XNLOCK(1L) XNLOCK(1L)
19 April 1990
NAME
xnlock - amusing lock screen program with message for passers-by
SYNOPSIS
xnlock [ options ] [ message ]
DESCRIPTION
xnlock is a program that acts as a screen saver for workstations
running X11. It also "locks" the screen such that the workstation can
be left unattended without worry that someone else will walk up to it
and mess everything up. When xnlock is running, a little man with a
big nose and a hat runs around spewing out messages to the screen. By
default, the messages are "humorous", but that depends on your sense
of humor. If a key or mouse button is pressed, a prompt is printed
requesting the user's password. If a RETURN is not typed within 30
seconds, the little man resumes running around. Text on the command
line is used as the message. For example:
% xnlock I'm out to lunch for a couple of hours.
Note the need to quote shell metacharacters. In the absence of flags
or text, xnlock displays random fortunes.
OPTIONS
Command line options override all resource specifications. All
arguments that are not associated with a command line option is taken
to be message text that the little man will "say" every once in a
while. The resource xnlock.text may be set to a string.
-fn fontname
The default font is the first 18 point font in the new century
schoolbook family. While larger fonts are recokmmended over
smaller ones, any font in the server's font list will work. The
resource to use for this option is xnlock.font.
-filename filename
Take the message to be displayed from the file filename. If
filename is not specified, $HOME/.msgfile is used. If the
contents of the file are changed during runtime, the most recent
text of the file is used (allowing the displayed message to be
altered remotely). Carriage returns within the text are allowed,
but tabs or other control characters are not translated and
should not be used. The resource available for this option is
xnlock.file.
-ar Accept root's password to unlock screen. This option is true by
default. The reason for this is so that someone's screen may be
unlocked by autorized users in case of emergency and the person
running the program is still out to lunch. The resource
available for specifying this option is xnlock.acceptRootPasswd.
-noar
Don't accept root's password. This option is for paranoids who
- 1 - Formatted: June 9, 2026
XNLOCK(1L) XNLOCK(1L)
19 April 1990
fear their peers might breakin using root's password and remove
their files anyway. Specifying this option on the command line
overrides the xnlock.acceptRootPasswd if set to True.
-ip Ignore password prompt. The resource available for this option
is xnlock.ignorePasswd.
-noip
Don't ignore password prompt. This is available in order to
override the resource ignorePasswd if set to True.
-fg color
Specifies the foreground color. The resource available for this
is xnlock.foreground.
-bg color
Specifies the background color. The resource available for this
is xnlock.background.
-rv Reverse the foreground and background colors. The resource for
this is xvnlock.reverseVideo.
-norv
Don't use reverse video. This is available to override the
reverseVideo resource if set to True.
-prog program
Receive message text from the running program program. If there
are arguments to program, encase them with the name of the
program in quotes (e.g. xnlock -t "fortune -o"). The resource
for this is xnlock.program.
RESOURCES
xnlock.font: fontname
xnlock.foreground: color
xnlock.background: color
xnlock.reverseVideo: True/False
xnlock.text: Some random text string
xnlock.program: program [args]
xnlock.ignorePasswd: True/False
xnlock.acceptRootPasswd: True/False
FILES
xnlock executable file
~/.msgfile default message file
AUTHOR
Dan Heller <argv@sun.com> Copyright (c) 1985, 1990.
The original version of this program was written using pixrects on a
Sun 2 running SunOS 1.1.
- 2 - Formatted: June 9, 2026
