DTSCREEN(1)

📦
version 2.5.3 · 2 versions
, in nixos 26.05

✨ dtscreen — the Common Desktop Environment animated screen savers ✨

okay so real talk, this is dtscreen, a user command (that's the manual section, bestie, user cmd), and it's the whole vibe department of CDE. let's get into it 💅

🌈 SYNOPSIS

dtscreen [-display dsp] [-delay usecs] [-batchcount num] [-saturation
value] [-nice nicelevel] [-mode mode]

💖 DESCRIPTION

The dtscreen client supports the following key tasks. no cap, this is the whole resume:

  • Draws an animated image on a provided window id(s).
  • Does not assume the size of the provided window(s).
  • Provides a set of selectable animated images.
  • Animation parameters such as nice, speed, number and saturation may be specified.

The dtscreen client provides the default screen saver animations for the desktop. When launched, it will query the desktop using the API for the set for window ids on which to draw. These window ids could be the cover windows created by the session manager for session lock, or a window embedded in the style manager's session lock customization dialog. Once obtained, the dtscreen client will proceed to draw in these windows using the specified options. If dtscreen cannot obtain the set of window ids, it will create its own. Normally, the dtscreen client will be invoked directly by the session manager, or by the style manager.

👀 heads up bestie: the Session Manager, dtsession, is responsible for locking the session and prompting for a password to unlock. dtscreen is literally just here to look pretty.

The session manager may launch the dtscreen client to provide screen saver animations during session lock. Refer to the session manager specification for resources controlling the launching of screen savers by the session manager.

The style manager may launch the dtscreen client to provide a preview of a screen saver animation during customization. Refer to the style manager specification for information on how to integrate a screen saver client such as dtscreen into the desktop.

The dtsession client provides a selectable set of animations. These are:

  • hop — Hopalong iterated fractals.
  • life — Conway's game of life.
  • qix — Spinning lines.
  • image — Random bouncing image.
  • swarm — Swarm of bees.
  • rotor — Rotor
  • pyro — Fireworks.
  • flame — Cosmic Flame Fractals.
  • worm — Wiggly Worms.
  • random — Random mode.

The dtscreen client animations are based on xlock(1). ✨ heritage ✨

🎀 OPTIONS

  • -display dsp — The display on which animations will be drawn.
  • -delay usecs — The delay option sets the speed at which a mode will operate. It simply sets the number of microseconds to delay between batches of "hopalong pixels", "qix lines", "life generations", "image blits", and "swarm motions".
  • -batchcount num — The batchcount option sets the number of things to do per batch to num. In qix mode this refers to the number of lines rendered in the same color. In hop mode this refers to the number of pixels rendered in the same color. In image mode this refers to the number of X logos on the screen at once. in swarm mode this refers to the number of bees. In life mode it means nothing. 💀
  • -saturation value — The saturation option sets the saturation of the color ramp used to value. 0 is grayscale, 1 is very rich color and 0.4 is a nice pastel.
  • -nice nicelevel — The nice option sets the system nicelevel of the dtscreen process to nicelevel.
  • -mode mode — The mode option specifies which animation should be displayed. Values are:
    • hop — Hopalong iterated fractals.
    • life — Conway's game of life.
    • qix — Spinning lines.
    • image — Random bouncing image.
    • swarm — Swarm of bees.
    • rotor — Rotor
    • pyro — Fireworks.
    • flame — Cosmic Flame Fractals.
    • worm — Wiggly Worms.
    • random — Random mode.

🫶 RETURN VALUE

Exit values are:

  • 0 — Successful completion. slay.
  • >0 — Error condition occurred. 😭

🦋 EXAMPLES

dtscreen -mode swarm

Display the swarm animation. bees. that's it. that's the tweet. 🐝

👑 RESOURCES

here's the full chart, bestie, not a single row skipped:

  • mode — Class Mode — Type String — Default swarm
  • nice — Class Nice — Type Int — Default 16
  • delay — Class Delay — Type Int — Default 1000
  • batchcount — Class Batchcount — Type Int — Default 100
  • saturation — Class Saturation — Type Float — Default 1.0
  • hop.delay — Class Delay — Type Int — Default 0
  • hop.batchcount — Class Batchcount — Type Int — Default 1000
  • hop.saturation — Class Saturation — Type Float — Default 1
  • image.delay — Class Delay — Type Int — Default 2000000
  • image.batchcount — Class Batchcount — Type Int — Default 8
  • image.saturation — Class Saturation — Type Float — Default 0.2
  • qix.delay — Class Delay — Type Int — Default 30000
  • qix.batchcount — Class Batchcount — Type Int — Default 64
  • qix.saturation — Class Saturation — Type Float — Default 1
  • life.delay — Class Delay — Type Int — Default 1000000
  • life.batchcount — Class Batchcount — Type Int — Default 1
  • life.saturation — Class Saturation — Type Float — Default 1
  • swarm.delay — Class Delay — Type Int — Default 10000
  • swarm.batchcount — Class Batchcount — Type Int — Default 100
  • swarm.saturation — Class Saturation — Type Float — Default 1
  • rotor.delay — Class Delay — Type Int — Default 10000
  • rotor.batchcount — Class Batchcount — Type Int — Default 4
  • rotor.saturation — Class Saturation — Type Float — Default 0.4
  • pyro.delay — Class Delay — Type Int — Default 15000
  • pyro.batchcount — Class Batchcount — Type Int — Default 40
  • pyro.saturation — Class Saturation — Type Float — Default 1.0
  • flame.delay — Class Delay — Type Int — Default 10000
  • flame.batchcount — Class Batchcount — Type Int — Default 20
  • flame.saturation — Class Saturation — Type Float — Default 1.0
  • worm.delay — Class Delay — Type Int — Default 10000
  • worm.batchcount — Class Batchcount — Type Int — Default 20
  • worm.saturation — Class Saturation — Type Float — Default 1.0

🌸 delay

The delay option sets the speed at which a mode will operate. It simply sets the number of microseconds to delay between batches of "hopalong pixels", "qix lines", "life generations", "image blits", and "swarm motions".

🌸 batchcount

The batchcount option sets the number of things to do per batch to num. In qix mode this refers to the number of lines rendered in the same color. In hop mode this refers to the number of pixels rendered in the same color. In image mode this refers to the number of X logos on the screen at once. in swarm mode this refers to the number of bees. In life mode it means nothing.

🌸 saturation

The saturation option sets the saturation of the color ramp used to value. 0 is grayscale, 1 is very rich color and 0.4 is a nice pastel.

🌸 nice

The nice option sets the system nicelevel of the dtscreen process to nicelevel.

🌸 mode

The mode option specifies which animation should be displayed. Values are:

  • hop — Hopalong iterated fractals.
  • life — Conway's game of life.
  • qix — Spinning lines.
  • image — Random bouncing image.
  • swarm — Swarm of bees.
  • rotor — Rotor
  • pyro — Fireworks.
  • flame — Cosmic Flame Fractals.
  • worm — Wiggly Worms.
  • random — Random mode.

💜 SEE

  • dtsession — Caret1 Launches the dtscreen client during session lock. Provides resources that can be used to control this event. Locks and unlocks a session.
  • dtstyle — Launched the dtscreen client during session lock customization. Provides the methods by which additional screen saver clients may be integrated into the desktop.

and that's the whole page, bestie 🎀 it's filed under dtscreen(user cmd) top and bottom — same title, same manual section, that's the version/source line and the date tags doing their little matching-bookends thing. go forth and be the most aesthetically pleasing screen saver on the block. periodt. 💖✨

📦 where this page comes from