj ico  \\n\\
        xdaliclock -builtin2 -root       \\n\\
        xwave -root

To use a program as a screensaver, two things are required: that that
program draw on the root window (or be able to be configured to draw on
the root window); and that that program understand ``virtual root''
windows, as used by virtual window managers such as tvtwm.

It is quite easy to make programs understand virtual roots if they
don't already: you merely need to include the file "vroot.h" in
them after the standard X includes, and recompile.  This file is distributed
with X11r5, and is included with xscreensaver as well.

   monoPrograms (class MonoPrograms)
This resource is appended to the value of the programs resource if
the display on which the screensaver is running is monochrome.

   colorPrograms (class ColorPrograms)
This resource is appended to the value of the programs resource if
the display on which the screensaver is running is not monochrome.

Normally you won't need to change the following resources:

   bourneShell (class BourneShell)
The pathname of the shell that xscreensaver uses to start subprocesses.
This must be whatever your local variant of /bin/sh is -- in particular,
it must not be csh.

   windowCreationTimeout (class Time)
When XIdle is not in use, this controls the delay between when 
windows are created and when xscreensaver selects events on them.
Default 30 seconds.

   pointerPollTime (class Time)
When XIdle is not in use, this controls how frequently xscreensaver
checks to see if the mouse position or buttons have changed.  Default 5 seconds.

   initialDelay (class Time)
When XIdle is not in use, xscreensaver will wait this many seconds
before selecting events on existing windows, under the assumption that 
xscreensaver is started during your login procedure, and the window 
state may be in flux.  Default 30 seconds.

2 HOW_IT_WORKS
When it is time to activate the screensaver, a full-screen black window is
created.  This window is given the appropriate properties so that, to any 
subsequently-created programs, it will appear to be a ``virtual root'' 
window.  Because of this, any program which draws on the root window (and 
which understands virtual roots) can be used as a screensaver.

When the user becomes active again, the screensaver window is unmapped and
the running subprocess is killed by sending it SIGTERM.  This is also
how the subprocesses are killed when the screensaver decides that it's time
to run a different demo: the old one is killed and a new one is launched.

Before launching a subprocess, xscreensaver stores an appropriate value
for $DISPLAY in the environment that the child will recieve.  (This is
so that if you start xscreensaver with a -display argument, the
programs which xscreensaver launches will draw on the same display.)

When the screensaver turns off, or is killed, care is taken to restore 
the ``real'' virtual root window if there is one.  Because of this, it is
important that you not kill the screensaver process with kill -9 if
you are running a virtual-root window manager.  If you kill it with -9,
you may need to restart your window manager to repair the damage.  This
isn't an issue if you aren't running a virtual-root window manager.

For all the gory details, see the commentary at the top of xscreensaver.c.

You can control a running screensaver process by using the xscreencommand (1)
program (which see.)

2 ENVIRONMENT

   DISPLAY
to get the default host and display number.

   XENVIRONMENT
to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources
stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.

2 USING_XDM
You can run xscreensaver from your xdm session, so that the 
screensaver will run even when nobody is logged in on the console.  
Simply add "xscreensaver &" to your /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xsetup 
file.  Because xdm grabs the keyboard, keypresses will not make 
the screensaver deactivate, but any mouse activity will.

Users may want to add "xscreensaver-command -restart" to their 
startup scripts, so that the screensaver will be reinitialized with
their private resource settings when they log in.

It is safe to run this program as root (as xdm is likely to do.)  If 
run as root, xscreensaver changes its effective user and group ids to
something safe (like "nobody") before connecting to the X server
or launching user-specified programs.

Locking doesn't work if the screensaver is launched by xdm.  To get
around this, you can run the screensaver from xdm without locking, 
and kill and restart it from your personal X startup script to enable
locking.

2 DEMO MODE
If xscreensaver receives the DEMO ClientMessage, it pops up
a dialog box from which you can examine and experiment with the screensaver's
client programs.

Clicking left on an element in the scrolling list will place the indicated
program and its args in the text field to be edited.  Edit the arguments and
hit return to run the program with the parameters you have specified.

Double-clicking on an element in the scrolling list will run the indicated
program immediately.

When a client program is launched, the dialog box is hidden.  Clicking
any mouse button will re-expose the dialog box (but will not kill the 
client program.)

   Run Next
Clicking this button will run the next program in the list after the 
currently-selected one, and will scroll around to the top when it reaches
the bottom.

   Run Previous
Opposite of Run Next; at the top, it scrolls around to the bottom.

   Edit Parameters
This pops up a second dialog box, in which you have the option to 
interactively change most of the screensaver's operational parameters,
such as its timeouts, and whether it should hack colormaps.  Changing
these parameters here will affect only the running xscreensaver
process; to make the changes permanent, you need to edit your X resource
file.

   Exit Demo Mode
Returns to normal screensaver operation.

   Reinitialize
Causes the screensaver process to exit and then restart with the same 
command-line arguments.  This causes the X resource database to be 
re-read.  This is just like the -restart argument to xscreencommand (1)
except that when executed from this button, the screensaver will 
automatically return to demo mode after restarting.

2 SEE_ALSO
 xscreencommand (1),
 xlock (1),
 xnlock (1),
 xautolock (1),
 xdm (1),
 qix (1),
 pyro (1),
 helix (1),
 rorschach (1),
 hopalong (1),
 attraction (1),
 greynetic (1),
 rocks (1),
 noseguy (1),
 blitspin (1),
 imsmap (1),
 slidescreen (1),
 hypercube (1),
 flame (1),
 maze (1),
 ico (1),
 xdaliclock (1),
 xbouncebits (1),
 xswarm (1),
 xwave (1),
 xfishtank (1)

2 BUGS
If you are not using XIdle, and an application does not 
select KeyPress events on its non-leaf windows within the first
 30 seconds of their existence, but selects them later, then it is 
possible that xscreensaver could interfere with the propagation
of those events.  This isn't very likely, but this is the reason that
it's a good idea to install the XIdle extension.

Although this program ``nices'' the subprocesses that it starts, 
graphics-intensive subprograms can still overload the machine by causing
the X server process itself (which is not ``niced'') to suck a lot of 
cycles.  Care should be taken to slow down programs intended for use as 
screensavers by inserting strategic calls to
 sleep (3) or usleep (3).

Also, it will cause your X server to be pretty much permanently swapped in.
(but the same is true of any program that draws periodically, like xclock or
xload.)

If the subprocess is drawing too quickly and the connection to the X
server is a slow one (such as an X terminal running over a phone line) then 
the screensaver might not turn off right away when the user becomes active
again (the ico (1) demo has this problem if being run in full-speed mode). 
This can be alleviated by inserting strategic calls to XSync (3)
in code intended for use as a screensaver.  This prevents too much graphics
activity from being buffered up.

The screensaver only runs on the default screen of the display.  If you have
more than one screen, you can run multiple screensaver processes, one for
each screen.  This interacts poorly with locking.  In an ideal world, the
screensaver would save (and lock) both screens simultaniously, and any activity
would restore both screens.  It would be nice if one could run different hacks
on each screen simultaniously.  However, I don't have access to a multi-headed
workstation, so it would be hard for me to implement something like this.

If you don't have Motif, you can't compile with support for locking or
demo mode.

When the Run Next and Run Previous buttons are used, the selected
item may not be visible in the window.  It's a Motif bug that selecting a
different item doesn't scroll the list to show the new selected item.

Locking doesn't work if the screensaver is launched by xdm.

If you get an error message like ``couldn't get password of foo'' then 
this probably means that you're on a system in which the getpwent (3)
library routine can only be effectively used by root.  If this is the case, 
then xscreensaver must be installed as setuid to root.  Care has 
been taken to make this a safe thing to do.
 
There need to be a lot more graphics hacks.  In particular, there should be
a simulation of a Lavalite (tm).
 
The installColormap option doesn't work very well with the twm (1)
window manager and its descendants.  There is a race condition between the
screensaver and this window manager, which can result in the screensaver's
colormap not getting installed properly, meaning the graphics hacks will
appear in essentially random colors.  The mwm (1) and olwm (1)
window managers don't seem to have this problem.  The race condition exists
because X apparently does not provide a way for an OverrideRedirect window to 
have its own colormap, short of grabbing the server (which is neither a good 
idea, nor really possible with the current design.)  What happens is that, as 
soon as the screensaver installs its colormap, twm responds to 
the ColormapNotify event that is generated by re-instaling the default
colormap.  Apparently, twm doesn't always do this; it seems to do
it regularly if the screensaver is activated from a menu item, but seems to
not do it if the screensaver comes on of its own volition, or is activated
from another console.  Any thoughts on this problem are welcome...
 
The installColormap option has no effect in "demo" mode, since the
dialog boxes allocate their colors out of the screen's default colormap
instead of the installed colormap.
 
For this same reason, locking doesn't work too well along 
with installColormap; the dialog box's colors are random.
 
Apparently there are some problems with ``XView'' programs getting confused
and thinking that the screensaver window is the real root window even when
the screensaver is not active: ClientMessages intended for the window manager
are sent to the screensaver window instead.  This could be solved by making
xscreensaver forward all unrecognised ClientMessages to the real root window,
but there may be other problems as well.

2 COPYRIGHT
Copyright (co 1992, 1993, 1994 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
"as is" without express or implied warranty.

2 AUTHOR
Jamie Zawinski <jwz@mcom.com>, 13-aug-92.
Please let me know if you find any bugs or make any improvements.

Thanks to David Wojtowicz for implementing lockTimeout.

Thanks to Martin Kraemer for adding support for shadow passwords and 
locking-disabled diagnostics.

2 VMS_PORT

Patrick MOREAU - CENA/Athis-Mons - FRANCE (pmoreau@cena.dgac.fr)