commands over unix socket

[pandora_liveinfo.git] / readme.txt

Live info
---------

This is a tool that shows CPU, memory, I/O, network and battery
information on an always-visible layer, updated once a second.
Uses system-reserved OMAP hardware layer, so should be visible
in most programs that don't use tv-out (tv-out needs that same
layer to send video to TV).

When you want to exit Live info, just run this pnd again.


Fields
------

 17:40:05    real time clock, hours:minutes:seconds

 CPU:  100%  total CPU usage, in percent
 SYS:    0%  CPU usage by the kernel only
 IRQ:   29   CPU interrupts per second
 CS:    30   CPU context switches per second
 f:   1000M  CPU clock frequency, in MHz
 V:  1.375V  CPU voltage

 mem
 M:    414M  free RAM, in megabytes
 S:    125M  free swap space, in megabytes
 H:      0M  memory used in huge pages, MB (only shown if nonzero)

 i/o
 R:  0.0M/s  current read throughput from SD cards, in megabytes/s
 W:  0.0M/s  current write throughput to SD cards, in megabytes/s

 net
 D:    0K/s  download throughput, kilobytes/s
 U:    0K/s  upload throughput, kilobytes/s
 S:  -45dBm  wifi signal strength, in dBm

 batt
 C:     91%  estimated battery charge level (from monitoring chip)
 t:  13:14   estimated time to empty/full, hours:minutes
 V:  3.960V  current battery voltage
 P: -1.140W  electric power going into battery, negative means discharge
 T:   23.2C  battery temperature


Controlling live info
---------------------

It's possible to hide Live info by sending it USR1 signal and show it
again by sending the same signal. This can be done by simply running
"killall -USR1 liveinfo" command. This command can also be bound to
xfce keyboard shortcuts or similar.
Sending the TERM signal ("killall liveinfo") causes it to cleanly exit
(sending it KILL / -9 signal will leave the layer enabled and visible,
so is not recommended).


Showing custom fields and alternative control
---------------------------------------------

There is a tool called 'custom' included inside of .pnd, it can be used
to also send commands and display custom fields. The code is included
inside the .pnd and can be integrated in other programs, it's simple
communication over local/unix sockets.

Any command containing a semicolon ":" is interpreted as a field to
display on screen. For example, running
./custom "fps: 60"
will show that string on screen. There is no removal command, the
string will time out by itself.

Other understood commands are:
  quit   - self explanatory
  hide
  show
  poke   - if hidden, show up; if visible, exit


License
-------

3-clause BSD. Source code included in pnd itself.