


XANCUR(1.6)          Talisman User Commands           XANCUR(1.6)



NAME
     xancur - root cursor animation program for X

SYNOPSIS
     xancur [-help] [-display _d_i_s_p_l_a_y] [-usleep _m_i_c_r_o_s_e_c_o_n_d_s]  [-
     fg  _c_o_l_o_r]  [-bg  _c_o_l_o_r]  [-rv]  [-script _s_c_r_i_p_t_n_a_m_e] [-iter
     _i_t_e_r_a_t_i_o_n_s] [_c_u_r_s_o_r_f_i_l_e _m_a_s_k_f_i_l_e]...

DESCRIPTION
     The _x_a_n_c_u_r program allows the user to animate the background
     ("root")  cursor  on  a workstation display running X.  Nor-
     mally, one experiments with _x_a_n_c_u_r until one finds a  pleas-
     ing,  personalized  look,  then puts the _x_a_n_c_u_r command that
     produces it into an X  startup  file.   If  no  options  are
     specified,  _x_a_n_c_u_r  will  attempt to read a scriptfile named
     ._x_a_n_c_u_r  in  the  user's  home  directory  for  a  list   of
     cursor/mask filenames.  Failing that, xancur will look for a
     system scriptfile  defined  at  compilation  ---  see  _F_I_L_E_S
     below.
     _x_a_n_c_u_r can also be used  for  program-to-user  communication
     (although  this  is really pushing things), by using a mean-
     ingful batch animation through a finite number of iterations
     to indicate, for example, the completion of a batch job.  It
     can also run until the xancur process is killed by  a  catch
     on  the end of a task.  The program will not, however, pause
     another invocation of itself while running, so improper  use
     could be less than esthetic.

OPTIONS
     The various options are as follows:

     -help
          Print a usage message and exit.

     _c_u_r_s_o_r_f_i_l_e _m_a_s_k_f_i_l_e
          Filename pairs in this form are used to  set  the  root
          cursor  animation frame sequence.  The enables the user
          to specify the complete animation cycle  with  standard
          cursor  and mask bitmaps as used by _x_s_e_t_r_o_o_t(_1). Cursor
          and mask files are bitmaps (little pictures),  and  can
          be  made with the _b_i_t_m_a_p(_1) program.  One usually wants
          the mask files to be all black until one  becomes  more
          familiar with the way masks work.

     -script _s_c_r_i_p_t_n_a_m_e
          File _s_c_r_i_p_t_n_a_m_e contains  commands  (similar  to  those
          used  on  the  the command line) and either cursor/mask
          filename pairs or merely the name of the  cursor  files
          to  which  .mask  will  be added to create the maskfile
          names.

     -iter _i_t_e_r_a_t_i_o_n_s



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          This option sets the number of iterations for the  com-
          plete  animation loop.  If left unset, the program will
          loop until interrupted.

     -fg _c_o_l_o_r
          Use _c_o_l_o_r as the foreground color.

     -bg _c_o_l_o_r
          Use _c_o_l_o_r as the background color.

     -rv  This exchanges the foreground  and  background  colors.
          Normally  the  foreground  color is black and the back-
          ground color is white.

     -display _d_i_s_p_l_a_y
          Specifies the server to which to connect; see _X(_1).

     For convenience, xancur interprets the ~  (tilde)  character
     in  the  same  way as that seen in the _c_s_h(_1).  This is also
     true within scripts.

     It is not currently known precisely how many frames long  an
     animation loop can be.  User should probably be warned that,
     like many other aspects of customization, many days  can  be
     lost in exploring such limits.

EXAMPLE
     To have _x_a_n_c_u_r cycle through the two cursor/masks pairs  for
     frames _b_m_1 and _b_m_2 one might run the following command.

          xancur -usleep 400000 bm1 bm1.mask bm2 bm2.mask

     More commonly, one might run the  following  in  the  _x_a_n_c_u_r
     source directory.

          xancur -script animations/fourpoints/Script

SCRIPTS
     The scriptfiles may contain image/mask filename pairs, image
     filenames  with  assumed  .mask suffixes for mask filenames,
     and command switches.  The command switches comprise a  sub-
     set of the command line options, and include:

     -script _s_c_r_i_p_t_n_a_m_e

     -fg _c_o_l_o_r

     -bg _c_o_l_o_r

     -rv





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     It is important to note that the dash-commands  do  _n_o_t  get
     saved  or re-executed, but rather merely affect a particular
     cursor construction.  One should also note that  the  script
     below  will  only work with the requisite X bitmaps resident
     in the same directory as the script file.

     A variation of the default pointer, showing color reversal:


          -bg white
          -fg black
          fourpoints0
          fourpoints15
          fourpoints30
          fourpoints45
          fourpoints60
          fourpoints75
          -rv
          fourpoints0
          fourpoints15
          fourpoints30
          fourpoints45
          fourpoints60
          fourpoints75

     It should be noted that any pathname within  a  script  file
     which  is not a fully-rooted pathname will be resolved rela-
     tive to the script file's location rather than  relative  to
     the current working directory.

NOTES
     Running xancur tends to prevent one's X  server  from  being
     swapped  out as often.  This has been known to significantly
     improve response time on some machines.

FILES
     /usr/lib/X11/xancur/Script                  default (system) script.
     $HOME/.xancur                      default (personal) script.
     $HOME/.xinitrc        typical place for first xancur command.

SEE ALSO
     csh(1), X(1), xinit(1), xset(1), xsetroot(1), xrdb(1),  XDe-
     fineCursor(3)

BUGS
     This version probably can't handle individual files of  over
     64K in length.

     The program makes no use of the X resources for anything.

COPYRIGHT
     Copyright (c) 1993, 1994 Christopher Alexander North-Keys



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     The X Consortium, and any party obtaining a  copy  of  these
     files  from  the  X  Consortium,  directly or indirectly, is
     granted, free of charge, a full and  unrestricted  irrevoca-
     ble,  world-wide,  paid up, royalty-free, nonexclusive right
     and license to deal in this software and documentation files
     (the "Software"), including without limitation the rights to
     use, copy, modify, merge, publish,  distribute,  sublicense,
     and/or  sell  copies  of the Software, and to permit persons
     who receive copies from any  such  party  to  do  so.   This
     license  includes  without  limitation  a  license to do the
     foregoing actions under any patents of the  party  supplying
     this software to the X Consortium.

AUTHOR
     Christopher Alexander North-Keys, Group Talisman

     erlkonig@gnu.ai.mit.edu

     Special thanks to Mark Lillibridge, MIT Project Athena,  for
     having written the code for _x_s_e_t_r_o_o_t(1), thanks to the other
     members of group Talisman for beta testing this program  and
     offering  comments, and thanks to Mic Kaczmarczik (UT@Austin
     CCWF) for  proofreading  this  documentation,  checking  the
     installation  process, and checking the spelling of his sur-
     name.






























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