XSET(1) X11 R4.11MU05 XSET(1)
NAME
xset - user preference utility for X
SYNOPSIS
xset [-display display] [-b] [b on/off]
[b [volume [pitch [duration]]]] [[-]bc] [-c] [c on/off]
[c [volume]] [[-+]fp[-+=] path[,path[,...]]]
[fp default] [fp rehash] [[-]led [integer]]
[led on/off]
[m[ouse] [accelmult[/acceldiv] [threshold]]]
[m[ouse] default] [p pixel color] [[-]r [keycode]] [r on/off]
[s [length [period]]] [s blank/noblank]
[s expose/noexpose] [s on/off] [s default] [q]
DESCRIPTION
This program is used to set various user preference options of the
display.
OPTIONS
-display display
This option specifies the server to use; see X(1).
b The b option controls bell volume, pitch and duration. This
option accepts up to three numerical parameters, a preceding
dash(-), or a 'on/off' flag. If no parameters are given, or
the 'on' flag is used, the system defaults will be used. If
the dash or 'off' are given, the bell will be turned off. If
only one numerical parameter is given, the bell volume will
be set to that value, as a percentage of its maximum.
Likewise, the second numerical parameter specifies the bell
pitch, in hertz, and the third numerical parameter specifies
the duration in milliseconds. Note that not all hardware can
vary the bell characteristics. The X server will set the
characteristics of the bell as closely as it can to the
user's specifications.
bc The bc option controls bug compatibility mode in the server,
if possible; a preceding dash(-) disables the mode, otherwise
the mode is enabled. Various pre-R4 clients pass illegal
values in some protocol requests, and pre-R4 servers did not
correctly generate errors in these cases. Such clients, when
run against an R4 server, will terminate abnormally or
otherwise fail to operate correctly. Bug compatibility mode
explicitly reintroduces certain bugs into the X server, so
that many such clients can still be run. This mode should be
used with care; new application development should be done
with this mode disabled. The server must support the MIT-
SUNDRY-NONSTANDARD protocol extension in order for this
option to work.
c The c option controls key click. This option can take an
optional value, a preceding dash(-), or an 'on/off' flag. If
no parameter or the 'on' flag is given, the system defaults
will be used. If the dash or 'off' flag is used, keyclick
will be disabled. If a value from 0 to 100 is given, it is
used to indicate volume, as a percentage of the maximum. The
X server will set the volume to the nearest value that the
hardware can support.
fp= path,...
The fp= sets the font path to the entries given in the path
argument. The entries are interpreted by the server, not by
the client. Typically they are directory names or font
server names, but the interpretation is server-dependent.
fp default
The default argument causes the font path to be reset to the
server's default.
fp rehash
The rehash argument resets the font path to its current
value, causing the server to reread the font databases in the
current font path. This is generally only used when adding
new fonts to a font directory (after running mkfontdir to
recreate the font database).
-fp or fp-
The -fp and fp- options remove elements from the current font
path. They must be followed by a comma-separated list of
entries.
+fp or fp+
This +fp and fp+ options prepend and append elements to the
current font path, respectively. They must be followed by a
comma-separated list of entries.
led The led option controls the keyboard LEDs. This controls the
turning on or off of one or all of the LEDs. It accepts an
optional integer, a preceding dash(-) or an 'on/off' flag.
If no parameter or the 'on' flag is given, all LEDs are
turned on. If a preceding dash or the flag 'off' is given,
all LEDs are turned off. If a value between 1 and 32 is
given, that LED will be turned on or off depending on the
existence of a preceding dash. A common LED which can be
controlled is the ``Caps Lock'' LED. ``xset led 3'' would
turn led #3 on. ``xset -led 3'' would turn it off. The
particular LED values may refer to different LEDs on
different hardware.
m The m option controls the mouse parameters. The parameters
for the mouse are `acceleration' and `threshold'. The
acceleration can be specified as an integer, or as a simple
fraction. The mouse, or whatever pointer the machine is
connected to, will go `acceleration' times as fast when it
travels more than `threshold' pixels in a short time. This
way, the mouse can be used for precise alignment when it is
moved slowly, yet it can be set to travel across the screen
in a flick of the wrist when desired. One or both parameters
for the m option can be omitted, but if only one is given, it
will be interpreted as the acceleration. If no parameters or
the flag 'default' is used, the system defaults will be set.
p The p option controls pixel color values. The parameters are
the color map entry number in decimal, and a color
specification. The root background colors may be changed on
some servers by altering the entries for BlackPixel and
WhitePixel. Although these are often 0 and 1, they need not
be. Also, a server may choose to allocate those colors
privately, in which case an error will be generated. The map
entry must not be a read-only color, or an error will result.
r The r option controls the autorepeat. If a preceding dash or
the 'off' flag is used, autorepeat will be disabled. If no
parameters or the 'on' flag is used, autorepeat will be
enabled. If a specific keycode is specified as a parameter,
autorepeat for that keycode is enabled or disabled.
s The s option lets you set the screen saver parameters. This
option accepts up to two numerical parameters, a
'blank/noblank' flag, an 'expose/noexpose' flag, an 'on/off'
flag, or the 'default' flag. If no parameters or the
'default' flag is used, the system will be set to its default
screen saver characteristics. The 'on' flag enables the
screen saver and sets the system to its default screen saver
characteristics. The 'off' flag disables the screen saver
functions. The 'blank' flag sets the preference to blank the
video (if the hardware can do so) rather than display a
background pattern, while 'noblank' sets the preference to
display a pattern rather than blank the video. The 'expose'
flag sets the preference to allow window exposures (the
server can freely discard window contents), while 'noexpose'
sets the preference to disable screen saver unless the server
can regenerate the screens without causing exposure events.
The length and period parameters for the screen saver
function determines how long the server must be inactive for
screen saving to activate, and the period to change the
background pattern to avoid burn in. The arguments are
specified in seconds. If only one numerical parameter is
given, it will be used for the length.
q The q option gives you information on the current settings.
These settings will be reset to default values when you log out.
Note that not all X implementations are guaranteed to honor all of
these options.
SEE ALSO
X(1), Xserver(1), xmodmap(1), xrdb(1), xsetroot(1)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 1988, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
See X(1) for a full statement of rights and permissions.
AUTHOR
Bob Scheifler, MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
David Krikorian, MIT Project Athena (X11 version)
Licensed material--property of copyright holder(s)