cvsroot/root-tail/root-tail.man

.TH ROOTTAIL 1 "2019-06-14" "Version 1.3"
.UC 5
.SH NAME
root-tail \- print text directly to X11 root window
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B root-tail
.RB [ \-g \|| \-\-geometry
.IR GEOMETRY ]
.RB [ \-fn \|| \-\-font
.IR FONTSPEC ]
.RB [ \-\-color
.IR color ]
.RB [ \-\-reload
.IR SEC
.IR COMMAND ]
.RB [ \-\-shade ]
.RB [ \-\-outline ]
.RB [ \-\-minspace ]
.RB [ \-\-noflicker ]
.RB [ \-f \|| \-\-fork ]
.RB [ \-\-reverse ]
.RB [ \-\-whole ]
.RB [ \-\-partial ]
.RB [ \-\-update ]
.RB [ \-\-cont
.IR STRING ]
.RB [ \-\-wordwrap ]
.RB [ \-\-justify ]
.RB [ \-\-noinitial ]
.RB [ \-\-frame ]
.RB [ \-\-windowed }
.RB [ \-id
.IR ID ]
.RB [ \-i \|| \-\-interval
.IR SECONDS ]
.RB [ \-V ]
file1[,color[,desc]]
[file2[,color[,desc]]]
.\" Die Beschreibung
.SH 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.
.PP
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.
.PP
.SS General Options
.TP
.BI \-\-color " COLOR"
Use COLOR as default.
.TP
.BI "\-\-font \|| -fn" " FONTSPEC"
Use font FONTSPEC. This can be either a fixed width font like \fB\-fn\fI
fixed\fR or any font using \fB\-fn \fR'\fI-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*\fR' 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.
.TP
.B -f \|| \-\-fork
Forks to the background.
.TP
.B \-\-reverse
Display the files in reverse order, with the newest lines at the top.
.TP
.B \-\-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.
.TP
.B \-\-partial
This is the opposite of the \fB\-\-whole\fR 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.
.TP
.B \-\-update
Update partial lines 'in place' if they are still on the screen when
they are updated in their files. Using \fB\-\-update\fR automatically turns on
\fB\-\-partial\fR.
.TP
.BI \-\-cont " STRING"
When partial lines are broken into two lines in the display, prefix
the 2nd line with STRING. Defaults to "\fI|| \fR". Specify the "\fB\-\-whole\fR"
argument to ensure partial lines are never displayed, or specify "\fB\-\-update\fR"
to attempt to "repair" broken lines in-place.
.TP
.BI \-\-cont-color " COLOR"
Use COLOR when displaying the continuation string (as optionally
specified with the \fB\-\-cont\fR option above).
.TP
.B \-\-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 \fB\-\-wordwrap\fR argument splits lines at spaces if
possible.
.TP
.B \-\-justify
After wrapping long lines, attempt to justify the text to produce a
smooth right-hand margin.  Implies \fB\-\-wordwrap\fR.
.TP
.BI \-\-reload " SEC COMMAND"
Re-display the file(s) and run COMMAND every SEC seconds. The
default is to never re-display the file(s).
.TP
.B \-\-shade
Add black shading to the font.
.TP
.B \-\-outline
Add a black outline to the font (making redraws quite a bit slower).
.TP
.B \-\-minspace
Use minimum linespace even when using shading or outlining. This might result in
leftover pixels (dependign on font and logfile content).
.TP
.B \-\-noflicker
Use slower but flicker-free update.
.TP
.B \-\-noinitial
Don't display the end of the file(s) initially.
.TP
.BI \-\-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.
.TP
.BI "\-id" " ID"
Use the given window ID for output instead of the root window.
.TP
.BI "\-i \|| \-\-interval" " SECONDS"
Use the specified sleeping interval between checks instead of the
default 2.4 seconds. Fractional values are OK.
.TP
.B \-V
Print version information.
.TP
.B \-\-frame
Draw a frame around the selected area.  This is useful when trying to
find the perfect geometry.
.IP
.SH EXAMPLE
.PP
root-tail --windowed -g 800x250+100+50 -font 10x20 /var/log/messages,green -font 12x24 /var/log/secure,red,'ALERT'
.SH BUGS
.PP
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.
.PP
Should you happen to find any bugs please fix them and send me a diff.
.PP
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.
.PP
http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/root-tail.html

Revision:	1.21
Committed:	Sun Jun 16 01:34:45 2019 UTC (7 years, 3 months ago) by root
Content type:	application/x-troff-man
Branch:	MAIN
CVS Tags:	rel-1_3, HEAD
Changes since 1.20:	+6 -5 lines
Log Message:	* empty log message *
#	Content
1	.TH ROOTTAIL 1 "2019-06-14" "Version 1.3"
2	.UC 5
3	.SH NAME
4	root-tail \- print text directly to X11 root window
5	.SH SYNOPSIS
6	.B root-tail
7	.RB [ \-g \\|\| \-\-geometry
8	.IR GEOMETRY ]
9	.RB [ \-fn \\|\| \-\-font
10	.IR FONTSPEC ]
11	.RB [ \-\-color
12	.IR color ]
13	.RB [ \-\-reload
14	.IR SEC
15	.IR COMMAND ]
16	.RB [ \-\-shade ]
17	.RB [ \-\-outline ]
18	.RB [ \-\-minspace ]
19	.RB [ \-\-noflicker ]
20	.RB [ \-f \\|\| \-\-fork ]
21	.RB [ \-\-reverse ]
22	.RB [ \-\-whole ]
23	.RB [ \-\-partial ]
24	.RB [ \-\-update ]
25	.RB [ \-\-cont
26	.IR STRING ]
27	.RB [ \-\-wordwrap ]
28	.RB [ \-\-justify ]
29	.RB [ \-\-noinitial ]
30	.RB [ \-\-frame ]
31	.RB [ \-\-windowed }
32	.RB [ \-id
33	.IR ID ]
34	.RB [ \-i \\|\| \-\-interval
35	.IR SECONDS ]
36	.RB [ \-V ]
37	file1[,color[,desc]]
38	[file2[,color[,desc]]]
39	.\" Die Beschreibung
40	.SH DESCRIPTION
41	Displays a given file anywhere on your X11 root window, i.e. it is kind of tail -f for multiple files
42	using your desktop background as output window.
43	.PP
44	All non-option arguments on the command line are files to be logged. A
45	null desc (example: "/var/log/messages,red,") will prevent the printing of
46	a description and the []'s.
47	.PP
48	.SS General Options
49	.TP
50	.BI \-\-color " COLOR"
51	Use COLOR as default.
52	.TP
53	.BI "\-\-font \\|\| -fn" " FONTSPEC"
54	Use font FONTSPEC. This can be either a fixed width font like \fB\-fn\fI
55	fixed\fR or any font using \fB\-fn \fR'\fI--------------\fR' with
56	the appropriate fields filled out (see xfontsel). Specifying a
57	different FONTSPEC before each filename will cause each file to be
58	displayed in a different font.
59	.TP
60	.B -f \\|\| \-\-fork
61	Forks to the background.
62	.TP
63	.B \-\-reverse
64	Display the files in reverse order, with the newest lines at the top.
65	.TP
66	.B \-\-whole
67	Only display whole lines. If the last line of a file doesn't yet end
68	with a newline character then wait until it does before displaying
69	it. This is the default if more than one file is being displayed.
70	.TP
71	.B \-\-partial
72	This is the opposite of the \fB\-\-whole\fR option (see above). It displays
73	lines even if they don't yet have a newline at the end. This is the
74	default if only one file is being displayed.
75	.TP
76	.B \-\-update
77	Update partial lines 'in place' if they are still on the screen when
78	they are updated in their files. Using \fB\-\-update\fR automatically turns on
79	\fB\-\-partial\fR.
80	.TP
81	.BI \-\-cont " STRING"
82	When partial lines are broken into two lines in the display, prefix
83	the 2nd line with STRING. Defaults to "\fI\|\| \fR". Specify the "\fB\-\-whole\fR"
84	argument to ensure partial lines are never displayed, or specify "\fB\-\-update\fR"
85	to attempt to "repair" broken lines in-place.
86	.TP
87	.BI \-\-cont-color " COLOR"
88	Use COLOR when displaying the continuation string (as optionally
89	specified with the \fB\-\-cont\fR option above).
90	.TP
91	.B \-\-wordwrap
92	The default behaviour is to fit as much as possible onto each line of
93	output, even if this means splitting a word between one line and the
94	next. The \fB\-\-wordwrap\fR argument splits lines at spaces if
95	possible.
96	.TP
97	.B \-\-justify
98	After wrapping long lines, attempt to justify the text to produce a
99	smooth right-hand margin. Implies \fB\-\-wordwrap\fR.
100	.TP
101	.BI \-\-reload " SEC COMMAND"
102	Re-display the file(s) and run COMMAND every SEC seconds. The
103	default is to never re-display the file(s).
104	.TP
105	.B \-\-shade
106	Add black shading to the font.
107	.TP
108	.B \-\-outline
109	Add a black outline to the font (making redraws quite a bit slower).
110	.TP
111	.B \-\-minspace
112	Use minimum linespace even when using shading or outlining. This might result in
113	leftover pixels (dependign on font and logfile content).
114	.TP
115	.B \-\-noflicker
116	Use slower but flicker-free update.
117	.TP
118	.B \-\-noinitial
119	Don't display the end of the file(s) initially.
120	.TP
121	.BI \-\-windowed
122	Create a new window instead of reusing the root window. The newly created window
123	covers the whole screen, puts itself behind all other windows and and does not accept
124	events. Use this option if you use a compositing manager suihc as xcompmgr or compton, as
125	the compositing extension has been very badly designed and cannot handle root windows
126	correctly.
127	.TP
128	.BI "\-id" " ID"
129	Use the given window ID for output instead of the root window.
130	.TP
131	.BI "\-i \\|\| \-\-interval" " SECONDS"
132	Use the specified sleeping interval between checks instead of the
133	default 2.4 seconds. Fractional values are OK.
134	.TP
135	.B \-V
136	Print version information.
137	.TP
138	.B \-\-frame
139	Draw a frame around the selected area. This is useful when trying to
140	find the perfect geometry.
141	.IP
142	.SH EXAMPLE
143	.PP
144	root-tail --windowed -g 800x250+100+50 -font 10x20 /var/log/messages,green -font 12x24 /var/log/secure,red,'ALERT'
145	.SH BUGS
146	.PP
147	Some desktop environments open a virtual root window and make it difficult to share it. If
148	you cannot see anything after starting root-tail, try the \-\-windowed option, a setting "allow programs
149	on desktop" or similar, or manually specify a window id.
150	.PP
151	Should you happen to find any bugs please fix them and send me a diff.
152	.PP
153	NOTE: This program was modified by Marc Lehmann <schmorp@schmorp.de>, who
154	couldn't reach the original author. Please direct bug-reports etc. to
155	root-tail@schmorp.de.
156	.PP
157	http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/root-tail.html
158