Using CyOSD

Documentation / CyOSD

• Overview of CyOSD
  • What It Does
  • What It Is Not
• Using CyOSD
  • Say One Thing
  • Multiline Text
  • Place It Where Eyes Already Are
  • Progress Without A Dialog
  • Colour And Face
• Command Line
  • Timing And Lifetime
  • Placement
  • Look
  • Progress Meters
  • Multiline Text
• Copyright

Using CyOSD

Use cyosd when a short, unattended message is enough. Prefer a real window (CyNotice, a prefs panel, CySplash) when the user must answer or when the text has to stay until they act.

Say One Thing

cyosd -t 2 Scheme applied
cyosd --wipe=iris -t 1.5 'Emerald Mountain'

Non-option arguments are joined with spaces to form the message, so simple text needs no quoting. Visibility defaults to one second; raise -t when the line is longer than a glance.

Multiline Text

Real newlines in TEXT split the chip into lines. Bash ANSI-C quoting or a two-character \n sequence in an argument both work:

cyosd -t 3 $'Build complete\nAll tests green'
cyosd 'Line one\nLine two'

The chip grows to fit. Long lines word-wrap. Glyphs are never clipped mid-character.

Place It Where Eyes Already Are

Default is middle-center. Volume and desk cues often sit top or bottom so they do not cover the work:

cyosd -p top -A right -o 40 -i 40 'Volume up'
cyosd -p bottom -o 24 Working...

-o and -i are pixel offsets from the chosen edge (or from true center when pos/align is middle or center). -g WxH sets a minimum canvas; 0 in a dimension means auto. Content that needs more room still grows.

Progress Without A Dialog

A long operation can report itself without a Motif window:

cyosd --progress 0.45 --no-wait Rebuilding thumbnails

--progress takes a fraction 0..1; TEXT is the label. --no-wait maps and exits so the caller owns the lifetime (the banner dies with the process). For a live feed, --pv reads one progress value per stdin line (0..1 or 0..100) and drives the bar.

--progress-demo animates the FORGE bar 0% to 100% then fades. --demo is the full default-capabilities tour -- useful after a display or scheme change.

Colour And Face

Ink follows the scheme unless you override with -c / --color (X name or #RRGGBB). That changes glyph ink and the progress outline only; the chip face and bevel stay with the scheme. -fa / --font / --face sets an Xft-style face (or an XLFD) when the scheme bold look is wrong for the message.

Delay Before Show

cyosd --delay 3 -t 1 Ready

--delay waits before the banner appears and does not trade against -t. Use it instead of wrapping cyosd in sleep so every caller does not reinvent the same pause.

See Also

• Overview of CyOSD
• Command Line