Provided by: xautolock_2.2-5.1_amd64 bug

NAME

       xautolock - fire up programs in case of user inactivity under X

VERSION

       This man page applies to xautolock version 2.2.

SYNOPSIS

       xautolock [-help]  [-version]  [-time mins] [-locker locker] [-killtime killmins] [-killer
                 killer] [-notify margin] [-notifier notifier] [-bell  percent]  [-corners  xxxx]
                 [-cornerdelay  secs]  [-cornerredelay  altsecs]  [-cornersize  pixels] [-secure]
                 [-resetsaver]  [-nocloseout]  [-nocloseerr]  [-noclose]   [-disable]   [-enable]
                 [-toggle]   [-exit]   [-locknow]  [-unlocknow]  [-nowlocker  locker]  [-restart]
                 [-detectsleep]

DESCRIPTION

       Xautolock monitors the user activity on an X Window display. If none  is  detected  within
       mins  minutes,  a  program  is  started as specified by the -locker option. Xautolock will
       typically be used to lock the screen (hence its primary name) but it really  doesn't  care
       what  program  you  make  it start. For this reason, xautolock does not interfere with the
       default X screen saver, unless the -resetsaver option is used.  This implies  that  it  is
       the  job  of  the locker or the user to take the appropriate actions if the default screen
       saver is to be disabled.  The only real  assumption  made  by  xautolock  is  that  a  new
       countdown starts as soon as the locker exits.

       In  the  presence  of  the  -notify option, a warning signal will be issued margin seconds
       before starting the locker. Warning signals come in two kinds:

       •  You can use the -notifier option to  specify  the  command  to  be  issued  to  perform
          notification.

       •  Alternatively,  you  can  let  xautolock  ring the bell. In this case, the -bell option
          specifies the loudness of the signal in percent, as described in the XBell man page.

       You can tell xautolock to take special actions when you move the mouse  into  one  of  the
       corners  of  the  display  and  leave  it  there,  by  using  the  -corners, -cornerdelay,
       -cornerredelay and -cornersize options. This works as follows:

       The xxxx argument to the -corners option must consist of exactly  4  characters  from  the
       following  set:  '0',  '+', '-'. Each one of these specifies what xautolock should do when
       the mouse enters a small square area located in each of the corners  of  the  screen.  The
       corners  are  considered  in the following order: top left, top right, bottom left, bottom
       right.  A '0' indicates that xautolock should ignore the  corner.  A  '+'  indicates  that
       xautolock  should  start  the  locker  after  secs  or  altsecs seconds (see below for the
       difference between both), unless the mouse is moved or keyboard input is received.  A  '-'
       indicates that xautolock should not start the locker at all. The pixels argument specifies
       the size in pixels of the corner areas.

       Most users of the -corners option want the locker to activate within  a  very  short  time
       interval  after they move the mouse into a '+' corner.  This can be achieved by specifying
       a small value for the -cornerdelay option. However, if  the  mouse  is  subsequently  left
       where  it  is,  xautolock  will almost immediately start a new locker right after the user
       quits the current one. To prevent this from happening, the -cornerredelay  option  can  be
       used  to specify the time-out interval to be used if and only if the mouse is sitting in a
       `+' corner and has not been moved since the previous locker exited.

       A running xautolock process can be  disabled  (unless  if  the  -secure  option  has  been
       specified),  in  which case it will not attempt to start the locker. To disable an already
       running xautolock process, use the -disable option.  To  re-enable  it,  use  -enable.  To
       toggle  it  between  both  states,  use  -toggle. Using this method is preferable to using
       sending it SIGSTOP and SIGCONT signals, because while disabled  xautolock  will  still  be
       emptying its event queue.

       A  running  xautolock  process  can also be told to exit (unless if the -secure option has
       been specified). To do this, use the -exit option.

       The -killtime and -killer options allow, amongst other things, to implement an  additional
       automatic  logout,  on top of the automatic screen locking. In the presence of one or both
       of these options, a secondary timeout will be triggered killmins after starting the locker
       (unless  user  activity  is detected in the mean time).  Upon expiration of this secondary
       timer, the killer program is run. Note that, despite the name of  the  options,  xautolock
       really  doesn't  care  what  the  killer does in reality. If it doesn't (indirectly) cause
       xautolock to get killed, and assuming that no user activity  is  detected,  the  secondary
       trigger will periodically expire every killmins minutes for as long as the locker runs.

       In combination with -killtime and -killer, the -secure option allows system administrators
       to enforce xautolock as a part of their security procedures, and to  prevent  people  from
       locking  shared  displays  for  an excessive amount of time. One way to achieve this is to
       start xautolock (using -secure and optionally -killtime and  -killer)  from  within  XDM's
       Xsession  file  in  such  a way that the session automatically ends if xautolock itself is
       killed.

       By default xautolock closes stdout and stderr. This prevents the locker from writing error
       messages  to  these  files  in  case  you  manually  lock  your display.  The -nocloseout,
       -nocloseerr and -noclose options cause xautolock to not close  stdout  and/or  stderr.  On
       some  platforms  users  of  xnlock will need to use -nocloseout, in order to make xnlock's
       witty sayings show up. These options can also be used for debugging cases in which  locker
       invocation is not successful.

       Xautolock is capable of managing multi-headed displays.

OPTIONS

       -help           Print a help message and exit.

       -version        Print the version number and exit.

       -time           Specifies  the  primary  timeout  interval. The default is 10 minutes, the
                       minimum is 1 minute, and the maximum is 1 hour.

       -locker         Specifies the locker to be used. The default  is  xlock.  Notice  that  if
                       locker  contains  multiple words, it must be specified between quotes.  In
                       order to use your PATH to locate the program, xautolock feeds  the  locker
                       command to /bin/sh, so it should be understandable for whatever shell your
                       /bin/sh is. Because this typically is a Bourne  shell,  ~  expansion  most
                       likely will not work.

       -killtime       Specifies  the  secondary  timeout  in  minutes after starting the locker.
                       This timer is only active as long as the locker is running, and  is  reset
                       each  time  user  activity  is  detected.  If it expires before the locker
                       exits, the killer command is run. The default is 20 minutes,  the  minimum
                       is  10 minutes, and the maximum is 2 hours.  This option is only useful in
                       conjunction with -killer.

       -killer         Specifies the killer to be used. The  default  is  none.  Notice  that  if
                       killer  contains  multiple words, it must be specified between quotes.  In
                       order to use your PATH to locate the program, xautolock  feeds  the  killr
                       command to /bin/sh, so it should be understandable for whatever shell your
                       /bin/sh is. Because this typically is a Bourne  shell,  ~  expansion  most
                       likely will not work.

       -notify         Warn  the  user  margin seconds before locking. The default is to not warn
                       the user. If used in conjunction with -cornerdelay or -cornerredelay,  the
                       notification margin iused is the minimum of margin, secs and/or altsecs.

       -notifier       Specifies  the  notifier  to  be used. The default is none. This option is
                       only useful in conjunction with -notify. Notice that if notifier  contains
                       multiple words, it must be specified between quotes.  In order to use your
                       PATH to locate the  program,  xautolock  feeds  the  notifier  command  to
                       /bin/sh,  so  it  should be understandable for whatever shell your /bin/sh
                       is. Because this typically is a Bourne shell, ~ expansion most likely will
                       not work.

       -bell           Specifies  the  loudness  of the notification signal in the absence of the
                       -notifier option. The default is 40 percent. This option is only useful in
                       conjunction with -notify.

       -corners        Define  special  actions  to  be  taken  when  the mouse enters one of the
                       corners of the display. The default is 0000, which means that  no  special
                       action is taken.

       -cornerdelay    Specifies  the  number  of  seconds  to  wait before reacting to the mouse
                       entering a '+' corner. The default is 5 seconds.

       -cornerredelay  Specifies the number of seconds to  wait  before  reacting  again  if  the
                       current  locker  exits  while  the  mouse  is sitting in a '+' corner. The
                       default is for altsecs to equal secs.

       -cornersize     Specifies the size in pixels of  the  corner  areas.  The  default  is  10
                       pixels.

       -resetsaver     Causes  xautolock  to reset the X screen saver after successfully starting
                       the locker. This is typically used  in  case  the  locker  is  not  really
                       intended  to  lock  the screen, but to replace the default X screen saver.
                       Note that the default screen saver is not disabled, only reset.  Also note
                       that using -resetsaver will inferfere with the DPMS monitors, as the power
                       down time out will also be also reset. The default is  not  to  reset  the
                       screen saver.

                       See  the  xset  man  page for more information about managing the X screen
                       saver.

       -detectsleep    Instructs xautolock to detect that computer has been put to  sleep.   This
                       is  done  by  detecting that time has jumped by more than 3 seconds.  When
                       this occurs, the lock timer is reset and locker program  is  not  launched
                       even if primary timeout has been reached. This option is typically used to
                       avoid locker program to be launched when awaking a laptop computer.

       -secure         Instructs xautolock to run in secure mode. In this mode, xautolock becomes
                       imune to the effects of -enable, -disable, -toggle, and -exit. The default
                       is to honour these actions.

       -nocloseout     Don't close stdout.

       -nocloseerr     Don't close stderr.

       -noclose        Close neither stdout nor stderr.

       -disable        Disables an already running xautolock process (if there  is  one,  and  it
                       does not have -secure switched on). In any case, the current invocation of
                       xautolock exits.

       -enable         Enables an already running xautolock process (if there is one, and it does
                       not  have  -secure  switched  on).  In any case, the current invocation of
                       xautolock exits.

       -toggle         Toggles an already running xautolock process (if there is one, and it does
                       not  have  -secure  switched on) between its disabled and enabled modes of
                       operation. In any case, the current invocation of xautolock exits.

       -exit           Causes an already running xautolock process (if there is one, and it  does
                       not have -secure switched on) to exit. In any case, the current invocation
                       of xautolock also exits.

       -locknow        Causes an already running xautolock process (if there is one, if  it  does
                       not  have  -secure switched on, and is not currently disabled) to lock the
                       display immediately. In any case,  the  current  invocation  of  xautolock
                       exits.

       -unlocknow      Causes  an  already running xautolock process (if there is one, if it does
                       not have -secure switched on, and is not currently disabled) to unlock the
                       display  immediately  (if  it's  locked)  by  sending the locker a SIGTERM
                       signal. In any case, the current invocation of xautolock exits.

       -nowlocker      Specifies the locker to be used if the lock  is  initiated  with  -locknow
                       option.  The  default  is  to  use  the  locker program given with -locker
                       option, which defaults to xlock.

       -restart        Causes an already running xautolock process (if there is one and  it  does
                       not  have  -secure  switched  on)  to  restart.  In  any case, the current
                       invocation of xautolock exits.

RESOURCES

       time            Specifies the primary timeout. Numerical.

       locker          Specifies the locker. No quotes are needed, even  if  the  locker  command
                       contains multiple words.

       killtime        Specifies the secondary timeout. Numerical.

       killer          Specifies  the  killer.  No  quotes are needed, even if the killer command
                       contains multiple words.

       notify          Specifies the notification margin. Numerical.

       notifier        Specifies the notifier. No quotes are needed, even if the notifier command
                       contains multiple words.

       bell            Specifies the notification loudness. Numerical.

       corners         Specifies the corner behaviour, as explained above.

       cornersize      Specifies the size of the corner areas. Numerical.

       cornerdelay     Specifies the delay of a '+' corner. Numerical.

       cornerredelay   Specifies the alternative delay of a '+' corner. Numerical.

       resetsaver      Reset the default X screen saver. Boolean.

       nocloseout      Don't close stdout. Boolean.

       nocloseerr      Don't close stderr. Boolean.

       noclose         Close neither stdout nor stderr. Boolean.

       Resources  can  be  specified  in  your ~/.Xresources or ~/.Xdefaults file (whichever your
       system uses) and merged via the xrdb(1) command. They can be specified  either  for  class
       Xautolock,  or for whatever name your xautolock program has been given. This can be useful
       in case xautolock is to be used for other purposes than simply  locking  the  screen.  For
       example:  if  you  have  two  copies  of  xautolock, one called "xmonitor", and one called
       "xlogout", then both will honour the following:

              Xautolock.corners: ++++

       In addition, "xmonitor" will honour:

              xmonitor.cornersize: 10

       while "xlogout" will honour:

              xlogout.cornersize: 5

       Each command line option  takes  precedence  over  the  corresponding  (default)  resource
       specification.

KNOWN BUGS

       The  -disable,  -enable, -toggle, -exit, -locknow, -unlocknow, and -restart options depend
       on access to the X server to do their work. This implies that they will  be  suspended  in
       case some other application has grabbed the server all for itself.

       If, when creating a window, an application waits for more than 30 seconds before selecting
       KeyPress events on non-leaf windows, xautolock may interfere with  the  event  propagation
       mechanism.  This  effect  is  theoretical and has never been observed in real life. It can
       only occur in case xautolock has been compiled without support for both the Xidle and  the
       MIT ScreenSaver extensions, or in case the X server does not support these extensions.

       xautolock  does  not always properly handle the secure keyboard mode of terminal emulators
       like xterm, since that mode will prevent  xautolock  from  noticing  the  keyboard  events
       occurring on the terminal. Therefore, xautolock sometimes thinks that there is no keyboard
       activity while in reality there is. This  can  only  occur  in  case  xautolock  has  been
       compiled without support for both the Xidle and the MIT ScreenSaver extensions, or in case
       the X server does not support these extensions.

       xautolock does not check whether notifier and/or locker are available.

       The xautolock resources have dummy resource classes.

SEE ALSO

       X(1), xset(1), xlock(1), xnlock(1), xscreensaver(1).

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright 1990, 1992-1999, 2001-2002, 2004, 2007 by Stefan De Troch and Michel Eyckmans.

       Versions 2.0 and above of xautolock are available under version 2 of the GNU GPL.  Earlier
       versions are available under other conditions. For more information, see the License file.

AUTHORS

       Xautolock was conceived, written, and performed by:

       Michel Eyckmans (MCE)
       Stefan De Troch

       Please send queries for help, feature suggestions, bug reports, etc.  to mce@scarlet.be.

SPECIAL THANKS TO

       Kris Croes

                                        December 28, 2007                            xautolock(1)