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.\" -*- mode: nroff -*-
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.TH XWRITS 1 "8 Feb 2002" "Version \*V"
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xwrits \- reminds you to take wrist breaks
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\%[\-display \fIdisplay\fP]
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\%[typetime=\fItime\fP]
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\%[breaktime=\fItime\fP]
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\fBXwrits\fP reminds you to take wrist breaks for prevention or management
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of repetitive stress injuries. When you should take a break, it pops up an
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X window, the warning window. You click on the warning window, then take a
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break. The window changes appearance while you take the break. It changes
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again when your break is over. Then you just resume typing. Xwrits hides
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itself until you should take another break.
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The \fBtypetime\fP option changes the amount of time between breaks, and
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the \fBbreaktime\fP option changes the length of a break. The defaults are
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55 minutes and 5 minutes, respectively.
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Xwrits's graphics are brightly colored pictures of a wrist and hand. The
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hand clenches and spreads ``as if in pain'' on the warning window, slumps
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relaxed during the break, and points forward valiantly when the break is
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over. It is trapped behind bars while the keyboard is locked. Other
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gestures are included (see the \fB+finger\fP option). You can also use your
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own pictures: see the \fBwarning-picture\fP, \fBrest-picture\fP, and
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\fBready-picture\fP options.
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Normally, xwrits works through annoyance\*Eit flashes until you stop
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typing. However, an option makes it actively prevent you from typing by
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locking the screen. See \fB+lock\fP below.
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Xwrits notices when you leave your workstation idle, and treats a long idle
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period as if you took a break. You can turn this off with the \fB-idle\fP
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option. With the \fB+mouse\fP option, it will also monitor your mouse
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movements\*Eyou won't be able to move the mouse during a break without
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Each wrist break normally lasts the same amount of time. This is what
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doctors suggest, but, if you'd like, the \fB+quota\fP option will reward
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you for taking small breaks by reducing the length of the next official
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Some doctors recommend taking a short ``microbreak'' every five minutes, as
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well as a longer break every hour. To use xwrits this way, just run two
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xwrits processes, one for the microbreaks and one for the longer breaks.
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It is easy to put the warning window aside ``for 5 minutes'' and ignore it
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for fifty. The \fBafter\fP=\fIdelay\fP option causes xwrits to escalate its
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activity over time, making it harder to ignore.
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Options following \fBafter\fP come into effect after you have ignored the
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warning window for \fIdelay\fP. In other words, xwrits's behavior escalates
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after \fIdelay\fP. For instance, with this command line,
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xwrits flashtime=:2 after=10 flashtime=:.03
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the warning window will begin flashing very quickly if it is ignored
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Any options preceding an \fBafter\fP option also apply following it, unless
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you explicitly cancel them. For example:
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xwrits +finger after=10 -finger
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Multiple \fBafter\fP options create a series of escalations. \fIDelay\fP
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arguments are cumulative, so ``after=10 after=10'' means the same as
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One interesting use for \fBafter\fP is to make a break's length depend on
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how long you waited to take it. For example:
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xwrits break=5 after=10 break=7
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Here, a wrist break normally takes 5 minutes. However, if you ignore the
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warning window for 10 minutes or more before taking a break, the wrist
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break will last 7 minutes.
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All options may be abbreviated to their unique prefixes. Some may be
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abbreviated further, in which case the smallest legal abbreviation is shown
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in brackets. Options are processed from left to right.
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Options listed as ``\fB+option\fP (\fB\-option\fP)'' are toggles, which can
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be on or off. A + turns the option on; \- turns it off. Off is the default
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for most toggle options, and only the on behavior is described. You can
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leave off the + sign if you like: ``xwrits +finger'' and ``xwrits finger''
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are equivalent. Or you can say ``\-no\-finger'' instead of ``\-finger''.
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Many options take arguments. You can give these after an equal sign, as in
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``xwrits breaktime=2''. Non-optional arguments can also be given
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separately, as in ``xwrits breaktime 2''.
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Time arguments are expressed in minutes. For example, ``2'' is 2 minutes,
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``2.5'' is 2 minutes 30 seconds. Use a colon to specify seconds: ``2:05.4''
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is 2 minutes 5.4 seconds, and ``:5'' is 5 seconds.
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\fB\-display\fP \fIdisplay\fP
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Specify the X display. Xwrits monitors this display for keystrokes and
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mouse movements, and displays windows on it. You can simultaneously monitor
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more than one display by giving this option multiple times; for example,
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``xwrits display :0.0 display fun-orgy:0.0''.
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\fB+multiscreen\fP (\fB\-multiscreen\fP)
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When this option is on, xwrits will open every available screen on each
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Useful for multihead displays.
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\fBtypetime\fP=\fItime\fP [\fBt\fP]
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Allow typing for \fItime\fP between breaks. Default is 55 minutes.
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\fBbreaktime\fP=\fItime\fP [\fBb\fP]
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The amount of time a break lasts. Default is 5 minutes. This option can be
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supplied multiple times; see
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\fBafter\fP=\fIdelay-time\fP
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\fBbars-picture\fP=\fIfile\fP [\fBbp\fP=\fIfile\fP]
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Sets the background GIF image that appears while the screen is locked. By
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default, this is an image of bars designed to work with the usual
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\fBlock-picture\fP. If you specify your own \fBlock-picture\fP, however,
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\fBbars-picture\fP defaults to a black screen. (Say
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``bars-picture="&bars"'' to keep the bars.) Animations are not acceptable.
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\fB+beep\fP (\fB\-beep\fP)
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Xwrits will beep when the break should begin and again when it is
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\fB+breakclock\fP (\fB\-breakclock\fP) [\fBbc\fP]
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A clock will appear in the resting window showing how many minutes
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remain in the wrist break.
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\fBcanceltime\fP=\fItime\fP [\fBct\fP]
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Allow typing for \fItime\fP after a break is cancelled. You cancel a break
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by deleting all xwrits windows with your window manager. This time should
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probably be less than the regular type time. Default is 10 minutes.
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\fB+cheat\fP[=\fInum\fP] (\fB\-cheat\fP)
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Allows you to cheat during a break. You can type \fInum\fP keystrokes
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before xwrits cancels the break. Default for \fInum\fP is 5. (If you're
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using \fB+mouse\fP, mouse movements also count as keystrokes.)
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\fB+clock\fP (\fB\-clock\fP) [\fBc\fP]
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A clock will appear in the warning window showing how many minutes
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you've put off the wrist break.
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\fB+finger\fP (\fB\-finger\fP) [\fBf\fP]
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The warning window will be rude to you.
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\fB+finger\fP=\fIculture\fP
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The warning window will be rude to you, according to \fIculture\fP's idea
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of rudeness. Possible values for \fIculture\fP are `american' (the default),
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`korean' (synonyms `japanese' and `russian'), and `german'.
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\fBflashtime\fP=\fItime\fP
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The amount of time between flashes of the warning window. Default is 2
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\fB+flipoff\fP (\fB\-flipoff\fP)
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Synonym for \fB+finger\fP.
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\fB+iconified\fP (\fB\-iconified\fP)
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The warning window will initially appear as an icon.
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\fB+idle\fP[=\fIidletime\fP] (\fB\-idle\fP) [\fBi\fP]
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If you leave your workstation idle for \fIidletime\fP or longer, xwrits
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will behave as if you took a break. The default for \fIidletime\fP is the
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break length (see \fBbreaktime\fP above). \fBidle\fP is on by default.
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\fB+lock\fP[=\fIjump-time\fP] (\fB\-lock\fP)
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Xwrits will lock your screen until your break is
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over. You can prematurely disable the lock and get a normal warning
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window by typing your password (see \fBpassword\fP below). The
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\fIjump-time\fP argument specifies how fast the screensaver will move;
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default is 4 seconds. If the keyboard has been grabbed by another
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application when the lock is attempted, the lock fails and a
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normal warning window appears instead.
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\fBlock-picture\fP=\fIfile\fP [\fBlp\fP=\fIfile\fP]
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Sets the GIF image that appears while the screen is locked.
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Animations are acceptable. See also \fBbars-picture\fP.
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\fBmaxhands\fP=\fInum\fP
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No more than \fInum\fP warning windows will appear on your screen
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simultaneously. Normally, there will be only one warning window, but
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see \fB+multiply\fP below. \fINum\fP cannot be less than 1, or more
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than 137. Default is 25.
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\fBminbreaktime\fP=\fItime\fP
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Sets the minimum break length to \fItime\fP. This option is meaningful
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when \fB+quota\fP is on (see below); no matter how many short breaks you
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take, the break length will not be shortened below \fItime\fP. It defaults
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to half the break time or the quota time, whichever is larger.
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\fBmono\fP (\fB\-mono\fP)
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Xwrits will display its graphics in black and white. This may be useful if
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you live in a world with a limited colormap.
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\fB+mouse\fP[=\fIsensitivity\fP] (\fB\-mouse\fP)
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Xwrits will monitor your mouse movements. Every couple seconds, it checks
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whether the mouse has moved. Movements of more than \fIsensitivity\fP
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pixels in any direction are treated like key presses. Default for
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\fIsensitivity\fP is 15 pixels.
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\fB+multiply\fP[=\fIbreed-time\fP] (\fB\-multiply\fP) [\fBm\fP]
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A new warning window will be created every \fIbreed-time\fP. Default for
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\fIbreed-time\fP is 2.3 seconds.
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\fB+noiconify\fP (\fB\-noiconify\fP)
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The warning window will not allow itself to be iconified.
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\fBpassword\fP=\fIpassword\fP
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The password you type to unlock a locked screen (see \fB+lock\fP above).
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Xwrits does not protect this password from intruders.
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Therefore, do not use your login password or any other password you must
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keep secure. Default is ``quit''.
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\fB+quota\fP[=\fItime\fP] (\fB\-quota\fP)
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If you leave your workstation idle for more than \fItime\fP, the idle time
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is deducted from the length of your next break. This option turns the break
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length into a break quota\*Einstead of resting for \fIbreaktime\fP
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consecutive minutes every \fItypetime\fP, you must rest for a total of
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\fIbreaktime\fP minutes per \fItypetime\fP. Default for \fItime\fP is 1
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minute. See also \fBminbreaktime\fP.
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\fBready-picture\fP=\fIfile\fP [\fBokp\fP=\fIfile\fP]
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Sets the image that appears when your break is over to an arbitrary GIF.
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Animations are acceptable.
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\fBrest-picture\fP=\fIfile\fP [\fBrp\fP=\fIfile\fP]
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Sets the image that appears during your break to an arbitrary GIF.
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Animations are acceptable.
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\fBtitle\fP=\fItext\fP
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Xwrits windows will have \fItext\fP for their title, instead of the default
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\fB+top\fP (\fB\-top\fP)
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The warning window will try to keep itself above all other windows on the
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desktop. (Note: it can be fooled into staying only partially visible.)
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\fB+verbose\fP (\fB\-verbose\fP)
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Xwrits will print a lot of information about the windows on which it is
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listening for keystrokes. This is mostly useful for debugging.
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Prints the version number and some quickie warranty information and exits.
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\fBwarning-picture\fP=\fIfile\fP [\fBwp\fP=\fIfile\fP]
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Sets the image that appears on the warning window to an arbitrary GIF.
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Animations are acceptable.
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Here is the way I run xwrits:
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xwrits typetime=40 finger after 15 clock multiply=5:1.4
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This looks pretty spectacular:
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xwrits t=0 b=:2 f fla=:.5 m=:.31 max=100 -i
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Eddie Kohler, kohler@icir.org
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http://www.icir.org/kohler/
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http://www.lcdf.org/xwrits/
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The \fBxwrits\fP home page (for distributions and so forth).
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Idea for idle processing code from
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by Stefan De Troch and Michel Eyckmans
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Xwrits does not use the X resource database at all.
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More options might be nice. So might more careful screen locking and
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password protection. I would like to include rude finger gestures from
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other cultures (see the GESTURES file in the distribution for gestures I
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Please send any bugs, comments, or suggestions to me.
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Yes the misspelling is intentional.
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Yes it's my left wrist.