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-.TH XScreenSaver 1 "22-mar-93" "X Version 11"
+.TH XScreenSaver 1 "30-Jun-98 (2.24)" "X Version 11"
.SH NAME
xscreensaver-command - control a running xscreensaver process
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B xscreensaver-command
-[\-activate] [\-deactivate] [\-cycle] [\-next] [\-prev] [\-exit] [\-restart] [\-demo] [\-lock]
+[\-help] \
+[\-demo] \
+[\-activate] \
+[\-deactivate] \
+[\-cycle] \
+[\-next] \
+[\-prev] \
+[\-exit] \
+[\-restart] \
+[\-lock] \
+[\-version] \
+[\-time]
.SH DESCRIPTION
The \fIxscreensaver\-command\fP program controls a running \fIxscreensaver\fP
process by sending it client-messages.
+
+.BR xscreensaver (1)
+has a client-server model: the xscreensaver process is a
+daemon that runs in the background; it is controlled by the
+foreground \fIxscreensaver-command\fP program.
.SH OPTIONS
.I xscreensaver-command
-accepts the following options:
+accepts the following command-line options:
+.TP 8
+.B \-help
+Prints a brief summary of command-line options.
+.TP 8
+.B \-demo
+Cause the screensaver to enter its interactive demo mode, in which one
+can experiment with the various graphics hacks available. See
+.BR xscreensaver (1)
+for details.
.TP 8
.B \-activate
-Tell the screensaver to turn on immediately (that is, pretend that the
-user been idle for long enough.) It will turn off as soon as there is
-any user activity, as usual.
+Tell xscreensaver to turn on immediately (that is, blank the screen, as if
+the user had been idle for long enough.) The screensaver will deactivate as
+soon as there is any user activity, as usual.
It is useful to run this from a menu; you may wish to run it as
.EX
sleep 5 ; xscreensaver-command -activate
.EE
to be sure that you have time to remove your hand from the mouse before
-the screensaver comes on.
+the screensaver comes on. (Because if you jiggle the mouse, xscreensaver
+will notice, and deactivate.)
.TP 8
.B \-deactivate
-Tell the screensaver to turn off, as if there had been user activity.
+If the screensaver is active (the screen is blanked), this command will
+deactivate it just as if there had been keyboard or mouse activity.
If locking is enabled, then the screensaver will prompt for a password
as usual.
.TP 8
.B \-cycle
-Tell the screensaver to change which graphics hack it is running, just
-as if the ``cycle'' timer had expired.
+If the screensaver is active (the screen is blanked), then stop the current
+graphics demo and run a new one (chosen randomly.)
.TP 8
.B \-next
This is like either \fI\-activate\fP or \fI\-cycle\fP, depending on which is
-more appropriate, except that the screenhack that will be run is the next
-one in the list of programs, instead of a randomly-chosen one. This option
-is good for looking at a demo of each of the screensavers currently available.
-You might want to put this on a menu.
+more appropriate, except that the graphics hack that will be run is the next
+one in the list, instead of a randomly-chosen one. In other words,
+repeatedly executing -next will cause the xscreensaver process to invoke each
+graphics demo sequentially. (Though using the \fI\-demo\fP option is probably
+an easier way to accomplish that.)
.TP 8
.B \-prev
This is like \fI\-next\fP, but cycles in the other direction.
.TP 8
-.B \-demo
-Cause the screensaver to enter its interactive demo mode, if it has been
-compiled with support for it.
-.TP 8
-.B \-lock
-Like \fI\-activate\fP, but a password will be required before the screensaver
-turns off, even if the screensaver's \fIlock\fP resource is false. The
-display will be locked immediately even if the screensaver's \fIlockTimeout\fP
-resource is non-zero.
-.TP 8
.B \-exit
-Causes the screensaver process to exit gracefully. This is a slightly
-safer way to kill the screensaver than by using \fIkill\fP.
+Causes the xscreensaver process to exit gracefully. This is roughly the same
+as killing the process with
+.BR kill (1),
+but it is easier, since you don't need to first figure out the pid.
-Never use \fIkill -9\fP with \fIxscreensaver\fP while the screensaver is
+.B Warning:
+never use \fIkill -9\fP with \fIxscreensaver\fP while the screensaver is
active. If you are using a virtual root window manager, that can leave
things in an inconsistent state, and you may need to restart your window
manager to repair the damage.
.TP 8
.B \-restart
Causes the screensaver process to exit and then restart with the same command
-line arguments. This is a good way of causing the screensaver to re-read the
-resource database.
+line arguments as last time. Do this after you've changed the resource
+database, to cause xscreensaver to notice the changes.
If the screensaver is run from \fIxdm(1)\fP (that is, it is already running
-before you log in) then you may want to issue the ``restart'' command from
+before you log in) then you may want to issue the \fI\-restart\fP command from
one of your startup scripts, so that the screensaver gets your resource
settings instead of the default ones.
+.TP 8
+.B \-lock
+Tells the running xscreensaver process to lock the screen immediately.
+This is like \fI\-activate\fP, but forces locking as well, even if locking
+is not the default (that is, even if xscreensaver's \fIlock\fP resource is
+false, and even if the \fIlockTimeout\fP resource is non-zero.)
+.TP 8
+.B \-version
+Prints the version of xscreensaver that is currently running on the display:
+that is, the actual version number of the running xscreensaver background
+process, rather than the version number of xscreensaver-command. (To see
+the version number of \fIxscreensaver-command\fP itself, use
+the \fI\-help\fP option.)
+.TP 8
+.B \-time
+Prints the time at which the screensaver last activated or
+deactivated (roughly, how long the user has been idle or non-idle: but
+not quite, since it only tells you when the screen became blanked or
+un-blanked.)
.SH ENVIRONMENT
.PP
.TP 8
.B DISPLAY
-to get the default host and display number.
+to get the host and display number of the screen whose saver is
+to be manipulated.
.TP 8
.B PATH
-to find the executable to restart.
+to find the executable to restart (for the \fI\-restart\fP command).
+Note that this variable is consulted in the environment of
+the \fIxscreensaver\fP process, not the \fIxscreensaver-command\fP process.
+.SH UPGRADES
+The latest version of
+.BR xscreensaver (1)
+and \fIxscreensaver\-command\fP can always be found at
+http://people.netscape.com/jwz/xscreensaver/
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR X (1),
.BR xscreensaver (1)
.SH BUGS
-Diagnostics are reported on the \fBstderr\fP of the \fIxscreensaver\fP
+Some diagnostics are reported on the stderr of the \fIxscreensaver\fP
process, not this process, so the caller of \fIxscreensaver-command\fP
may not see the error messages.
.SH COPYRIGHT
-Copyright \(co 1992, 1993 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.
+Copyright \(co 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998
+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.
.SH AUTHOR
-Jamie Zawinski <jwz@mcom.com>, 13-aug-92.
+Jamie Zawinski <jwz@netscape.com>, 13-aug-92.
+
+Please let me know if you find any bugs or make any improvements.
projects / xscreensaver / blobdiff