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Name

osd_cat — X on-screen file displayer

Synopsis

      
osd_cat  [Option...] [File...]

Description

osd_cat displays the contents of File, or standard input, in a unmanaged shaped window. The effect is similar to the on-screen display of many televisions and video recorders.

Options

-p, --pos=POS
The vertical position of the text. POS can be top, middle, or bottom. The default is top.
-o, --offset=OFFSET
The number of pixels the text is offset from the top or bottom of the display. The default is 0.
-A, --align=ALIGN
The horizontal alignment of the text. ALIGN can be left, centre or right. The default is centre.
-i, --indent=INDENT
The number of pixels the text is indented from the left or right of the display. The default is 0.
-f, --font=FONT
The font used to display the text. The default is fixed, which may be too small to see clearly.
-c, --colour=COLOUR
The text colour. The default is red.
-d, --delay=TIME
The number of seconds the text is displayed before being removed from the display. The default is 5.
-l, --lines=LINES
The maximum number of lines that can be displayed. The default is 5.
-s, --shadow=SHADOW
The number of pixels the shadow is offset behind the text. The default is 0, so no shadow is displayed.
-S, --shadowcolour=COLOUR
The colour of the shadow. The default is black.
-O, --outline=OUTLINE
The width of the outline, in pixels. The default is 0, so no outline is displayed.
-u, --outlinecolour=COLOUR
The colour of the outline. The default is black.
-a, --age=SCROLL_AGE
This option affects screen redrawing. If SCROLL_AGE seconds pass before a new line is ready (for example, you're reading from a pipe), the display is cleared instead of being scrolled. The default is 0, which means all lines are added to the scroll.
-w, --wait=SCROLL_AGE
This option also affects screen redrawing. When there is data ready to be put on screen, this option will cause osd_cat to wait until the display is clear. An alternative to scrolling.

Environment

DISPLAY
The X11 display to use.

Example

Display new entries in /var/log/messages in an OSD window.

bash$ FONT="-adobe-helvetica-bold-*-*-*-34-*-*-*-*-*-*-*"
bash$ tail -f /var/log/messages | osd_cat --font=$FONT --shadow=2

History

The osd_cat application first appeared in version 0.3 of the XOSD.

Authors

Martijn van de Streek , with some patching by Malcolm Valentine and Tim Wright .

The XOSD library was originally written by André Renaud, and is currently maintained by Tim Wright.

Bugs

There are no known bugs with osd_cat. Bug reports can be sent to .

See Also

More information on the X OSD Library and its author can be found at http://www.ignavus.net/software.html.

Copyright

osd_cat is distributed under the GNU General Public License.

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