Provided by: xwrits_2.21-6.1_amd64 bug

NAME

       xwrits - reminds you to take wrist breaks

SYNOPSIS

       xwrits [-display display] [typetime=time] [breaktime=time] [other options]

DESCRIPTION

       Xwrits  reminds you to take wrist breaks for prevention or management of repetitive stress
       injuries. When you should take a break, it pops up an X window, the  warning  window.  You
       click  on  the  warning window, then take a break. The window changes appearance while you
       take the break. It changes again when your break is over. Then  you  just  resume  typing.
       Xwrits hides itself until you should take another break.

       The  typetime  option  changes the amount of time between breaks, and the breaktime option
       changes the length of a break. The defaults are 55 minutes and 5 minutes, respectively.

       Xwrits's graphics are brightly colored pictures of a wrist and hand. The hand clenches and
       spreads  ``as  if  in  pain''  on the warning window, slumps relaxed during the break, and
       points forward valiantly when the break is over. It  is  trapped  behind  bars  while  the
       keyboard is locked. Other gestures are included (see the +finger option). You can also use
       your own pictures: see the warning-picture, rest-picture, and ready-picture options.

       Normally, xwrits works through annoyance -- it flashes until you stop typing. However,  an
       option makes it actively prevent you from typing by locking the screen. See +lock below.

       Xwrits  notices  when you leave your workstation idle, and treats a long idle period as if
       you took a break. You can turn this off with the -idle option. With the +mouse option,  it
       will  also  monitor  your  mouse movements -- you won't be able to move the mouse during a
       break without aborting the break.

       Each wrist break normally lasts the same amount of time. This  is  what  doctors  suggest,
       but,  if you'd like, the +quota option will reward you for taking small breaks by reducing
       the length of the next official break.

       Some doctors recommend taking a short ``microbreak'' every five  minutes,  as  well  as  a
       longer  break  every  hour. To use xwrits this way, just run two xwrits processes, one for
       the microbreaks and one for the longer breaks.

ESCALATION

       It is easy to put the warning window aside ``for 5 minutes'' and ignore it for fifty.  The
       after=delay  option  causes xwrits to escalate its activity over time, making it harder to
       ignore.

       Options following after come into effect after you have ignored  the  warning  window  for
       delay.  In  other  words, xwrits's behavior escalates after delay. For instance, with this
       command line,
            xwrits flashtime=:2 after=10 flashtime=:.03
       the warning window will begin flashing very quickly if it is ignored for 10 minutes.

       Any options preceding an after option also  apply  following  it,  unless  you  explicitly
       cancel them. For example:
            xwrits +finger after=10 -finger

       Multiple  after options create a series of escalations. Delay arguments are cumulative, so
       ``after=10 after=10'' means the same as ``after=20''.

       One interesting use for after is to make a break's length depend on how long you waited to
       take it. For example:
            xwrits break=5 after=10 break=7
       Here,  a  wrist  break normally takes 5 minutes. However, if you ignore the warning window
       for 10 minutes or more before taking a break, the wrist break will last 7 minutes.

OPTIONS

       All options may be abbreviated to their unique prefixes. Some may be abbreviated  further,
       in  which case the smallest legal abbreviation is shown in brackets. Options are processed
       from left to right.

       Options listed as ``+option (-option)'' are toggles, which can be on or off. A + turns the
       option  on;  -  turns  it off. Off is the default for most toggle options, and only the on
       behavior is described. You can leave off the + sign if you like:  ``xwrits  +finger''  and
       ``xwrits finger'' are equivalent. Or you can say ``-no-finger'' instead of ``-finger''.

       Many  options  take  arguments.  You  can  give  these after an equal sign, as in ``xwrits
       breaktime=2''. Non-optional arguments  can  also  be  given  separately,  as  in  ``xwrits
       breaktime 2''.

       Time  arguments  are  expressed  in minutes. For example, ``2'' is 2 minutes, ``2.5'' is 2
       minutes 30 seconds. Use a colon to specify seconds: ``2:05.4'' is 2 minutes  5.4  seconds,
       and ``:5'' is 5 seconds.

       -display display
            Specify  the  X  display.  Xwrits  monitors  this  display  for  keystrokes and mouse
            movements, and displays windows on it. You can simultaneously monitor more  than  one
            display  by  giving  this  option  multiple times; for example, ``xwrits display :0.0
            display fun-orgy:0.0''.

       +multiscreen (-multiscreen)
            When this option is on, xwrits will open every available  screen  on  each  specified
            display.  Useful for multihead displays.

       typetime=time [t]
            Allow typing for time between breaks. Default is 55 minutes.

       breaktime=time [b]
            The  amount  of time a break lasts. Default is 5 minutes. This option can be supplied
            multiple times; see ESCALATION above.

       after=delay-time
            See ESCALATION above.

       bars-picture=file [bp=file]
            Sets the background GIF image that appears while the screen is  locked.  By  default,
            this is an image of bars designed to work with the usual lock-picture. If you specify
            your own lock-picture, however, bars-picture defaults to a black screen. (Say ``bars-
            picture="&bars"'' to keep the bars.) Animations are not acceptable.

       +beep (-beep)
            Xwrits will beep when the break should begin and again when it is over.

       +breakclock (-breakclock) [bc]
            A  clock  will  appear  in  the resting window showing how many minutes remain in the
            wrist break.

       canceltime=time [ct]
            Allow typing for time after a break is cancelled. You cancel a break by deleting  all
            xwrits  windows  with your window manager. This time should probably be less than the
            regular type time. Default is 10 minutes.

       +cheat[=num] (-cheat)
            Allows you to cheat during a break. You can type num keystrokes before xwrits cancels
            the  break. Default for num is 5. (If you're using +mouse, mouse movements also count
            as keystrokes.)

       +clock (-clock) [c]
            A clock will appear in the warning window showing how many minutes you've put off the
            wrist break.

       +finger (-finger) [f]
            The warning window will be rude to you.

       +finger=culture
            The  warning  window  will  be  rude to you, according to culture's idea of rudeness.
            Possible  values  for  culture  are  `american'  (the  default),  `korean'  (synonyms
            `japanese' and `russian'), and `german'.

       flashtime=time
            The amount of time between flashes of the warning window. Default is 2 seconds.

       +flipoff (-flipoff)
            Synonym for +finger.

       +iconified (-iconified)
            The warning window will initially appear as an icon.

       +idle[=idletime] (-idle) [i]
            If  you  leave your workstation idle for idletime or longer, xwrits will behave as if
            you took a break. The default for idletime is the break length (see breaktime above).
            idle is on by default.

       +lock[=jump-time] (-lock)
            Xwrits  will  lock  your screen until your break is over. You can prematurely disable
            the lock and get a normal warning  window  by  typing  your  password  (see  password
            below).  The jump-time argument specifies how fast the screensaver will move; default
            is 4 seconds. If the keyboard has been grabbed by another application when  the  lock
            is attempted, the lock fails and a normal warning window appears instead.

       lock-picture=file [lp=file]
            Sets  the  GIF  image  that  appears  while  the  screen  is  locked.  Animations are
            acceptable. See also bars-picture.

       maxhands=num
            No more than num warning windows will appear on your screen simultaneously. Normally,
            there  will  be  only one warning window, but see +multiply below. Num cannot be less
            than 1, or more than 137. Default is 25.

       minbreaktime=time
            Sets the minimum break length to time. This option is meaningful when  +quota  is  on
            (see  below);  no matter how many short breaks you take, the break length will not be
            shortened below time. It defaults to half the break time or the quota time, whichever
            is larger.

       mono (-mono)
            Xwrits  will  display its graphics in black and white. This may be useful if you live
            in a world with a limited colormap.

       +mouse[=sensitivity] (-mouse)
            Xwrits will monitor your mouse movements. Every couple seconds, it checks whether the
            mouse  has  moved.  Movements  of  more  than sensitivity pixels in any direction are
            treated like key presses. Default for sensitivity is 15 pixels.

       +multiply[=breed-time] (-multiply) [m]
            A new warning window will be created every breed-time. Default for breed-time is  2.3
            seconds.

       +noiconify (-noiconify)
            The warning window will not allow itself to be iconified.

       password=password
            The  password  you type to unlock a locked screen (see +lock above).  Xwrits does not
            protect this password from intruders.  Therefore, do not use your login  password  or
            any other password you must keep secure. Default is ``quit''.

       +quota[=time] (-quota)
            If you leave your workstation idle for more than time, the idle time is deducted from
            the length of your next break. This option turns the break length into a break  quota
            -- instead of resting for breaktime consecutive minutes every typetime, you must rest
            for a total of breaktime minutes per typetime. Default for time is 1 minute. See also
            minbreaktime.

       ready-picture=file [okp=file]
            Sets  the image that appears when your break is over to an arbitrary GIF.  Animations
            are acceptable.

       rest-picture=file [rp=file]
            Sets the image that appears during your break to an arbitrary  GIF.   Animations  are
            acceptable.

       title=text
            Xwrits windows will have text for their title, instead of the default ``xwrits''.

       +top (-top)
            The  warning  window  will try to keep itself above all other windows on the desktop.
            (Note: it can be fooled into staying only partially visible.)

       +verbose (-verbose)
            Xwrits will print a lot of information about the windows on which it is listening for
            keystrokes. This is mostly useful for debugging.

       version
            Prints the version number and some quickie warranty information and exits.

       warning-picture=file [wp=file]
            Sets  the  image  that appears on the warning window to an arbitrary GIF.  Animations
            are acceptable.

EXAMPLES

       Here is the way I run xwrits:
            xwrits typetime=40 finger after 15 clock multiply=5:1.4
       This looks pretty spectacular:
            xwrits t=0 b=:2 f fla=:.5 m=:.31 max=100 -i
       Whee!!

AUTHOR

       Eddie Kohler, kohler@icir.org
       http://www.icir.org/kohler/

       http://www.lcdf.org/xwrits/
       The xwrits home page (for distributions and so forth).

       Idea for idle processing code from xautolock(1) by Stefan De Troch and Michel Eyckmans

BUGS

       Xwrits does not use the X resource database at all.

       More options might be nice. So might more careful screen locking and password  protection.
       I would like to include rude finger gestures from other cultures (see the GESTURES file in
       the distribution for gestures I know about so far).

       Please send any bugs, comments, or suggestions to me.

       Yes the misspelling is intentional.

       Yes it's my left wrist.