[comp.windows.x] user inactivity and screen blanking

tim@appenzell.cs.wisc.edu (Tim Theisen) (04/09/90)

In article <9004042252.AA11736@expire.lcs.mit.edu> rws@EXPO.LCS.MIT.EDU (Bob Scheifler) writes:
>There is no standard way to do this through an X server.  You could
>look at the input devices directly, as someone has suggested.  You
>could also look at the "xidle" extension that's in the R4 contrib
>software (it will probably take some work to integrate it into R4).

I have reworked the xidle extension for the R4 server.  It is available
via anoymous ftp from expo.lcs.mit.edu:contrib/xidle.shar.Z.  This 
extension returns the time since last input event from the X server.
It is currently in use on Vaxen, DecStations, Sun 3's, Sun 4's, and
IBM RT's.
--
Tim Theisen             Department of Computer Sciences
tim@cs.wisc.edu         University of Wisconsin-Madison
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(608)262-0438           Madison, WI   53706

meo@stiatl.UUCP (Miles O'Neal) (04/10/90)

andrew@ambush.dk (Leif Andrew Rump) writes:
|Is it possible to detect (user) inactivity (no keyboard, mouse or
|other external events) on a unix workstation (more specific a Sun
|Sparc1)?

It's available in X now.

|We need to know if the user has left the terminal for security reasons.
|
|We also like to install a screen blanker so if the user leave the
|terminal for more than 10 minutes it replace the users "static" screen
|with a _moving_ pattern that prevent screen burning!

That's there now. Look at the man page for xset.

But it's not a security feature, per se. From a console running X,
you can invoke xlock. I would think that hacking either xset or the
server would allow one to run xlock as the screen saver, but haven't
looked at it. Nor have I heard of anything like that for an x terminal
(NCD, XDS, etc.)

-Miles O'Neal
meo@SalesTech.com
emory!stiatl!meo

   This posting involves no company proprietary information.
My employer & I speak for ourselves, not each other. Trust me.

markb@giga.UUCP (Mark Baranowski) (04/11/90)

No, no, no, no.  Every respondent to this request seems to be missing
the boat.  The original poster wanted much more than just a
screen-blank program.  He wanted a program that would automatically
lock-up the console after an appropriate amount of inactivity and
require a password from the user to re-enable the console.  If anyone
knows of such a critter I would sure like to get my hands on it.

How many times have any of us wandered away from our terminals for a
"quick" break and end up getting detoured?  Sometimes my detours last
for days after which when I return I discover that I forgot to log
off.

-- 
Joseph Hazelwood's driving didn't cause the Alaskan oil spill; yours did.

Internet: markb@slc.unisys.com			uucp: ...!giga!markb
	  vi.baranowski@science.utah.edu

janssen@parc.xerox.com (Bill Janssen) (04/13/90)

In article <615@giga.UUCP> markb@giga.UUCP (Mark Baranowski) writes:

   ...  The original poster wanted much more than just a
   screen-blank program.  He wanted a program that would automatically
   lock-up the console after an appropriate amount of inactivity and
   require a password from the user to re-enable the console.  If anyone
   knows of such a critter I would sure like to get my hands on it.

I have such a thing (based on xlock), and I'll put it on expo when I'm
sure it works.

Bill
--
--
 Bill Janssen        janssen.pa@xerox.com      (415) 494-4763
 Xerox Palo Alto Research Center
 3333 Coyote Hill Road, Palo Alto, California   94304