1XSNOW(6) User Commands XSNOW(6)
2
6 xsnow - Snow and Santa on your desktop
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9 xsnow [OPTION]...
10
12 Xsnow shows an animation of Santa and snow on your desktop. Xsnow can
13 also run in one or more windows, see options -xwininfo, -id . (These
14 options only work satisfactorily in an X11 environment.) Xsnow depends
15 on an X11 environment. This is forced by setting the environment
16 variable GDK_BACKEND=x11 before initializing the GTK. Hopefully, this
17 will ensure that xsnow also runs in a Wayland environment for some
18 time.
19 If xsnow is misbehaving, try to remove the file $HOME/.xsnowrc.
21 General options:
23 Below: <n> denotes an unsigned decimal (e.g 123) or octal (e.g. 017) or
24 hex (e.g. 0x50009) number. <c> denotes a string like "red" or
25 "#123456".
26 -h, -help
29 print this text.
30 -H, -manpage
32 print man page.
33 -v, -version
35 prints version of xsnow.
36 -display name
38 Drop the snowflakes on the given display. Make sure the display
39 is nearby, so you can hear them enjoy...
40 -vintage
42 Run xsnow in vintage settings.
43 -defaults
45 Do not read config file (see FILES).
46 -noconfig
48 Do not read or write config file (see FILES).
49 -hidemenu
51 Start with hidden interactive menu.
52 -nomenu
54 Do not start and show interactive menu.
55 -theme <n>
57 1: use xsnow theme for menu; 0: use system theme (default: 1)
58 -checkgtk <n>
60 0: Do not check gtk version before starting the user interface.
61 1: Check gtk version before starting the user interface.
62 (default: 1).
63 -id <n>, -window-id <n>
65 Snow in window with id (for example from xwininfo).
66 -desktop
68 Act as if window is a desktop.
69 -movewindow <n>
71 1: move snow window to position 0,0 (default: 1)
72 -allworkspaces <n>
74 0: use one desktop for snow, 1: use all desktops (default: 1).
75 -above Snow above your windows. Default is to snow below your windows.
77 NOTE: in some environments this results in an un-clickable
78 desktop.
79 -xwininfo
81 Use a cursor to point at the window you want the snow to be
82 fallen in.
83 -bg <c>
85 Use color <c> to erase obsolete drawings (snow, santa, ...).
86 Useful in for example KDE: create mono colored background, and
87 specify the same color here, e.g: -bg "#123456" (default:
88 #000000.) See also -usebg.
89 -usebg <n>
91 1: Use background color (see -bg) to erase. 0: Do not. (default:
92 0). Only works if not using GTK-Cairo for painting, see also
93 -wantwindow.
94 -exposures
96 Use XClearArea(...,exposures=True) when erasing.
97 -noexposures
99 (Default) Use XClearArea(...,exposures=False) when erasing.
100 Exposures have effect with '-xwininfo'.
101 -stopafter <n>
103 Stop xsnow after so many seconds.
104 -root Force to paint on (virtual) root window.
106 Use this for xscreensaver: in ~.xscreensaver add:
107 xsnow -root
108 On some systems you need to add the flag -nomenu to disable the
109 menu:
110 xsnow -root -nomenu
111 Probably, you want to start xscreensaver as follows:
112 xscreensaver -no-capture-stderr
113 -wantwindow <c>
115 Specify your favorite window for Santa:
116 default
118 If possible, use GTK-Cairo window for Santa snow and scenery.
119 transparent
121 If possible, use transparent X11-window for Santa, snow and
122 scenery.
123 -noisy Write extra info about some mouse clicks, X errors etc, to
125 stdout.
126 -cpuload <n>
128 How busy is your system with xsnow: the higher, the more load on
129 the system (default: 100).
130 Snow options:
132 -snowflakes <n>
133 The higher, the more snowflakes are generated per second.
134 Default: 100.
135 -blowsnow
137 (Default) Animate blow-off snow.
138 -noblowsnow
140 Do not animate blowing snow from trees or windows
141 -sc <c>
143 Use the given string as color for the flakes (default: snow).
144 -snowspeedfactor <n>
146 Multiply the speed of snow with this number/100 (default: 100).
147 -snowsize <n>
149 Set size of (non-vintage) snow flakes (default: 8).
150 -snow (Default) Show snow.
152 -nosnow -nosnowflakes
154 Do not show snow.
155 -flakecountmax <n>
157 Maximum number of active flakes (default: 300).
158 -blowofffactor <n>
160 The higher, the more snow is generated in blow-off scenarios
161 (default: 40).
162 Tree options:
164 -treetype <n>[,<n> ...]
165 Choose tree types: minimum 0, maximum 7 (default:
166 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,). Thanks to Carla Vermin for numbers >=3!
167 Credits: Image by b0red on Pixabay.
168 -treetype all
170 (Default) Use all non-vintage available tree types.
171 -tc <c>
173 Use the given string as the color for the vintage tree (default:
174 chartreuse). Works only for treetype 0.
175 -notrees
177 Do not display the trees.
178 -showtrees
180 (Default) Display the trees.
181 -trees <n>
183 Desired number of trees. Default 10.
184 -treefill <n>
186 Region in percents of the height of the window where trees grow
187 (default: 30).
188 Santa options:
190 -showsanta
191 (Default) Display Santa running all over the screen.
192 -nosanta
194 Do not display Santa running all over the screen.
195 -showrudolph
197 (Default) With Rudolph.
198 -norudolph
200 No Rudolph.
201 -santa <n>
203 The minimum size of Santa is 0, the maximum size is 4. Default
204 is 3. Thanks to Thomas Linder for the (big) Santa 2! Santa 3
205 is derived from Santa 2, and shows the required eight reindeer.
206 The appearance of Santa 4 may be a surprise, thanks to Carla
207 Vermin for this one.
208 -santaspeedfactor <n>
210 The speed Santa should not be excessive if he doesn't want to
211 get fined. The appropriate speed for the Santa chosen will be
212 multiplied by santaspeedfactor/100 (default: 100).
213 Celestial options:
215 -wind (Default) It will get windy now and then.
216 -nowind
218 By default it gets windy now and then. If you prefer quiet
219 weather specify -nowind.
220 -whirlfactor <n>
222 This sets the whirl factor, i.e. the maximum adjustment of the
223 horizontal speed. The default value is 100.
224 -windtimer <n>
226 With -windtimer you can specify how often it gets windy. It's
227 sort of a period in seconds, default value is 30.
228 -stars <n>
230 The number of stars (default: 20).
231 -meteorites
233 (Default) Show meteorites.
234 -nometeorites
236 Do not show meteorites.
237 -moon <n>
239 1: show moon, 0: do not show moon (default: 1).
240 Picture of moon thanks to Pedro Lasta on Unsplash.
241 https://unsplash.com/photos/wCujVcf0JDw
242 -moonspeed <n>
244 Speed of moon in pixels/minute (default: 120).
245 -moonsize <n>
247 Size of moon in pixels (default: 100).
248 -halo <n>
250 1: show halo around moon, 0: do not show halo (default: 1).
251 -halobrightness <n>
253 Brightness of halo (default: 25).
254 Fallen snow options:
256 -wsnowdepth <n>
257 Maximum thickness of snow on top of windows (default: 30).
258 -ssnowdepth <n>
260 Maximum thickness of snow at the bottom of the screen (default:
261 50).
262 -maxontrees <n>
264 Maximum number of flakes on trees. Default 200.
265 -keepsnowonwindows
267 (Default) Keep snow on top of the windows.
268 -nokeepsnowonwindows
270 Do not keep snow on top of the windows.
271 -keepsnowonscreen
273 (Default) Keep snow at the bottom of the screen.
274 -nokeepsnowonscreen
276 Do not keep snow at the bottom of the screen.
277 -keepsnowontrees
279 (Default) Keep snow on trees.
280 -nokeepsnowontrees
282 Do not keep snow on trees.
283 -keepsnow
285 (Default) Have snow sticking anywhere.
286 -nokeepsnow
288 Do not have snow sticking anywhere.
289 -fluffy
291 (Default) Create fluff on fallen snow.
292 -nofluffy
294 Do not create fluff on fallen snow.
295 -offsetx <n>
297 Correction for window-manager provided x-coordinate of window.
298 Default 4.
299 -offsety <n>
301 Correction for window-manager provided y-coordinate of window.
302 Default 0.
303 -offsetw <n>
305 Correction for window-manager provided width of window. Default
306 -8.
307 -offsets <n>
309 Correction for bottom coordinate of your screen. A negative
310 value lifts the xsnow screen up. Default 0.
311 Birds options:
313 -anarchy <n>
314 Anarchy factor ( 0..100 default: 50).
315 -birdscolor <c>
317 Use the given string as color for the birds (default: #361A07).
318 -birdsonly <n>
320 Show only birds ( 0/1 default: 0).
321 -birdsspeed <n>
323 Speed of birds ( 0..300 default: 100).
324 -disweight <n>
326 Eagerness to keep desired distance ( 0..100 default: 20).
327 -focuscentre <n>
329 Eagerness to fly to the focus ( 0..300 default: 100).
330 -followneighbours <n>
332 Eagerness to follow neighbours ( 0..100 default: 30).
333 -nbirds <n>
335 Number of birds ( 0..400 default: 70).
336 -neighbours <n>
338 Number of neighbours to watch ( 0..20 default: 7).
339 -prefdistance <n>
341 Preferred distance to neighbours ( 0..100 default: 20).
342 -showbirds <n>
344 Show birds ( 0/1 default: 1).
345 -showattr <n>
347 Show attraction point ( 0/1 default: 0).
348 -followsanta <n>
350 Birds like Santa ( 0/1 default: 1).
351 -viewingdistance <n>
353 Viewing distance ( 0..95 default: 40).
354 FILES
356 $HOME/.xsnowrc
357 Settings are read from and written to this file. See flags
358 -noconfig and -defaults how to influence this behaviour.
359 NOTE: the following settings are not read or written:
360 -above -defaults -desktop -fullscreen -noconfig -id
361 -nomenu -stopafter -xwininfo -display -noisy
362 -checkgtk
363 $HOME/xsnow/pixmaps/tree.xpm
366 If present, xsnow will try this file for displaying the trees.
367 The format must be xpm (X PixMap) format, see
368 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_PixMap .
369 NOTE: when this file is present, no menu will appear.
370 $HOME/xsnow/pixmaps/santa<n>.xpm
373 where <n> = 1,2,3,4. If present, xsnow will try this files (4
374 of them) for displaying Santa. The format must be xpm (X PixMap)
375 format, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_PixMap .
376 NOTE: when these files are present, no menu will appear.
377 EXAMPLES
380 $ xsnow -defaults # run with defaults.
381 $ xsnow # run using values from the config file.
382 $ xsnow -treetype 1,2 # use tree types 1 and 2.
383 BUGS
385 - Xsnow needs a complete rewrite: the code is a mess.
386 - The flags are not consistent, caused by trying to be
387 compatible with older versions.
388 - Xsnow stresses the Xserver too much.
389 - Xsnow does run in Wayland, but will not snow on all windows.
390 - Xsnow tries to create a click-through window. This is not successful
391 in for example FVWM/xcompmgr. In that case, xsnow tries to keep
392 the snow window below all others, resulting in a transient effect
393 when you click on the desktop. Sadly, no FVWM menu will appear...
394 - Remnants of fluffy snow can persist after removing the
395 fallen snow. These will gradually disappear, so no big deal.
396 - Remnants of meteorites can persist after passage of Santa.
397 These will eventually be wiped out by snow or Santa.
398 - Xsnow tries to adapt its snowing window if the display
399 settings are changed while xsnow is running.
400 This does not function always well.
401 - In multi-screen environments, it depends on the display settings
402 if it is snowing on all screens. Experiment!
403
405 This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There is
406 NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
407 PURPOSE.
408xsnow-3.2.3 2020 XSNOW(6)