XSNOW(6) User Commands XSNOW(6)

NAME

xsnow - Snow and Santa on your desktop

SYNOPSIS

xsnow [OPTION]...

DESCRIPTION

Xsnow shows an animation of Santa and snow on your desktop. Xsnow
can also run in one or more windows, see options -xwininfo, -id .
(These options only work satisfactorily in an X11 environment.)
Xsnow depends on an X11 environment. This is forced by setting the
environment variable GDK_BACKEND=x11 before initializing the GTK.
Hopefully, this will ensure that xsnow also runs in a Wayland
environment for some time.

If xsnow is misbehaving, try to remove the file $HOME/.xsnowrc.

General options:
Below:
<n> denotes an unsigned decimal (e.g 123) or octal (e.g. 017) or hex
(e.g. 0x50009) number.
<c> denotes a string like "red" or "#123456".
<f> denotes a file name, like "/home/rick/Pictures/background.jpg".


-h, -help
print this text.

-H, -manpage
print man page.

-v, -version
prints version of xsnow.

-changelog
prints ChangeLog.

-selfrep
put tar ball on stdout, so you can do:
xsnow -selfrep > xsnow.tar.gz

-display name
Drop the snowflakes on the given display. Make sure the
display is nearby, so you can hear them enjoy...

-vintage
Run xsnow in vintage settings.

-defaults
Do not read config file (see FILES).

-noconfig
Do not read or write config file (see FILES).

-hidemenu
Start with hidden interactive menu.

-nomenu
Do not show interactive menu.

-scale <n>
Apply scalefactor (default: 100).

-doublebuffer <n>
1: use double buffering; 0: do not use double buffering
(default: 1). Only effective with '-root' or '-id' or
'-xwininfo'.

-transparency <n>
Transparency in (default: 0)

-theme <n>
1: use xsnow theme for menu; 0: use system theme (default: 1)

-checkgtk <n>
0: Do not check gtk version before starting the user
interface. 1: Check gtk version before starting the user
interface. (default: 1).

-id <n>, -window-id <n>
Snow in window with id (for example from xwininfo).

-desktop
Act as if window is a desktop.

-allworkspaces <n>
0: use one desktop for snow, 1: use all desktops (default: 1).

-above Snow above your windows. Default is to snow below your
windows. NOTE: in some environments this results in an
un-clickable desktop.

-xwininfo
Use a cursor to point at the window you want the snow to be
fallen in.

-stopafter <n>
Stop xsnow after so many seconds.

-root
Force to paint on (virtual) root window.
Use this for xscreensaver:
Make sure xscreensaver is running, either as a start-up
application
or from the command line, e.g:
nohup xscreensaver &
or
nohup xscreensaver -no-capture-stderr &
Run the program xscreensaver-demo to create the file
~/.xscreensaver
In the file ~.xscreensaver add after the line 'programs:' this
line:
xsnow -root
Use the program xscreensaver-demo to select xsnow as
screensaver.
You probably want to select: Mode: Only One Screen Saver.

-bg <f>
file to be used as background when running under xscreensaver.

-noisy
Write extra info about some mouse clicks, X errors etc, to
stdout.

-cpuload <n>
How busy is your system with xsnow: the higher, the more load
on the system (default: 100).

Snow options:
-snowflakes <n>
The higher, the more snowflakes are generated per second.
Default: 100.

-blowsnow
(Default) Animate blow-off snow.

-noblowsnow
Do not animate blowing snow from trees or windows

-sc <c>
Use the given string as color for the flakes (default:
#fffafa).

-snowspeedfactor <n>
Multiply the speed of snow with this number/100 (default:
100).

-snowsize <n>
Set size of (non-vintage) snow flakes (default: 8).

-snow
(Default) Show snow.

-nosnow -nosnowflakes
Do not show snow.

-flakecountmax <n>
Maximum number of active flakes (default: 300).

-blowofffactor <n>
The higher, the more snow is generated in blow-off scenarios
(default: 40).

Tree options:
-treetype <n>[,<n> ...]
Choose tree types: minimum 0, maximum 7 (default:
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,). Thanks to Carla Vermin for numbers >=3!
Credits: Image by b0red on Pixabay.

-treetype all
(Default) Use all non-vintage available tree types.

-tc <c>
Use the given string as the color for the vintage tree
(default: #7fff00). Works only for treetype 0.

-notrees
Do not display the trees.

-showtrees
(Default) Display the trees.

-trees <n>
Desired number of trees. Default 10.

-treefill <n>
Region in percents of the height of the window where trees
grow (default: 30).

-treeoverlap
Allow scenery items to overlap each other (default).

-notreeoverlap
Do not allow scenery items to overlap each other.

Santa options:
-showsanta
(Default) Display Santa running all over the screen.

-nosanta
Do not display Santa running all over the screen.

-showrudolph
(Default) With Rudolph.

-norudolph
No Rudolph.

-santa <n>
The minimum size of Santa is 0, the maximum size is 4. Default
is 3. Thanks to Thomas Linder for the (big) Santa 2! Santa 3
is derived from Santa 2, and shows the required eight
reindeer. The appearance of Santa 4 may be a surprise, thanks
to Carla Vermin for this one.

-santaspeedfactor <n>
The speed Santa should not be excessive if he doesn't want to
get fined. The appropriate speed for the Santa chosen will be
multiplied by santaspeedfactor/100 (default: 100).

Celestial options:
-wind
(Default) It will get windy now and then.

-nowind
By default it gets windy now and then. If you prefer quiet
weather specify -nowind.

-whirlfactor <n>
This sets the whirl factor, i.e. the maximum adjustment of the
horizontal speed. The default value is 100.

-windtimer <n>
With -windtimer you can specify how often it gets windy. It's
sort of a period in seconds, default value is 30.

-stars <n>
The number of stars (default: 20).

-meteorites
(Default) Show meteorites.

-nometeorites
Do not show meteorites.

-moon <n>
1: show moon, 0: do not show moon (default: 1).
Picture of moon thanks to Pedro Lasta on Unsplash.
https://unsplash.com/photos/wCujVcf0JDw

-moonspeed <n>
Speed of moon in pixels/minute (default: 120).

-moonsize <n>
Realtive size of moon (default: 100).

-halo <n>
1: show halo around moon, 0: do not show halo (default: 1).

-halobrightness <n>
Brightness of halo (default: 25).

Fallen snow options:
-wsnowdepth <n>
Maximum thickness of snow on top of windows (default: 30).

-ssnowdepth <n>
Maximum thickness of snow at the bottom of the screen
(default: 50).

-maxontrees <n>
Maximum number of flakes on trees. Default 200.

-keepsnowonwindows
(Default) Keep snow on top of the windows.

-nokeepsnowonwindows
Do not keep snow on top of the windows.

-keepsnowonscreen
(Default) Keep snow at the bottom of the screen.

-nokeepsnowonscreen
Do not keep snow at the bottom of the screen.

-keepsnowontrees
(Default) Keep snow on trees.

-nokeepsnowontrees
Do not keep snow on trees.

-keepsnow
(Default) Have snow sticking anywhere.

-nokeepsnow
Do not have snow sticking anywhere.

-fluffy
(Default) Create fluff on fallen snow.

-nofluffy
Do not create fluff on fallen snow.

-offsetx <n>
Correction for window-manager provided x-coordinate of window.
Default 4.

-offsety <n>
Correction for window-manager provided y-coordinate of
window. Default 0.

-offsetw <n>
Correction for window-manager provided width of window.
Default -8.

-offsets <n>
Correction for bottom coordinate of your screen. A negative
value lifts the xsnow screen up. Default 0.

-ignoretop <n>
Do not collect snow on window > 0.8*width of screen and closer
than <n> pixels from the top. Sometimes an hidden window is
sitting there, but treated as a normal window by xsnow.
Default 0.

-ignorebottom <n>
Analog to -ignoretop, but now for the bottom. Default 0.

Birds options:
-anarchy <n>
Anarchy factor ( 0..100 default: 50).

-birdscolor <c>
Use the given string as color for the birds (default:
#361A07).

-birdsonly <n>
Show only birds ( 0/1 default: 0).

-birdsspeed <n>
Speed of birds ( 0..300 default: 100).

-disweight <n>
Eagerness to keep desired distance ( 0..100 default: 20).

-focuscentre <n>
Eagerness to fly to the focus ( 0..300 default: 100).

-followneighbours <n>
Eagerness to follow neighbours ( 0..100 default: 30).

-nbirds <n>
Number of birds ( 0..400 default: 70).

-neighbours <n>
Number of neighbours to watch ( 0..20 default: 7).

-prefdistance <n>
Preferred distance to neighbours ( 0..100 default: 40).

-showbirds <n>
Show birds ( 0/1 default: 1).

-showattr <n>
Show attraction point ( 0/1 default: 0).

-attrspace <n>
Vertical space to be used by the attraction point (default:
40).

-followsanta <n>
Birds like Santa ( 0/1 default: 0).

-viewingdistance <n>
Viewing distance ( 0..95 default: 40).

-birdsscale <n>
Scalefactor used painting the birds (default: 100).

FILES

$HOME/.xsnowrc
Settings are read from and written to this file. See flags
-noconfig and -defaults how to influence this behaviour.
NOTE: the following settings are not read or written:
-above -defaults -desktop -fullscreen -noconfig
-id
-nomenu -stopafter -xwininfo -display -noisy
-checkgtk


$HOME/xsnow/pixmaps/tree.xpm
If present, xsnow will try this file for displaying the trees.
The format must be xpm (X PixMap) format, see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_PixMap .
NOTE: when this file is present, no menu will appear.


$HOME/xsnow/pixmaps/santa<n>.xpm
where <n> = 1,2,3,4. If present, xsnow will try this files (4
of them) for displaying Santa. The format must be xpm (X
PixMap) format, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_PixMap .
NOTE: when these files are present, no menu will appear.

EXAMPLES

$ xsnow -defaults # run with defaults.
$ xsnow # run using values from the config file.
$ xsnow -treetype 1,2 # use tree types 1 and 2.

WINDOW MANAGER ISSUES

In general, xsnow works better when using a compositing window
manager like xcompmgr, compton or picom. However, with some window
managers (FVWM for example), the xsnow-window is transparent, but not
click-through. Flags to be tried in this case include: -root,
-doublebuffer, -xwininfo, -id.

Here follow some window managers with their issues:


AWESOME
Without compositor: no issues. With compositor: no
click-through xsnow window

BSPWM No issues if you add to your bspwmrc (the bspwm configuration
file):
bspc rule -a Xsnow state=floating border=off

CINNAMON
No issues.

DWM No issues, except the "Below Windows" setting in the
"settings" panel.

ENLIGHTENMENT
No issuses.

FLUXBOX
Without compositor: no issues. With compositor: no
click-through xsnow window

FVWM Without compositor: no issues. With compositor: no
click-through xsnow window

GNOME No issues.

HERBSTLUFTWM
No issues.

I3 Without compositor: no issues, using the next line in
"config":
for_window [class="Xsnow"] floating enable;border none
With compositor: unworkable.

JVM No issues.

LXDE With compositor: no issues. Without compositor: use: xsnow
-xwininfo

LXQT Without compositor: unworkable. With compositor: no
click-through xsnow window.

MATE No issues.

OPENBOX
No issues.

PLASMA (KDE)
No issues.

SPECTREWM
Without compositor: no snow on windows, use the next line in
"spetrewm.conf":
quirk[Xsnow] = FLOAT
With compositor: no satisfactorily results.

TWM Without compositor: no issues. With compositor: no
click-through xsnow window

WINDOW MAKER
Without compositor: no issues. With compositor: no
click-through xsnow window

XFCE No issues when compositing is on, unworkable when compositing
is off.
See settings -> Window Manager Tweaks -> Compositor

XMONAD No issues if you add to your xmonad.hs in the ManageHook
section:
className = ? "Xsnow" --> doFloat

BUGS

- Xsnow needs a complete rewrite: the code is a mess.
- The flags are not consistent, caused by trying to be
compatible with older versions.
- Xsnow stresses the Xserver too much.
- Xsnow does run in Wayland, but will not snow on all windows.
- Xsnow tries to create a click-through window. This is not
successful
in for example FVWM/xcompmgr. In that case, xsnow tries to keep
the snow window below all others, resulting in a transient effect
when you click on the desktop. Sadly, no FVWM menu will appear...
- Remnants of fluffy snow can persist after removing the
fallen snow. These will gradually disappear, so no big deal.
- Remnants of meteorites can persist after passage of Santa.
These will eventually be wiped out by snow or Santa.
- Xsnow tries to adapt its snowing window if the display
settings are changed while xsnow is running.
This does not function always well.
- Xsnow does not play well with 'xcompmgr -a'. In some environments
(Raspberry 64 bit) xcompmgr is started with the flag '-a',
resulting in a black snow window. Remedy:
In a terminal window type:
killall xcompmgr
nohup xcompmgr -n &
and try again.
- In XFCE, compositing must be enabled for xsnow.
Settings -> Window Manager Tweaks -> Compositor -> Enable display
compositing
- In multi-screen environments, it depends on the display settings
if it is snowing on all screens. Experiment!

COPYRIGHT

This is free software; see the source for copying conditions. There
is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

xsnow-3.4.4 2022 XSNOW(6)