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## Gromit-MPX
Gromit-MPX is a multi-pointer port of the original [Gromit annotation
tool](http://www.home.unix-ag.org/simon/gromit) by [Simon
Budig](mailto:simon@budig.de).
It enables graphical annotations with several pointers at once and is
A **lot** faster since it uses the XCOMPOSITE extension where
available. Also, it does not inhibit Drag-and-Drop like the original
Gromit tool.
### What is it?
Gromit-MPX (GRaphics Over MIscellaneous Things) is a small tool to
make annotations on the screen.
Its main use is for making presentations of some application.
Normally, you would have to move the mouse pointer around the point of
interest until hopefully everybody noticed it. With Gromit-MPX, you
can draw everywhere onto the screen, highlighting some button or area.
Similar tools for MS-Windows include *DemoHelper* (GPLv2 also), or
proprietary tools like *ZoomIt* and *ScreenMarker*. For Compiz, there
is also the *Annotate* plugin, and the much-flashier *Firepaint (paint
fire on screen)* plugin.
### How to use it
You can operate Gromit-MPX using its tray icon, but since you
typically want to use the program you are demonstrating and
highlighting something is a short interruption of your workflow,
Gromit-MPX can be toggled on and off on the fly via a hotkey:
Per default, it grabs the `F9` and `F10` keys, so that no other application
can use them and they are available to Gromit-MPX only. The available
commands are:
F9: toggle painting
SHIFT-F9: clear screen
CTRL-F9: toggle visibility
ALT-F9: Quit Gromit-MPX.
F10: undo last stroke
SHIFT-F10: redo last undone stroke
You can specify the keys to grab via:
```
gromit-mpx --key <keysym> --undo-key <keysym>
```
Specifying an empty string or `none` for the keysym will prevent gromit
from grabbing a key.
Alternatively you can invoke Gromit-MPX with various arguments to
control an already running Gromit-MPX .
Usage:
gromit-mpx --quit
will cause the main Gromit-Mpx-MPX process to quit (or "-q")
gromit-mpx --toggle
will toggle the grabbing of the cursor (or "-t")
gromit-mpx --visibility
will toggle the visibility of the window (or "-v")
gromit-mpx --clear
will clear the screen (or "-c")
gromit-mpx --undo
will undo the last drawing stroke (or "-z")
gromit-mpx --redo
will redo the last undone drawing stroke (or "-y")
If activated Gromit-MPX prevents you from using other programs with the
mouse. You can press the button and paint on the screen. Key presses
(except the `F9`-Key, see above) will still reach the currently active
window but it may be difficult to change the window-focus without mouse...
The next `gromit-mpx --toggle` will deactivate Gromit-MPX and you can
use your programs as usual - only the painted regions will be obscured.
Gromit-MPX is pressure sensitive, if you are using properly configured
XInput-Devices you can draw lines with varying width. It is
possible to erase something with the other end of the (Wacom) pen.
Undo/redo commands are cumulative. For example, sending two undo commands
will undo the last two strokes. The maximum undo/redo depth is 4 strokes.
### Building it
Gromit-MPX is small and lightweight. It needs GTK+3 to build.
Simply type `./configure && make && make install`.
If you checked out from git instead of using the tarball, an
`autoreconf --install` is needed to setup the build system.
### Configuration:
Gromit-MPX is configurable via the file `gromit-mpx.cfg` in the
directory defined by `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` (usually `~/.config`). Here
you can specify which Device/Button/Modifier combination invokes which
tool. See the copy of `gromit-mpx.cfg` distributed with this program
for an example. An overview on the syntax:
# Comments can be either # Shell-Style or
/* C-Style. */
This entry defines the tool `red Pen`, a pen with size 7 and color red.
You can specify the color in X-Style: e.g. `#FF0033` or
colors from `rgb.txt`.
"red Pen" = PEN (size=7 color="red");
The following Entries copy an existing configuration (in this case
`red Pen`) and modify the color.
"blue Pen" = "red Pen" (color="blue");
"yellow Pen" = "red Pen" (color="yellow");
You can also draw lines that end in an arrow head. For this you
have to specify `arrowsize`. This is a factor relative to the width
of the line. For reasonable arrowheads start with 1.
"blue Pen" = "blue Arrow" (arrowsize=2);
An `ERASER` is a tool that erases the drawings on screen.
The color parameter is not important.
"Eraser" = ERASER (size = 75);
A `RECOLOR`-Tool changes the color of the drawing without changing
the shape. Try it out to see the effect.
"green Marker" = RECOLOR (color = "Limegreen");
If you define a tool with the same name as an input-device
(see the output of `xsetpointer -l`, if there is a `SWITCH`-Tool
it is uninteresting...) this input-device uses this tool.
Additionally you can limit the Scope to specific combinations of
Mousebuttons (1,2,3,4,5 or Button1,...,Button5)
and Modifiers (`SHIFT`, `CONTROL`, `ALT`, `META`, while `ALT==META`).
"Core Pointer" = "red Pen";
"Core Pointer"[SHIFT] = "blue Pen";
"Core Pointer"[CONTROL] = "yellow Pen";
"Core Pointer"[2] = "green Marker";
"Core Pointer"[Button3] = "Eraser";
The descision, which tool to use follows a simple policy:
1. Buttons are more important than Modifiers
2. Low number Buttons are more important than higher ones
3. Modifiers: `SHIFT` > `CONTROL` > `ALT`/`META`.
4. Gromit-MPX tries partial matches:
If you define `"Core Pointer"[]` and `"Core Pointer"[SHIFT, CONTROL]`
and only `SHIFT` actually is pressed, Gromit-MPX will use the second
definition if there is no `"Core Pointer"[SHIFT]` definition.
The same logic holds for the buttons.
### Potential Problems:
When there is no compositing manager such as Compiz or xcompmgr
running, Gromit-MPX falls back to a legacy drawing mode. This may
drastically slow down your X-Server, especially when you draw very
thin lines. It makes heavy use of the shape extension, which is
quite expensive if you paint a complex pattern on screen. Especially
terminal-programs tend to scroll incredibly slow if something is
painted over their window.
Like the original Gromit, this program is distributed under the Gnu
General Public License. See the file `COPYING` for details. Thanks
to Simon for the groundwork done!
---[Christian Beier](mailto:dontmind@freeshell.org)
|
