XSET(1) X Version 11 (Release 6.6) 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] [accel_mult[/accel_div]
[threshold]]] [m[ouse] default] [p pixel color] [[-]r
[keycode]] [r on/off] [-ari interval] [-art timeout] [s
[length [period]]] [s blank/noblank] [s expose/noexpose] [s
on/off] [s default] [s activate] [s reset] [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.
Standard SGI keyboards use led #5 for the ``Caps
Lock`` indicator, #6 for the ``Num Lock`` indicator
and #7 for the ``Scroll Lock`` indicator.
NOTE: As of X11R6.1 (shipped in IRIX 6.2), the X
Keyboard (XKB) Extension owns the indicators and the
core X protocol LED controls are not guaranteed to
work (XKB adds programmable indicators and ways to
disable explicit control of indicators).
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.
-art timeout
The -art option sets a timeout for auto repeat. It
accepts a numerical parameter between 1 to 255. The
r option should be set to on for this option to take
effect. This option is an SGI-specific option and
only works on SGI display.
-ari interval
The -ari option sets an interval for auto repeat. It
accepts a numerical parameter which can be set
between 1 to 255. The r option should be set to on
for this option to take effect. This option is an
SGI-specific option and only works on SGI display.
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, an
'activate/reset' 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/off' flags simply turn the
screen saver functions on or off. The 'activate'
flag forces activation of screen saver even if the
screen saver had been turned off. The 'reset' flag
forces deactivation of screen saver if it is active.
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.
NOTE: some SGI systems and monitors support a
monitor power-save option, which allows the monitor
to use less current when turned on, but not in use.
This feature is controlled through the screen saver
interval. To check whether your system supports the
feature, set the screen saver interval to its
default, by using 'xset s default', then read back
the default interval using 'xset q'. If the default
interval is 0, the system supports the feature. To
enable the feature, set the interval to a non-zero
value, which will be the number of seconds between
the time screen saving is enabled and the time
monitor power-save is turned on. A value of 0
disables monitor power-save. If 'noblank' is
enabled, the screen saver interval reverts to its
original meaning, i.e., the period to change the
background pattern.
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)
AUTHOR
Bob Scheifler, MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
David Krikorian, MIT Project Athena (X11 version)
Page 5 (printed 7/20/06)