X11 Screen Saver Extension
MIT X Consortium Proposed Standard
Jim Fulton
Network Computing Devices, Inc
Keith Packard
X Consortium, Laboratory for Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
X Version 11, Release 7.7
Version 1.0
Copyright © 1992 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Network Computing
Devices, Inc
Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this documentation for any
purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright
notice and this permission notice appear in all copies. MIT and Network
Computing Devices, Inc. make no representations about the suitability for any
purpose of the information in this document. This documentation is provided "as
is" without express or implied warranty.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Assumptions
3. Overview
4. Issues
5. Protocol
Types
Errors
Requests
Events
6. Encoding
Common Types
Requests
Events
7. Inter-Client Communications Conventions
8. C language binding
Chapter 1. Introduction
The X Window System provides support for changing the image on a display screen
after a user-settable period of inactivity to avoid burning the cathode ray
tube phosphors. However, no interfaces are provided for the user to control the
image that is drawn. This extension allows an external "screen saver" client to
detect when the alternate image is to be displayed and to provide the graphics.
Current X server implementations typically provide at least one form of "screen
saver" image. Historically, this has been a copy of the X logo drawn against
the root background pattern. However, many users have asked for the mechanism
to allow them to write screen saver programs that provide capabilities similar
to those provided by other window systems. In particular, such users often wish
to be able to display corporate logos, instructions on how to reactivate the
screen, and automatic screen-locking utilities. This extension provides a means
for writing such clients.
Chapter 2. Assumptions
This extension exports the notion of a special screen saver window that is
mapped above all other windows on a display. This window has the
override-redirect attribute set so that it is not subject to manipulation by
the window manager. Furthermore, the X identifier for the window is never
returned by QueryTree requests on the root window, so it is typically not
visible to other clients.
Chapter 3. Overview
The core SetScreenSaver request can be used to set the length of time without
activity on any input devices after which the screen saver should "activate"
and alter the image on the screen. This image periodically "cycles" to reduce
the length of time that any particular pixel is illuminated. Finally, the
screen saver is "deactivated" in response to activity on any of the input
devices or particular X requests.
Screen saving is typically done by disabling video output to the display tube
or by drawing a changing pattern onto the display. If the server chooses the
latter approach, a window with a special identifier is created and mapped at
the top of the stacking order where it remains until the screen saver
deactivates. At this time, the window is unmapped and is not accessible to any
client requests.
The server's default mechanism is referred to as the internal screen saver. An
external screen saver client requires a means of determining the window id for
the screen saver window and setting the attributes (e.g. size, location,
visual, colormap) to be used when the window is mapped. These requirements form
the basis of this extension.
Chapter 4. Issues
This extension raises several interesting issues. First is the question of what
should be done if some other client has the server grabbed when the screen
saver is supposed to activate? This commonly occurs with window managers that
automatically ask the user to position a window when it is first mapped by
grabbing the server and drawing XORed lines on the root window.
Second, a screen saver program must control the actual RGB values sent to the
display tube to ensure that the values change periodically to avoid phosphor
burn in. Thus, the client must have a known colormap installed whenever the
screen saver window is displayed. To prevent screen flashing, the visual type
of the screen saver window should also be controllable.
Third, some implementations may wish to destroy the screen saver window when it
is not mapped so that it need not be avoided during event delivery. Thus,
screen saver clients may find that the requests that reference the screen saver
window may fail when the window is not displayed.
Chapter 5. Protocol
Table of Contents
Types
Errors
Requests
Events
The Screen Saver extension is as follows:
Types
In addition to the common types described in the core protocol, the following
type is used in the request and event definitions in subsequent sections.
┌────────────────┬───────────────────────────────────┐
│Name │Value │
├────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────┤
│SCREENSAVEREVENT│ScreenSaverNotify, ScreenSaverCycle│
└────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────┘
Errors
The Screen Saver extension adds no errors beyond the core protocol.
Requests
The Screen Saver extension adds the following requests:
ScreenSaverQueryVersion
client-major-version: CARD8
client-minor-version: CARD8
->
server-major-version: CARD8
server-minor-version: CARD8
This request allows the client and server to determine which version of the
protocol should be used. The client sends the version that it prefers; if the
server understands that version, it returns the same values and interprets
subsequent requests for this extension according to the specified version.
Otherwise, the server returns the closest version of the protocol that it can
support and interprets subsequent requests according to that version. This
document describes major version 1, minor version 0; the major and minor
revision numbers should only be incremented in response to incompatible and
compatible changes, respectively.
ScreenSaverQueryInfo
drawable DRAWABLE
saver-window: WINDOW
state: {Disabled, Off, On}
kind: {Blanked, Internal, External}
til-or-since: CARD32
idle: CARD32
event-mask: SETofSCREENSAVEREVENT
Errors: Drawable
This request returns information about the state of the screen saver on the
screen associated with drawable. The saver-window is the XID that is associated
with the screen saver window. This window is not guaranteed to exist except
when external screen saver is active. Although it is a child of the root, this
window is not returned by QueryTree requests on the root. Whenever this window
is mapped, it is always above any of its siblings in the stacking order. XXX -
TranslateCoords?
The state field specifies whether or not the screen saver is currently active
and how the til-or-since value should be interpreted:
Off The screen is not currently being saved; til-or-since specifies the
number of milliseconds until the screen saver is expected to activate.
On The screen is currently being saved; til-or-since specifies the number
of milliseconds since the screen saver activated.
Disabled The screen saver is currently disabled; til-or-since is zero.
The kind field specifies the mechanism that either is currently being used or
would have been were the screen being saved:
Blanked The video signal to the display monitor was disabled.
A server-dependent, built-in screen saver image was displayed; either
Internal no client had set the screen saver window attributes or a different
client had the server grabbed when the screen saver activated.
External The screen saver window was mapped with attributes set by a client
using the ScreenSaverSetAttributes request.
The idle field specifies the number of milliseconds since the last input was
received from the user on any of the input devices.
The event-mask field specifies which, if any, screen saver events this client
has requested using ScreenSaverSelectInput.
If drawable is not a valid drawable identifier, a Drawable error is returned
and the request is ignored.
ScreenSaverSelectInput
drawable: DRAWABLE
event-mask: SETofSCREENSAVEREVENT
Errors: Drawable, Match
This request specifies which Screen Saver extension events on the screen
associated with drawable should be generated for this client. If no bits are
set in event-mask, then no events will be generated. Otherwise, any combination
of the following bits may be set:
ScreenSaverNotify If this bit is set, ScreenSaverNotify events are generated
whenever the screen saver is activated or deactivated.
ScreenSaverCycle If this bit is set, ScreenSaverNotify events are generated
whenever the screen saver cycle interval passes.
If drawable is not a valid drawable identifier, a Drawable error is returned.
If any undefined bits are set in event-mask, a Value error is returned. If an
error is returned, the request is ignored.
ScreenSaverSetAttributes
drawable: DRAWABLE
class:
{InputOutput, InputOnly, CopyFromParent}
depth: CARD8
visual: VISUALID or CopyFromParent
x, y: INT16
width, height, border-width: CARD16
value-mask: BITMASK
value-list: LISTofVALUE
Access, Window, Pixmap, Colormap, Cursor, Match, Value, Alloc
This request sets the attributes that this client would like to see used in
creating the screen saver window on the screen associated with drawable. If
another client currently has the attributes set, an Access error is generated
and the request is ignored.
Otherwise, the specified window attributes are checked as if they were used in
a core CreateWindow request whose parent is the root. The override-redirect
field is ignored as it is implicitly set to True. If the window attributes
result in an error according to the rules for CreateWindow, the request is
ignored.
Otherwise, the attributes are stored and will take effect on the next
activation that occurs when the server is not grabbed by another client. Any
resources specified for the background-pixmap or cursor attributes may be freed
immediately. The server is free to copy the background-pixmap or cursor
resources or to use them in place; therefore, the effect of changing the
contents of those resources is undefined. If the specified colormap no longer
exists when the screen saver activates, the parent's colormap is used instead.
If no errors are generated by this request, any previous screen saver window
attributes set by this client are released.
When the screen saver next activates and the server is not grabbed by another
client, the screen saver window is created, if necessary, and set to the
specified attributes and events are generated as usual. The colormap associated
with the screen saver window is installed. Finally, the screen saver window is
mapped.
The window remains mapped and at the top of the stacking order until the screen
saver is deactivated in response to activity on any of the user input devices,
a ForceScreenSaver request with a value of Reset, or any request that would
cause the window to be unmapped.
If the screen saver activates while the server is grabbed by another client,
the internal saver mechanism is used. The ForceScreenSaver request may be used
with a value of Active to deactivate the internal saver and activate the
external saver.
If the screen saver client's connection to the server is broken while the
screen saver is activated and the client's close down mode has not been
RetainPermanent or RetainTemporary, the current screen saver is deactivated and
the internal screen saver is immediately activated.
When the screen saver deactivates, the screen saver window's colormap is
uninstalled and the window is unmapped (except as described below). The screen
saver XID is disassociated with the window and the server may, but is not
required to, destroy the window along with any children.
When the screen saver is being deactivated and then immediately reactivated
(such as when switching screen savers), the server may leave the screen saver
window mapped (typically to avoid generating exposures).
ScreenSaverUnsetAttributes
drawble: DRAWABLE
Errors: Drawable
This request notifies the server that this client no longer wishes to control
the screen saver window. Any screen saver attributes set by this client and any
descendents of the screen saver window created by this client should be
released immediately if the screen saver is not active, else upon deactivation.
This request is ignored if the client has not previously set the screen saver
window attributes.
Events
The Screen Saver extension adds one event:
ScreenSaverNotify
root: WINDOW
window: WINDOW
state: {Off, On, Cycle}
kind: { Blanked, Internal , External }
forced: BOOL
time: TIMESTAMP
This event is delivered to clients that have requested ScreenSaverNotify events
using the ScreenSaverSelectInput request whenever the screen saver activates or
deactivates.
The root field specifies root window of the screen for which the event was
generated. The window field specifies the value that is returned by
ScreenSaverQueryInfo as the identifier for the screen saver window. This window
is not required to exist if the external screen saver is not active.
The state field specifies the cause of the event:
Off The screen saver deactivated; this event is sent if the client has set
the ScreenSaverNotify bit in its event mask.
On The screen saver activated. This event is sent if the client has set the
ScreenSaverNotify bit in its event mask.
The cycle interval passed and the client is expected to change the image
Cycle on the screen. This event is sent if the client has set the
ScreenSaverCycle bit in its event mask.
If state is set to On or Off then forced indicates whether or not activation or
deactivation was caused by a core ForceScreenSaver request; otherwise, forced
is set to False.
The kind field specifies mechanism that was used to save the screen when the
screen saver was activated, as described in ScreenSaverQueryInfo.
The time field indicates the server time when the event was generated.
Chapter 6. Encoding
Table of Contents
Common Types
Requests
Events
Please refer to the X11 Protocol Encoding document as this document uses
conventions established there.
The name of this extension is "SCREEN-SAVER".
Common Types
SETofSCREENSAVEREVENT
#x00000001 ScreenSaverNotifyMask
#x00000002 ScreenSaverCycleMask
Requests
ScreenSaverQueryVersion
1 CARD8 screen saver opcode
1 0 minor opcode
2 2 request length
1 CARD8 client major version
1 CARD8 client minor version
2 unused
->
1 1 Reply
1 unused
2 CARD16 sequence number
4 0 reply length
1 CARD8 server major version
1 CARD8 server minor version
22 unused
ScreenSaverQueryInfo
1 CARD8 screen saver opcode
1 1 minor opcode
2 2 request length
4 DRAWABLE drawable associated with screen
->
1 1 Reply
1 CARD8 state
0 Off
1 On
3 Disabled
2 CARD16 sequence number
4 0 reply length
4 WINDOW saver window
4 CARD32 milliseconds until saver or since saver
4 CARD32 milliseconds since last user device input
4 SETofSCREENSAVEREVENT event mask
1 CARD8 kind
0 Blanked
1 Internal
2 External
10 unused
ScreenSaverSelectInput
1 CARD8 screen saver opcode
1 2 minor opcode
2 3 request length
4 DRAWABLE drawable associated with screen
4 SETofSCREENSAVEREVENT event mask
ScreenSaverSetAttributes
1 CARD8 screen saver opcode
1 3 minor opcode
2 6+n request length
4 DRAWABLE drawable associated with screen
2 INT16 x
2 INT16 y
2 CARD16 width
2 CARD16 height
2 CARD16 border-width
1 class
0 CopyFromParent
1 InputOutput
2 InputOnly
1 CARD8 depth
4 VISUALID visual
0 CopyFromParent
4 BITMASK value-mask (has n bits set to 1)
encodings are the same as for core CreateWindow
4n LISTofVALUE value-list
encodings are the same as for core CreateWindow
ScreenSaverUnsetAttributes
1 CARD8 screen saver opcode
1 4 minor opcode
2 3 request length
4 DRAWABLE drawable associated with screen
Events
ScreenSaverNotify
1 CARD8 code assigned by core
1 CARD8 state
0 Off
1 On
2 Cycle
2 CARD16 sequence number
4 TIMESTAMP time
4 WINDOW root
4 WINDOW screen saver window
1 CARD8 kind
0 Blanked
1 Internal
2 External
1 BOOL forced
14 unused
Chapter 7. Inter-Client Communications Conventions
Screen saver clients should create at least one resource value whose identifier
can be stored in a property named _SCREEN_SAVER_ID on the root of each screen
it is managing. This property should have one 32-bit value corresponding to the
resource identifier; the type of the property should indicate the type of the
resource and should be one of the following: WINDOW, PIXMAP, CURSOR, FONT, or
COLORMAP.
Chapter 8. C language binding
The C binding for this extension simply provide access to the protocol; they
add no semantics beyond what is described above.
The include file for this extension is <X11/extensions/scrnsaver.h>.
Bool XScreenSaverQueryExtension(Display *display, int *event_base, int
*error_base);
This routine returns True if the specified display supports the SCREEN-SAVER
extension; otherwise it returns False. If the extension is supported, the event
number for ScreenSaverNotify events is returned in the value pointed to by
event_base. Since no additional errors are defined by this extension, the
results of error_base are not defined.
Status XScreenSaverQueryVersion(Display *display, int *major, int *minor);
If the specified display supports the extension, the version numbers of the
protocol expected by the server are returned in major and minor and a non-zero
value is returned. Otherwise, the arguments are not set and 0 is returned.
XScreenSaverInfo *
XScreenSaverAllocInfo()
This routine allocates and returns an XScreenSaverInfo structure for use in
calls to XScreenSaverQueryInfo. All fields in the structure are initialized to
zero. If insufficient memory is available, NULL is returned. The results of
this routine can be released using XFree.
Status XScreenSaverQueryInfo(Display *display, Drawable drawable,
XScreenSaverInfo *saver_info);
If the specified display supports the extension, information about the current
state of the screen server is returned in saver_info and a non-zero value is
returned. The XScreenSaverInfo structure is defined as follows:
typedef struct {
Window window; /* screen saver window */
int state; /* ScreenSaver{Off,On,Disabled} */
int kind; /* ScreenSaver{Blanked,Internal,External} */
unsigned long til_or_since; /* milliseconds */
unsigned long idle; /* milliseconds */
unsigned long event_mask; /* events */
} XScreenSaverInfo;
See the ScreenSaverQueryInfo request for a description of the fields. If the
extension is not supported, saver_info is not changed and 0 is returned.
void XScreenSaverSelectInput(Display *display, Drawable drawable, unsigned long
event_mask);
If the specified display supports the extension, this routine asks that events
related to the screen saver be generated for this client. The format of the
events generated is:
typedef struct {
int type; /* of event */
unsigned long serial; /* # of last request processed by server */
Bool send_event; /* true if this came from a SendEvent request */
Display *display; /* Display the event was read from */
Window window; /* screen saver window */
Window root; /* root window of event screen */
int state; /* ScreenSaver{Off,On,Cycle} */
int kind; /* ScreenSaver{Blanked,Internal,External} */
Bool forced; /* extents of new region */
Time time; /* event timestamp */
} XScreenSaverNotifyEvent;
See the definition of the ScreenSaverSelectInput request for descriptions of
the allowed event masks.
void XScreenSaverSetAttributes(Display *dpy, Drawable drawable, int x, int y,
unsigned int width, unsigned int height, unsigned int border_width, int depth,
unsigned int class, Visual *visual, unsigned long valuemask,
XSetWindowAttributes *attributes);
If the specified display supports the extension, this routine sets the
attributes to be used the next time the external screen saver is activated. See
the definition of the ScreenSaverSetAttributes request for a description of
each of the arguments.
void XScreenSaverUnsetAttributes(Display *display, Drawable drawable);
If the specified display supports the extension, this routine instructs the
server to discard any previous screen saver window attributes set by this
client.
Status XScreenSaverRegister(Display *display, int screen, XID xid, Atom type);
This routine stores the given XID in the _SCREEN_SAVER_ID property (of the
given type) on the root window of the specified screen. It returns zero if an
error is encountered and the property is not changed, otherwise it returns
non-zero.
Status XScreenSaverUnregister(Display *display, int screen);
This routine removes any _SCREEN_SAVER_ID from the root window of the specified
screen. It returns zero if an error is encountered and the property is changed,
otherwise it returns non-zero.
Status XScreenSaverGetRegistered(Display *display, int screen, XID *xid, ATOM
*type);
This routine returns the XID and type stored in the _SCREEN_SAVER_ID property
on the root window of the specified screen. It returns zero if an error is
encountered or if the property does not exist or is not of the correct format;
otherwise it returns non-zero.
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