Who can drop few lines of code?Send you beer!

[realzippy]

Ok,got that.
Rain does start (after 5 seconds),but it does not stop by keybord input
or mouse movement.When I stop script with ctrl+c,I got this:

kerzin@holzhaus:~$ idlerain.py
^CTraceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/kerzin/bin/idlerain.py", line 18, in <module>
time.sleep(sleep_seconds)
KeyboardInterrupt
kerzin@holzhaus:~$

..and it still rains...

Edit: idlerain.py :

#!/usr/bin/env python
from subprocess import Popen,PIPE,STDOUT,call
import os
import time

def get_idle_time():
proc=Popen('xidle', shell=True, stdout=PIPE, )
return float(proc.communicate()[0])

sleep_seconds=1
max_idle=5
last_idle=0
while True:
idle=get_idle_time()
if (last_idle<max_idle and max_idle<idle) or (idle<last_idle):
os.system('xdotool key shift+F9')
last_idle=idle
time.sleep(sleep_seconds)

[unutbu]

Hm. Put this in ~/bin/test.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
from subprocess import Popen,PIPE,STDOUT,call
import os
import time

def get_idle_time():
    proc=Popen('xidle', shell=True, stdout=PIPE, )
    return float(proc.communicate()[0])

sleep_seconds=1    
max_idle=5
last_idle=0
while True:
    idle=get_idle_time()
    print(idle)
    if ((last_idle<max_idle and max_idle<=idle) or
        (idle<max_idle and max_idle<=last_idle)):
        print('Shift+F9')
    last_idle=idle
    time.sleep(sleep_seconds) 

Make it executable:

chmod +x ~/bin/test.py

And the run it:

test.py

Wait for >5 seconds, then move the mouse.

Do you see output like this:

% test.py
0.047
1.002
2.006
3.01
4.013
5.014
Shift+F9              <----   First Shift+F9 happens after 5 seconds
6.018
7.022
0.682
Shift+F9              <----   Mouse movement causes a Shift+F9
1.686
2.69
^CTraceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/cyrano/pybin/idlerain.py", line 21, in <module>
    time.sleep(sleep_seconds)
KeyboardInterrupt

Note this program does not issue any real Shift+F9, it's just to see if the
mechanics of the program are working.

[realzippy]

kerzin@holzhaus:~$ test.py
0.026
0.991
1.996
3.002
4.008
5.013
Shift+F9
6.018
7.024
8.029
0.002
Shift+F9
0.64
1.645
2.65
3.655
4.66
5.666
Shift+F9
6.671
0.005
Shift+F9
0.738
1.744
^CTraceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/kerzin/bin/test.py", line 20, in <module>
time.sleep(sleep_seconds)
KeyboardInterrupt
kerzin@holzhaus:~$


Hm,that seems to work.Update: idlerain.py now stops by ctrl+c,no more rain...,but still not reacts on mouse/keyboard..

I set the max_idle in idlerain.py to 20 (when compiz rainplugin is stopped by "manual" shift+F9,rain does not stop immediatly,it takes a few seconds til all drops are gone),and so I noticed that a really short mouse movement indeed stops the rain,moving the mouse a bit more,rain starts immediatly;like shift+F9 is "hit" twice by idlerain ...

Also just noticed (with max_idle in idlerain.py to 20),that the script does start the rain,but also stops it...after 20 seconds it starts again and stops,and so on...
Edit: that seems not to be reproducible;sometimes it stops,sometimes not...


Did not think that it's so hard to do...my girlfriend likes the rainplugin and suggested it would be a nice screensaver for her desktop...thought it was easy because of the existing compiz screensaver (rotating cube,e.g.)....just thought to change a few lines in compiz screensaver plugin from "rotate cube" to "rain"...might be pretty naive..

[unutbu]

I fixed an error in the original idlerain.py. Try copying it again:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...4&postcount=18

Does that work?

[realzippy]

No.
after 20 seconds rain starts and stops after 1 second...after 20 seconds it starts,stops..
and so on....

[unutbu]

Did not think that it's so hard to do...my girlfriend likes the rainplugin and suggested it would be a nice screensaver for her desktop...thought it was easy because of the existing compiz screensaver (rotating cube,e.g.)....just thought to change a few lines in compiz screensaver plugin from "rotate cube" to "rain"...might be pretty naive..

realzippy, I think your intuition is right.
I don't have compiz working on my machine, so I'm clueless about how it is configured.
Moreover, running a program (xidle) every second to check if the machine is idle does give me the feeling that this is ugly hackery. Perhaps I'm not the right chipmunk for the job!

Have you asked in the Absolute Beginner or General forum if there is a way to configure compiz to run the rain plug as screensaver? Or perhaps on the compiz forum? (http://forum.compiz.org/)

[realzippy]

Yes,I asked for it in Desktop Environments(no reply,http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1243554),so I thought Programming Talk would be right.
I searched the compiz forum (very first);somebody had asked for it,but did also get no reply...

"Moreover, running a program (xidle) every second to check if the machine is idle does give me the feeling that this is ugly hackery"

...do the default gnome screensavers check idle by another way?

Would not mind that ugly hackery,so my girlfriends quadCPU would have something to do at last...
Anyway it is no real essential problem not to have a rain screensaver,so I
feel kind of guilty for the time you spent.So,what about some beer?

[unutbu]

realzippy, yours has been a fun problem to work on. I'm puzzled why the program is misbehaving as it is. I'll think about it and post if I have any ideas.

So,what about some beer?

Thanks for the offer. How about a virtual one for a virtual solution?

[unutbu]

I've modified idlerain.py so that it spits out some debugging information: http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...4&postcount=18

Would you please run the program for about a minute and
mark in the output when the rain plugin starts and stops?

[realzippy]

First this one....

kerzin@holzhaus:~$ idlerain.py
0.027
0.961
1.966
2.971
3.976
4.982
5.987
6.992
7.997
9.003
10.008
11.013
12.018
13.024
14.029
15.034
16.039
17.045
18.049999
19.055
20.059999
Shift+F9 Rain starts
1.006
Shift+F9 Rain stops
1.006
2.012
3.017
4.022
5.027
6.032
7.037
8.042
9.048
10.053
11.058
12.063
13.068
14.073
15.079
16.084
17.089001
18.094
19.1
20.105
Shift+F9 Rain starts
1.006
Shift+F9 Rain stops
1.008
2.013
3.018
4.023
5.029
6.034
7.039
8.045
9.05
10.055
11.06
12.066
13.071
14.076
15.081
16.086
17.091999
18.097
19.101999
20.108
Shift+F9 Rain starts
1.006
Shift+F9 Rain stops
1.007
2.013
3.02
^CTraceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/kerzin/bin/idlerain.py", line 21, in <module>
time.sleep(sleep_seconds)
KeyboardInterrupt
----------------------------------------------

sleep_seconds=1 causes shift+F9 after rain starts?This is sleep_seconds=5 :

kerzin@holzhaus:~$ idlerain.py
0.024
4.969
9.979
14.988
19.997
25.006001 25 seconds?? (max_idle=20;sleep_seconds=5)???
Shift+F9 Rain starts
5.008
Shift+F9 Rain stops
0.005
0.117
^CTraceback (most recent call last):
File "/home/kerzin/bin/idlerain.py", line 21, in <module>
time.sleep(sleep_seconds)
KeyboardInterrupt