astime(1) astime(1)
NAME
astime - the AfterStep analogue clock
SYNOPSIS
astime [-h] [-H] [-V]
[-iconic] [-withdrawn] [-standout]
[-geometry [WxH][+|-]x[+|-]y]
[-rc file name]
[-u update rate]
[-exe program name]
[-shift hours]
[-ns] [-nd] [-nap]
[-display display]
[-title name]
[-bg color]
[-fg color]
[-sec color]
[-min color]
[-hour color]
[-day color]
[-date color]
[-ampm color]
[-nt] [-at] [-fs]
[-ts] [-fh] [-nh]
[-ht number]
[-ot number]
[-nf]
[-label text]
[-fn font name]
[-lcol label color]
[-ltop]
DESCRIPTION
The astime is a X11 application that acts as an analogue
clock that we all are familiar with. It shows the current
time on the dial. The day of the week is in the upper left
corner and the current date is at the bottom. The AM/PM
indicator is in the top right corner.
CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
-h or -H
Prints a short description and usage message.
-V
Version control. Prints out the version of the pro
gram.
-rc <file name>
Read the configuration from the given resource
file. The default resource file read if none are
given on the command line is ~/.astimerc. The set
tings on the command line overwrite any settings
read from the resource file. A single '#'
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character can be used to "comment out" any line in
the .astimerc file, which is useful for making tem
porary changes.
-geometry [WxH][+|-]x[+|-]y
Displays the window at the specified location on
the screen and resizes the window to the specified
size WxH. This works as standard X Windows geometry
option. (See XParseGeometry (3x)).
-iconic
Starts the astime application in the iconized mode.
The icon has the same appearance with the main win
dow. When this option is given, the -position
refers to the position of the icon window as well
as the main window.
-withdrawn
Starts the astime application in the withdrawn
mode. This option is necessary to be able to dock
the astime in the WindowMaker dock. When this
option is given, the -position refers to the posi
tion of the icon window as well as the main window.
astime ignores the -iconic option when started in
withdrawn mode.
-standout
This changes the appearance of the astime display
from "pushed-in" to "popped-out". The first is the
default look. The "popped-out" applets look much
better in WindowMaker's dock according to some
opinions. Give it a try in any case.
-u <update rate>
Changes the polling rate for updating the clock.
The update rate is specified in seconds. The value
of 1 is the minimum. Default value is 1 second.
Updating at a different value is hardly a good idea
when you have the seconds hand on. Switch it off
with the "-nosec" option.
-exe <program name>
Specifies which program should be executed when you
click on the clock's face. If this switch is not
specified, astime does not intercept the mouse
clicks at all. So, by default, nothing is run. This
option uses system(3) call to execute the specified
program. The maximum length of the command is
restricted to 255 characters (for no particular
reason).
The icon does not usually respond to mouse clicks
(you would want to be able to de-iconify the win
dow, right?) unless you are running in the
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"withdrawn" mode (-withdrawn option). Then the
icon responds the same way the clock face does.
-shift <hours>
Shifts the clock by the specified number of hours.
This is a simple way of putting a clock in a dif
ferent timezone. Useful when you want several
clocks showing the current time in different
places. The value can be both positive and nega
tive. The values above 23 and below -23 are
silently ignored.
Note that the date and day of the week are not
adjusted.
-ns
Do not draw the seconds hand of the clock. Only the
minutes and hours hands are drawn.
-nd
Do not show the current date.
-nap
Do not show the AM/PM indicator.
-display <name>
The name of the display to start the window in. It
works just as X Windows display option.
-title <name>
Set the window title and the icon title to the
specified name.
-bg <color>
Changes the color of the background of the dial.
Default colour is #385971.
-fg <color>
Changes the color of the foreground of the dial.
Default colour is #ffffff.
-sec <color>
Changes the color of the second hand of the clock.
Default colour is #efc669.
-min <color>
Changes the color of the minute hand of the clock.
Default colour is #ff3030.
-hour <color>
Changes the color of the hour hand of the clock.
Default colour is #ef3838.
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-day <color>
Changes the color of the day-of-the-week display.
Default colour is #a0a0a0.
-date <color>
Changes the color of the date display. Default
colour is #a0a0a0.
-ampm <color>
Changes the color of the AM/PM display. Default
colour is #a0a0a0.
-nt
Don't draw the second ticks on the clock face.
-at
Draw all ticks, not only every 5 seconds.
-fs
"Floating" second indicator in the style of xclock.
-ts
Use a thin second hand - default in the regular
mode. Use it to change the appearance of the sec
ond hand while in the -fh mode. It looks very good
with the normal hands of large thickness too.
-fh
Fancy hands mode. Renders fancy xclock-style hands.
-nh
"Neon" hands. Try this with the fancy hands mode.
-ht <number>
Hand thickness. Can be a number from 0 to 200.
-ot <number>
Hand outline thickness. Can be a number from 0 to
200.
-nf
No foreground. Equal to "-nd -nap -nt".
-label <text>
Asks the astime to label the clock's face with the
specified text. Useful when you want to distinguish
between different instances of astime running on
your desktop.
-fn <font name>
Use the specified font for the label. The default
font is "-*-helvetica-medium-
r-*-*-9-240-*-*-*-*-*-*". Don't ask me why, I do
not know, I just found it fits my desktop well. If
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you have a better idea - send me a mail. The font
is loaded only if you specify a label and has oth
erwise no effect.
-lcol <label color>
Draw the label using the specified color. The
default color is #a0a0a0. Has no effect if you did
not specify a label.
-ltop
Draw the label on the top of the clock's face
instead of drawing it at the bottom by default.
Does not do anything if a label was not specified.
RESOURCE FILE SYNTAX
astime can read and parse a configuration file. This con
figuration file describes the desired look of the applet
(there are equialents to all command-line options) and
specifies actions to be taken on particular events. The
configuration file is usually ~/.astimerc but astime can
be forced to read any file using the -rc option. Any
options read from the configuration file may be overridden
with the command-line options (if a corresponding command-
line option exists, naturally).
The configuration file may contain only one option per
line. Empty lines and lines starting with # are ignored.
geometry <geometry specification>
Your standard X Windows geometry specification.
background <color>
Specifies the background color.
foreground <color>
Specifies the foreground color.
secondColor <color>
Specifies the color for the second hand of the
clock.
minuteColor <color>
Specifies the color for the minute hand of the
clock.
hourColor <color>
Specifies the color for the hour hand of the clock.
secondOutColor <color>
Specifies the color for the second hand outline in
fancy and outline modes.
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minuteOutColor <color>
Specifies the color for the minute hand outline in
fancy and outline modes.
hourOutColor <color>
Specifies the color for the hour hand outline in
fancy and outline modes.
secondFillColor <color>
Specifies the fill color for the second hand in
fancy mode.
minuteFillColor <color>
Specifies the fill color for the minute hand in
fancy mode.
hourFillColor <color>
Specifies the fill color for the hour hand in fancy
mode.
dayColor <color>
Specifies the color for the day of the week indica
tor.
AMPMColor <color>
Specifies the color for the AM/PM indicator.
dateColor <color>
Specifies the color for the current date indicator.
drawSecondHand <0 | 1>
A boolean variable (0 | 1) specifying if the second
hand should be drawn.
drawDayDate <0 | 1>
A boolean variable specifying if the day/date indi
cator should be drawn.
drawAMPM <0 | 1>
A boolean variable specifying if the AM/PM indica
tor should be drawn.
drawTicks <0 | 1>
A boolean variable specifying if the second ticks
should be drawn at all.
drawAllTicks <0 | 1>
A boolean variable specifying if all ticks should
be drawn and not only every 5 sec.
drawForeground <0 | 1>
A boolean variable specifying if the foreground
elements should be drawn. When zero is specified
only the clock hands appear.
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floatSeconds <0 | 1>
A boolean variable specifying if the second indica
tor should be a floating pointer (a bit like in
xclock) rather than a hand.
thinSeconds <0 | 1>
A boolean variable specifying if the second hand
should be thin.
handThickness <thickness>
Specifies the thickness of the hands. Can be a
value between 0 and 200.
outThickness <thickness>
Specifies the thickness of the outline of the
hands. Can be a value between 0 and 200.
fancyHands <0 | 1>
A boolean variable (0 | 1). Render polygonal,
xclock-like hands.
outlinedHands <0 | 1>
A boolean variable (0 | 1). Render polygonal,
xclock-like hands without fill.
neonHands <0 | 1>
A boolean variable (0 | 1). Darken the hand fill
colors with respect to their outlines, useful with
fancy hands.
execProg <command line>
Specifies a command to be executed when the clock
face is clicked. The command line must be enclosed
in double quotes.
withdrawn <0 | 1>
A boolean variable (0 | 1). This option is neces
sary when running with WindowMaker. Produces a
withdrawn window that can be docked.
iconic <0 | 1>
A boolean variable (0 | 1). Specifies if the applet
should start as an icon rather than a full window.
standout <0 | 1>
A boolean variable (0 | 1). Changes the appearance
of the display from "pushed-in" to the "standing
out".
shift <+-hours>
Specifies that the clock should show the local time
shifted by the given number of hours. Useful to see
the time in different timezones.
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title <name>
Specifies which title should be given to this
clock.
at hh:mm:ss <command line>
Specifies program to be run at a particular time.
The command line must be enclosed in double quotes.
Label <text>
Asks the astime to label the clock's face with the
specified text. Useful when you want to distinguish
between different instances of astime running on
your desktop. Equivalent to the command-line
'-label' option.
Font <font name>
Use the specified font for the label. The default
font is "-*-helvetica-medium-
r-*-*-9-240-*-*-*-*-*-*". Don't ask me why, I do
not know, I just found it fits my desktop well. If
you have a better idea - send me a mail. The font
is loaded only if you specify a label and has oth
erwise no effect. Equivalent to the command-line
'-fn' option.
LabelColor <color>
Draw the label using the specified color. The
default color is #a0a0a0. Has no effect if you did
not specify a label. Equivalent to the command-
line '-lcolor' option.
LabelTop <0 | 1>
If the value is 1 draws the label on the top of the
clock's face; if the value is 0 - at the bottom
(default). Does not do anything if a label was not
specified.
INVOCATION
astime can be called in different ways. The most common
invocation is the command line:
user@host[1]% astime -bg blue -fg white &
Another way to call astime is from the window manager:
*Wharf "astime" nil Swallow "astime" astime -nosec &
This line, when placed in the wharf file in the user's
Afterstep configuration directory will cause astime to be
a button on the Wharf (1) button bar under the afterstep
(1) window manager.
If you run WindowMaker then you should use the "-with
drawn" option:
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user@host[1]% astime -withdrawn -standout &
and then drag the icon to the dock.
If you run fvwm2 I think you will like to try this one:
astime -geometry 120x120+890+0 -bg black
-fg \#0000ff -sec \#efc669 -min \#20b2aa
-hour \#8141d7 -day \#7766aa -ampm \#7766aa
-date \#7766aa -at -fs -fh -nh
Of course, it looks less scary if you put all those set
tings in the ~/.astimerc file. The example .astimerc file
(sample.astimerc) included in the distribution provides
the aforementioned settings.
BUGS
My programs do not have bugs, they just develop random
features ;-)
Well, there are limitations. All the strings for the color
names, display name, and the geometry have the length
limit of 64 characters (terminating zero included). The
string copying routine cuts the names that are longer.
SEE ALSO
date(1),X(1x)
COPYRIGHTS
Copyright (c) 1998-99 Albert Dorofeev
<albert@mail.dma.be>
Copyright (c) 1999 William Kostis <kostis@ee.cornell.edu>
Distributed under GNU General Public License v2 ; see
LICENSE file for more informations.
AUTHORS
Albert "Tigr" Dorofeev <albert@mail.dma.be>
William Kostis <kostis@ee.cornell.edu>
See the README file for details and credits.
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