screensaver-settings 0.4.0 (2011-Sep-19) Xavier Flix (xFX JumpStart) http://software.xfx.net/utilities/sss/ http://whenimbored.xfx.net/2011/05/i-want-my-screensaver-settings/ Ubuntu x86 Package: http://xfx.net/ftp/screensaver-settings_0.3.4-1_i386.deb Ubuntu x64 Package: http://xfx.net/ftp/screensaver-settings_0.3.4-1_amd64.deb Binary: http://xfx.net/ftp/screensaver-settings-bin.tar.gz Source (Mono/C#): http://xfx.net/ftp/screensaver-settings-src.tar.gz Tarball: http://xfx.net/ftp/screensaver-settings-0.3.4.tar.gz -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- === What is this? === Well, this is my first Linux-based application ;) This application has been developed to cover a missing feature from the actual gnome-screensaver-preferences application: The support to change the screensavers' settings. screensaver-settings provides an almost identical interface to that provided by gnome-screensaver-preferences but with the addition of an "Options" button that will let you change the settings of any of the screensavers in your system. Additionally, you will also be able to select which set of screensavers should be used while in "random" mode. === How does it work? === screensaver-settings will read the list of screensavers from the list of XML documents found in the "/usr/share/xscreensaver/config/" folder. The screensaver's preview is generated by executing the appropriate screensaver located in the in the "/usr/lib/xscreensaver/" folder. Finally, changes are applied to the corresponding .desktop file located in the "/usr/share/applications/screensavers/" folder. === Installing and Running === The easiest way is to use the DEB package to let Ubuntu install it for you but if you have downloaded the binary package then simply run the autorun.sh script and a launcher will be created on your Desktop. === Known Bugs/Limitations === (for current version) - This is probably not a bug... but it's good to know that: Ubuntu's .theme files for the screensavers do not contain any configuration information; this means that all screensavers run using their default values. Some of these default values cannot be determined by reading the corresponding .xml file or Exec line in the .desktop file which means that, the first time you use screensaver-settings the screensaver may look different from what the controls in the settings window reflect. Once you make changes to a screensaver using screensaver-settings all parameters will be synchronized so all future access to this screensaver's settings will look correct. - The "Default" button in the Options window is not working... - At this moment, screensaver-settings does not support localization. - No documentation (other than this readme) is currently available. - The position and size of the windows used by screensaver-settings are not saved. === Change log / History === 0.4.0 (2011-Sep-19) - Fixed bug that caused screensaver-settings to crash when the XML file for a screensaver contained two or more elements with the same ID (Such as with the Helix screensaver by Jamie Zawinski) - Fixed bug that prevented screensaver-settings from automatically selecting the first screensaver from the list while in random mode - Updated all the code that handles how the selected screensaver (or screensavers in random mode) is retrieved and stored in GConf. This required a major update of many of the functions resulting in a much cleaner and stable implementation but, unfortunately, this renders screensaver-settings incompatible with older versions of gnome-screensaver-preferences and its daemon - Updated the GUI so that all sliders now show the actual timing they represent - Added support to ease the selection of the screensavers while in random mode by providing a set of three buttons to select them all, none or invert the selection - Added an autorun.sh script that automatically generates a launcher and copies it in the Desktop - screensaver-settings now has an official icon! http://xfx.net/utilities/sss/images/icon.png - Reformatted this README file to fit in 80 columns 0.3.4 (2011-Sep-15) - Fixed bug that caused screensaver-settings to crash if the Options window was open and a screensaver without configuration file was selected - Fixed bug that prevented screensaver-settings from being able to properly terminate the preview of screensavers that do not support the -window-id command line parameter - The binary for screensaver-settings can now be used under both x86 and x64 platforms 0.3.3 (2011-Apr-13) - Added support to handle missing screensavers - Added support for screensavers that do not contain a configuration file - Added support for screensavers that do not support the -window-id command line parameter 0.3.2 (2010-Nov-25) - Cosmetic changes - Source code clean-up - Tested under Ubuntu 10 0.3.1 (2010-Feb-3) - screensaver-settings is now compatible with Ubuntu 9.10 - Fixed many UI issues. The settings window should now look perfect for all screen savers. - This version is based on the Chris Halse's trunk which greatly improves several internal routines. - Fixed several minor bugs... 0.3.0 (2008-Mar-26) - screensaver-settings is now distributed under the GNU Lesser General Public License version 3. - The program will now automatically hide the settings window when switching to fullscreen or selecting either the Random or Blank settings. - Added support to display the settings from a "command" control but support to modify the screensaver's command line is not yet supported (and probably never will) so the textbox will appear disabled. - For some reason, getting the Random Cycle Delay parameter from GConf will fail. This hasn't been resolved yet but, at least, the program will not crash when this occurs. - Made some substantial modifications to the GUI in order to conform to the suggestions made by Matthew Paul Thomas (https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-screensaver/+bug/22007/comments/60). Not all his suggestions are implemented and those that were are not 100% functional. The changes include: - Moved the screensaver daemon settings to the top of the dialog. - Added a selection box (dropdown) to select the operation mode: Blank Screen, One Screensaver or Random. - The selection of which screensavers should be included while in random mode it is now made on the same dialog. 0.2.6 (2008-Feb-2) - Fixed many bugs with the way the program handled values from comboboxes. - Fixed bug that could cause the program to incorrectly handle parameters without values. - Fixed bug that caused the program to crash if the Settings window was closed using the [x] button. 0.2.5 (2008-Jan-24) - Fixed bug that could cause the program to crash if you switched screensavers as the program was closing. - Fixed bug that caused the settings window to improperly initialize number-based controls (such as sliders and spinbuttons). - Removed all the "Console.WriteLine" entries that served only for debugging purposes. - Improved support for other Linux distributions (such as openSUSE). 0.2.4 (2008-Jan-23) - This README file has been updated to reflect the latest changes in the program. - Fixed (again) a bug that caused the program to not close/terminate properly. - Added support for other Linux distributions. So far I can confirm that it "almost" runs under openSUSE 10.3 Better support will be provided on future versions. - Many users have reported that the program is including the "Hufo's Tunnel" screensaver twice and missing the "ColorFire" screensaver. This is because the XML file for the ColorFire screensaver is corrupt. I could implement several solutions but I'd prefer that the responsible for packaging those XML files fixed this problem by correcting the "Name" and "_lable" attributes for the colorfire.xml document. If you wish, you can fix this yourself: 1) Type this on the console: gksudo gedit /usr/share/xscreensaver/config/colorfire.xml 2) Locate this line: 3) Change it for this: 4) Save the document 0.2.3 (2008-Jan-17) - Fixed bug that could cause the program to crash when updating the screensaver's preview - Fixed bug that could cause the program to crash when a screensaver's .desktop file contained corrupted startup parameters 0.2.2 (2007-Oct-26) - screensaver-settings no longer needs to be run as root (gksudo). Whenever the program detects that it needs to update a screensaver it will ask for the user's permission. - The screensavers' configuration files are now updated when the program is closed (not every time the user makes some changes). - Fixed several bugs... 0.2.1 (2007-Oct-24) - Added the ability to configure which screensavers should be rotated in Random mode 0.2.0 (2007-Oct-24) - screensaver-settings has been rewritten, from scratch, using C#/Gtk# 0.1.0 (2007-Jan-25) - Re-released version 0.1 to support Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy) 0.1.0 (2006-Sep-12) - Initial Release