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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: Knowing when a screensaver is active
From:       Holger Thon <devel_ht () unidui ! uni-duisburg ! de>
Date:       1999-05-23 7:50:52
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Hi!

Andreas Pour wrote:
> 
> Holger Thon wrote:
> 
> > Andreas Pour wrote:
> > >
> > Wouldn't this mean that the screensaver needed an interface to do this?
> 
> Yes, you would need a screensaver that works with the protocol.  I think 

It'll be hard to determine if the screensaver used understands this
protocol, won't it? I mean you can't include functions to get this in
your screensaver, for it might confuse others.

> 
> > Then you can't use a screensaver of your choice with this app.
> 
> Yes you can, you just won't get all the features (namely, the popup window).
> 
> > And what do you suppose to do when someone REALLY wants to lock screen
> > or sends an xforcescreensaver() to his display? Maybe he's away 36 hours
> Good point.  I think I mentioned that the pop-up window would "float" over the
> screen, like a ping-pong ball; of course you could vary this and have different
> algorithms (like jumping around, fading in and fading out, etc.).

You would need to include the functions you call with your popup-window
into your screensaver as well. At least you have to differ between
normal mode and screensaver mode (window handled by screensaver). You
could call your screensaver-function with a pointer to the popup-widget
and it's ressourceid, move it and call window->draw(). But if the user
closes the popup, it's ressources are deleted and you have to tell that
to the app. If the app doesn't know that the window has been deleted, it
will crash. The other question is how the user could ever reach the
popup window in screensaver mode. It moves away by default. You would
have to include an algorythm determining if screensaver should remain
on, if the user wants to reach the popup or if he just wants  to turn
screensaver of and so on. You intend to create a screensaver with AI.
:-)

What would you do if multiple apps want to pass there popups to the
screensaver? They could make the screen full and you would have to use a
e.g. QList to handle all windows. When the windows use the same
background colors (and they will), the chance of multiple pixels being
the same color for a long time is astronomically high. Then the REAL
goal of a screensaver is discarded.

> 
> > I don't see the point where it could be necessary to notify the user of
> > something when the screensaver is active. I would say, the standard user
> 
> So you don't like this feature :-).  Personally I see a use for it (though not
> enough to do it myself :-P)  -- if I am across the room and I want to see if I
> got some e-mail I can tell by whether this pop-up is on the screen.  Depends on
> your model of how screensavers are used . . .


I see a lot of work and quasi non-usability. That's not worth the work
in my opinion. If you want to be notified about something when the
screensaver is on, use an lcd display, leds (attached to either serial
or parallel port). If you don't want to use these, use your kbd leds or
your soundcard or your speaker.


Regards,
  Holger

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