1ROOTTAIL(1) General Commands Manual ROOTTAIL(1)
2
6 root-tail - print text directly to X11 root window
7
9 root-tail [-g|--geometry GEOMETRY] [-fn|--font FONTSPEC] [--color
10 color] [--reload SEC COMMAND] [--shade] [--outline] [--minspace]
11 [--noflicker] [-f|--fork] [--reverse] [--whole] [--partial] [--update]
12 [--cont STRING] [--wordwrap] [--justify] [--noinitial] [--frame] [-id
13 ID] [-i|--interval SECONDS] [-V] file1[,color[,desc]]
14 [file2[,color[,desc]]]
15
17 Displays a given file anywhere on your X11 root window, i.e. it is kind
18 of tail -f for multiple files using your desktop background as output
19 window.
20 All non-option arguments on the comamnd line are files to be logged. A
22 null desc (example: "/var/log/messages,red,") will prevent the printing
23 of a description and the []'s.
24 General Options
26 --color COLOR
27 Use COLOR as default.
28 --font | -fn FONTSPEC
30 Use font FONTSPEC. This can be either a fixed width font like
31 -fn fixed or any font using -fn '-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*'
32 with the appropriate fields filled out (see xfontsel). Specify‐
33 ing a different FONTSPEC before each filename will cause each
34 file to be displayed in a different font.
35 -f | --fork
37 Forks to the background.
38 --reverse
40 Display the files in reverse order, with the newest lines at the
41 top.
42 --whole
44 Only display whole lines. If the last line of a file doesn't yet
45 end with a newline character then wait until it does before dis‐
46 playing it. This is the default if more than one file is being
47 displayed.
48 --partial
50 This is the opposite of the --whole option (see above). It dis‐
51 plays lines even if they don't yet have a newline at the end.
52 This is the default if only one file is being displayed.
53 --update
55 Update partial lines 'in place' if they are still on the screen
56 when they are updated in their files. Using --update automati‐
57 cally turns on --partial.
58 --cont STRING
60 When partial lines are broken into two lines in the display,
61 prefix the 2nd line with STRING. Defaults to "|| ". Specify the
62 "--whole" argument to ensure partial lines are never displayed,
63 or specify "--update" to attempt to "repair" broken lines in-
64 place.
65 --cont-color COLOR
67 Use COLOR when displaying the continuation string (as optionally
68 specified with the --cont option above).
69 --wordwrap
71 The default behaviour is to fit as much as possible onto each
72 line of output, even if this means splitting a word between one
73 line and the next. The --wordwrap argument splits lines at spa‐
74 ces if possible.
75 --justify
77 After wrapping long lines, attempt to justify the text to pro‐
78 duce a smooth right-hand margin. Implies --wordwrap.
79 --reload SEC COMMAND
81 Re-display the file(s) and run COMMAND every SEC seconds. The
82 default is to never re-display the file(s).
83 --shade
85 Add black shading to the font.
86 --outline
88 Add a black outline to the font (making redraws quite a bit
89 slower).
90 --minspace
92 Use minimum linespace even when using shading or outlining. This
93 might result in leftover pixels (dependign on font and logfile
94 content).
95 --noflicker
97 Use slower but flicker-free update.
98 --noinitial
100 Don't display the end of the file(s) initially.
101 -id ID Use the given window ID for output instead of the root window.
103 -i | --interval SECONDS
105 Use the specified sleeping interval between checks instead of
106 the default 2.4 seconds. Fractional values are OK.
107 -V Print version information.
109 --frame
111 Draw a frame around the selected area. This is useful when try‐
112 ing to find the perfect geometry.
113
115 root-tail -g 800x250+100+50 -font 10x20 /var/log/messages,green -font
116 12x24 /var/log/secure,red,'ALERT'
117
119 Some desktop environments open a virtual root window and make it diffi‐
120 cult to share it. If you cannot see anything after starting root-tail,
121 try to find a setting "allow programs on desktop" or similar, or manu‐
122 ally specify a window id.
123 Should you happen to find any bugs please fix them and send me a diff.
125 NOTE: This program was modified by Marc Lehmann <pcg@goof.com>, who
127 couldn't reach the original author. Please direct bug-reports etc. to
128 pcg@goof.com.
129 http://root-tail.plan9.de/
1314.2 Berkeley Distribution 2004-03-27 ROOTTAIL(1)