ROOTTAIL(1)						      General Commands Manual						       ROOTTAIL(1)

NAME

       root-tail - print text directly to X11 root window

SYNOPSIS

       root-tail  [-g|--geometry  GEOMETRY]  [-fn|--font  FONTSPEC]  [--color  color]  [--reload  SEC  COMMAND] [--shade] [--outline] [--minspace]
       [--noflicker] [-f|--fork] [--reverse] [--whole] [--partial] [--update] [--cont STRING]  [--wordwrap]  [--justify]  [--noinitial]  [--frame]
       [-id ID] [-i|--interval SECONDS] [-V] file1[,color[,desc]] [file2[,color[,desc]]]

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 out-
       put window.

       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.

   General Options
       --color COLOR
	      Use COLOR as default.

       --font | -fn FONTSPEC
	      Use  font  FONTSPEC.  This can be either a fixed width font like -fn fixed or any font using -fn '-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*' 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.

       -f | --fork
	      Forks to the background.

       --reverse
	      Display the files in reverse order, with the newest lines at the top.

       --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 dis-
	      playing it. This is the default if more than one file is being displayed.

       --partial
	      This is the opposite of the --whole 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.

       --update
	      Update  partial  lines 'in place' if they are still on the screen when they are updated in their files. Using --update automatically
	      turns on --partial.

       --cont STRING
	      When partial lines are broken into two lines in the display, prefix the 2nd line	with  STRING.  Defaults  to  "||  ".  Specify  the
	      "--whole" argument to ensure partial lines are never displayed, or specify "--update" to attempt to "repair" broken lines in-place.

       --cont-color COLOR
	      Use COLOR when displaying the continuation string (as optionally specified with the --cont option above).

       --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 --wordwrap argument splits lines at spaces if possible.

       --justify
	      After wrapping long lines, attempt to justify the text to produce a smooth right-hand margin.  Implies --wordwrap.

       --reload SEC COMMAND
	      Re-display the file(s) and run COMMAND every SEC seconds. The default is to never re-display the file(s).

       --shade
	      Add black shading to the font.

       --outline
	      Add a black outline to the font (making redraws quite a bit slower).

       --minspace
	      Use minimum linespace even when using shading or outlining. This might result in leftover pixels (dependign on font and logfile con-
	      tent).

       --noflicker
	      Use slower but flicker-free update.

       --noinitial
	      Don't display the end of the file(s) initially.

       -id ID Use the given window ID for output instead of the root window.

       -i | --interval SECONDS
	      Use the specified sleeping interval between checks instead of the default 2.4 seconds. Fractional values are OK.

       -V     Print version information.

       --frame
	      Draw a frame around the selected area.  This is useful when trying to find the perfect geometry.

EXAMPLE

       root-tail -g 800x250+100+50 -font 10x20 /var/log/messages,green -font 12x24 /var/log/secure,red,'ALERT'

BUGS

       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 to find a setting "allow programs on desktop" or similar, or manually specify a window id.

       Should you happen to find any bugs please fix them and send me a diff.

       NOTE: This program was modified by Marc Lehmann <pcg@goof.com>, who couldn't reach the original author. Please direct bug-reports  etc.	to
       pcg@goof.com.

       http://root-tail.plan9.de/

4.2 Berkeley Distribution					    2004-03-27							       ROOTTAIL(1)