NAME

       root-tail - print text directly to X11 root window

SYNOPSIS

       root-tail [-g|--geometry GEOMETRY] [-fn|--font FONTSPEC] [--color color] [--reload SEC COMMAND] [--shade]
       [--outline] [--minspace] [--noflicker] [-f|--fork] [--reverse] [--whole] [--partial]  [--update]  [--cont
       STRING]  [--wordwrap]  [--justify]  [--noinitial] [--frame] [--windowed} [-id ID] [-i|--interval SECONDS]
       [-V] file1[,color[,desc]] [file2[,color[,desc]]]

DESCRIPTION

       Displays a given file anywhere on your X11 root window, i.e. it is kind of tail  -f  for  multiple  files
       using your desktop background as output window.

       All  non-option  arguments  on  the  command  line  are  files  to  be  logged.  A  null  desc  (example:
       "/var/log/messages,red,") will prevent the printing of a description and the []'s.

   General Options
       --color COLOR
              Use COLOR as default.

       --font | -fn FONTSPEC
              Use font FONTSPEC. This can be either a fixed width font like -fn fixed  or  any  font  using  -fn
              '-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*'  with the appropriate fields filled out (see xfontsel).  Specifying
              a different FONTSPEC before each filename will cause each file to  be  displayed  in  a  different
              font.

       -f | --fork
              Forks to the background.

       --reverse
              Display the files in reverse order, with the newest lines at the top.

       --whole
              Only display whole lines. If the last line of a file doesn't yet end with a newline character then
              wait until it does before displaying it. This is the default  if  more  than  one  file  is  being
              displayed.

       --partial
              This  is  the opposite of the --whole option (see above). It displays lines even if they don't yet
              have a newline at the end. This is the default if only one file is being displayed.

       --update
              Update partial lines 'in place' if they are still on the screen when they  are  updated  in  their
              files. Using --update automatically turns on --partial.

       --cont STRING
              When  partial  lines  are  broken  into two lines in the display, prefix the 2nd line with STRING.
              Defaults to "|| ". Specify the "--whole" argument to ensure partial lines are never displayed,  or
              specify "--update" to attempt to "repair" broken lines in-place.

       --cont-color COLOR
              Use  COLOR when displaying the continuation string (as optionally specified with the --cont option
              above).

       --wordwrap
              The default behaviour is to fit as much as possible onto each line of output, even if  this  means
              splitting  a word between one line and the next. The --wordwrap argument splits lines at spaces if
              possible.

       --justify
              After wrapping long lines, attempt to justify the text to  produce  a  smooth  right-hand  margin.
              Implies --wordwrap.

       --reload SEC COMMAND
              Re-display  the  file(s) and run COMMAND every SEC seconds. The default is to never re-display the
              file(s).

       --shade
              Add black shading to the font.

       --outline
              Add a black outline to the font (making redraws quite a bit slower).

       --minspace
              Use minimum linespace even when using shading or outlining. This might result in  leftover  pixels
              (dependign on font and logfile content).

       --noflicker
              Use slower but flicker-free update.

       --noinitial
              Don't display the end of the file(s) initially.

       --windowed
              Create  a new window instead of reusing the root window. The newly created window covers the whole
              screen, puts itself behind all other windows and and does not accept events. Use  this  option  if
              you  use a compositing manager suihc as xcompmgr or compton, as the compositing extension has been
              very badly designed and cannot handle root windows correctly.

       -id ID Use the given window ID for output instead of the root window.

       -i | --interval SECONDS
              Use the specified sleeping interval between checks instead of the default 2.4 seconds.  Fractional
              values are OK.

       -V     Print version information.

       --frame
              Draw a frame around the selected area.  This is useful when trying to find the perfect geometry.

EXAMPLE

       root-tail    --windowed    -g    800x250+100+50   -font   10x20   /var/log/messages,green   -font   12x24
       /var/log/secure,red,'ALERT'

BUGS

       Some desktop environments open a virtual root window and make it difficult to share it. If you cannot see
       anything  after  starting  root-tail, try the --windowed option, a setting "allow programs on desktop" or
       similar, or manually specify a window id.

       Should you happen to find any bugs please fix them and send me a diff.

       NOTE: This program was modified by Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>, who  couldn't  reach  the  original
       author. Please direct bug-reports etc. to root-tail@schmorp.de.

       http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/root-tail.html