XWherePointer (xwp)

Introduction

This simple program presents graphic drawings highlighting the region where the pointer (e.g. mouse) is on the screen. Its development was due to the author not having found on the web a program with such functionality for the Linux environment (or rather, to have found the ShowMouse, which runs as compositing window manager Compiz plugin). So, this program was developed for author own use. But, it's being made available because it can be useful to other people. This program can be very useful for those who use large screen (e.g. a multi monitor system).

Description

The user sets a hotkey and when it is pressed, the program shows the animation of a colored graphic figure in the region of the screen where the pointer is. During the presentation time interval, if the pointer is moved, the animation following the pointer. The animation region remains on the top of the others windows opened on the screen, so as to highlight to the user the position where the pointer is.

The animation is made with geometric figures in two dimensions, which are selected randomly each time the hotkey is pressed. The program incorporates a set of different animations, so that a certain animation is not repeated until a complete cycle with all the animations being completed.

During the interval of presentation of the animation, it can be interrupted at any time by pressing the same hotkey that fired it. The program allows the set of all animations to be displayed without interruption, which can be done by pressing the Control+HotKey. Once the program is running, it can be finish at any time by pressing Shift+HotKey.

Some images captured from animations: graphics.png

The program is developed in C language, directly accessing the XWindow environment (i.e. it is not using any bindings libraries).

Installation

Requirements: Linux running XWindow graphical environment (the program was tested in the Debian Stretch environment).

Download the compressed file. It does not require installation, just unpacking the archive to the directory of your preference. Edit the xwp.ini initialization file, following the format and other instructions described in the file itself. With the exception of the hotkey, the other options can be left without definition, in this case the program adopts the defaults values. The hotkey code must be indicated in decimal. If you need help know the code of a particular key, it is suggested using xev (part of package xorg-x11-utils). It should be noted that the hotkey will also be used in combination with the Control and Shift keys (as described below).

Usage

The program should be launched, having the file /path/xwp.ini as parameter (where path is the full path of the directory where the file is) in the command line (e.g.):

$ ./xwp /path/xwp.ini

Once loaded into memory, the following features are available:

  1. pressed the Hotkey: the program presents a randomly selected graphic animation in the region of the pointer or, if it is displaying an animation, the animation is finished (i.e., the user can interrupt the animation presentation at any time);
  2. pressing Control+Hotkey: the program shows a cycle of the all available animations, the sequence of the animations is defined randomly;
  3. pressing Shift+Hotkey: the program is finished (that is, the program being or not presenting animation, it is finished);

License

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files, to personal or commercial use without restriction. Not allowed to do any type of re-engineering to discovering the algorithms adopted by the autor. As download the software, the user recognizes the author copyright.

The software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or implied. In no event shall the author be liable for any claim, damages or other liability, whether in an action of use, tort or otherwise, arising from, out of or in connection with the software or the use or other dealings in the software.

Download

generic Linux x86-32

generic Linux x86-64

History

xwp v.0.1 / 13/10/2017:

  1. initial version containing four graphics (fill circles, fill square, circles, squares) not released;

xwp v.0.2 / 04/09/2018:

  1. made several improvements: management of the modules, adjustments in the parameters for the graphics animations, error checking on the hotkey allocation already in use;
  2. added initialization file;
  3. added five more graphic animations;
  4. released to download and use by the community;

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