Paul's Stuff

WinLock

Updated 08/31/2004

Download Current Version Version 0.51 Source Code for 0.51+ Older Versions Version 0.50

Setup Window View Larger Version

Installation

Download/uncompress the zipped file and run the setup program.

Change Log

Version 0.50 to 0.51

• Added C Curve mode
• Added then 'Random Screen Saver' from/to time to the setup screen
• Changed setup program to better handle upgrades

The random screen saver uses a random value from within a range to determine when to change the current running mode.  This value was hard coded to be between 10 and 30 seconds.  These parameters have now been exposed on the advanced tab on the setup screen.

Version 0.xx to 0.50

I finally got around to uploading the rewrite of WinLock.  It works in a much more modular fashion (similar to xscreensaver) than the original monolithic one.  Each mode is a separate program that is controlled by the master screen saver.  The master program spawns a separate process for each screen in the display.  Note, multi-screen support is similar to the original version of WinLock, i.e. separate video cards are treated as separate screens while multi-out cards are treated as a single screen.

The three modes of operation are:

• Random Screen Saver - A random mode is picked from the checked items in the list of available modes.
• Selected Screen Saver - The highlighted mode from the list of availabel modes is used.
• Blank Screen - Blanks the screen.  Boring.  Included for sake of completeness.

Since the architecture change, several new modes have been added

• BSOD
• Circuit
• Engine
• Flying Toasters
• IFS
• Squiral
• Starfish
• Triangle

Another benifit of the change is that each mode can now be run windowed separately from the main screen saver.  This makes for great distractions while you are trying to get something else done.

Known problems

Options for each individual modes (pulled from the corresponding XML file) are still are not complete.  Hopefully I will get to those sometime in the near future.

I have had problems with the OpenGL modes on some systems.  I don't know if this is due to my flakey code, or flakey GL drivers.

I have also had problems with modes that do a BitBlt of the desktop window on displays that are running at a high resolution (3200x1280 in my test case). Once again, I don't know if this is bad code on my part or simply Windows being its usual brain dead self.

Notes

Just like xlock(more) and xscreensaver and unlike other Window's screen savers, WinLock does not stop when just moving the mouse.  A key press or mouse button press are required for this.

Winlock should handle multi-screen displays, and even allow for different modes or different options on each display.  Dual output video cards don't count as multi-screen since Windows reports it as only one monitor.

History and Other Stuff

I first came across xlock on a RS/6000 box while in school.  At the time the swarm mode was my favorite.  Fast forward to a couple of years ago.  When I first started picking up Delphi I looked for a 'simple' project to play around with.  This is the result.  It is a rewrite of several of the modes available in xlock (and now xscreensaver) in Delphi for the Windows platform.  Like WinEyes, I wrote this simply because it was 'fun' and I missed these programs whenever I had to use a Windows box.  To me, the screensavers available under X were always so much more interesting than those that I usually find on Windows.  A person can only take so many dancing babies or photo slide shows.  (Update 08/27/04: Ironically enough, after we had our first baby, I did write a slide show based screen saver and now use it as my default.  Go figure.)

This is not a port of xlock or xscreensaver.  It is a complete rewrite that implements the same algorithms.  I based these off of the original source where I could (I even kept some of the comments!).  Where possible I have tried to give credit to whoever wrote the original version.

There is a direct port of xlockmore available for Windows.  It is much truer to the original than mine.

Since this program has been played with off and on over the past few years, it now stands as a good example of "How not to write software".  I am pleased with a few of the modes, but when I look back at the some of the others, I think "What could I possibly have been thinking?" 

Note for those complain about Xlib.  The complexity of some of these modes increased quite a bit when trying to get Win32 to do something that is usually quite simple in Xlib.

Modes

Here is a list of the available modes:

	Attraction Simulation of a pair of quasi-gravitational fields Based on attraction.c by Jamie Zawinski
	Ball Shows bouncing balls Based on ball.c by Heath Rice
	Block Tube A shifting tunnel of reflective blocks Based on blocktube.c by Lars Damerow Requires OpenGL
	BSOD Blue Screen of Death: the finest in personal computer emulation Based on bsod.c by Jamie Zawinski
	Cage Shows the Impossible Cage, an Escher-like GL scene Based on cage.c by Marcelo F. Vianna Requires OpenGL
	C Curve Draws self-similar linear fractals including the classic "C Curve" Based on ccurve.c by Rick Campbell
	Circuit Random electronic components floating around Based on circuit.c by Ben Buxton Requires OpenGL
	Daisy Shows a meadow of daisies Based on daisy.c by David Bagley
	Decay Screen Takes an image and makes it melt Based on decayscreen.c by Jamie Zawinski
	Deco Shows art as ugly as sin Based on deco.c by Jamie Zawinski
	Discrete Shows various discrete maps Based on discrete.c by Tim Auckland
	Endgame Replays brilliant chess game endings. Based on endgame.c by Blair Tennessy Requires OpenGL
	Engine GL representation of a N stroke engine Based on engine.c by Ben Buxton Requires OpenGL
	Euler-2D Sumulates 2D incompressible inviscid fluid flow. Based on euler2d.c by Stephen Montgomery-Smith
	Fadeplot Shows a fading plot of sine squared Based on fadeplot.c by Bas Van Gaalen
	Flipflop Shows flipping colored blocks Based on flipflop.c by Kevin Ogden Requires OpenGL
	Flow Shows dynamic strange attractors Based on flow.c by Tim Auckland
	Flying Toasters raws 3D flying toasters, and toast Based on flyingtoasters.c by Jamie Zawinski Requires OpenGL
	Forest (1) Shows binary trees of a fractal forest Based on forest.c (xlock) by John Heidemann
	Forest (2) Shows more fractal trees Based on forest.c (xscreensaver) by Peter Baumung
	Galaxy Shows spinning galaxies Based on galaxy.c by Uli Siegmund, Harald Backert and Hubert Feyrer
	Gears Shows 3D gear wheels Based on gears.c by Danny Sung Requires OpenGL
	Grav Simulation of a planetary system Based on grav.c by Greg Bowering
	Halftone Draws the gravitational force in each point on the screen seen through a halftone dot pattern Based on halftone.c by Peter Jaric
	Hanoi Solves the Towers of Hanoi By Paul Burdette
	Helix Shows string art Based on helix.c by Jamie Zawinski
	Hopalong Shows real plane iterated fractals Based on hop.c by Patrick J. Naughton
	Hyper Cube Shows a 2D projection of 3D objects which are projects of the 4D analog to the cube Based on hypercube.c by Jamie Zawinski
	IFS Shows a modified iterated function system Based on ifs.c by Massimino Pascal
	Kaleidescope Another clone of an ancient meme, consisting largely of frenetic rotational motion of colored lines Based on kaleidescope.c by Ron Tapia
	Kumppa Spiraling, spinning, and very, very fast splashes of color rush towards the screen Based on kumppa.c by Teemu Suutari
	Laser Shows spinning lasers Based on laser.c by Pascal Pensa
	Lisa Shows animated lisajous loops Based on lisa.c by Caleb Cullen
	Lissie Shows lissajous worms Based on lissie.c by Alexander Jolk
	Lyapunov Shows lyapunov space Based on lyapunov.c by ????????
	Matrix Shows the Matrix Based on matrix.c by Erik O'Shaughnessy
	Maze Shows a random maze and a depth first search solution Based on maze.c (xlock) by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
	Moebius Shows Moebius Strip II, an Escher-like GL scene with ants Based on moebius.c by Marcelo F. Vianna Requires OpenGL
	Moire Shows circular interference patterns Based on moire.c by Jamie Zawinski
	Mountain Shows Papo's mountain range Based on mountain.c by Pascal Pensa
	Petal Shows various GCD flowers Based on petal.c (xlock) by Carniegie Mellon University
	Pong Plays Pong Based on pong.c by Jeremy English
	Pop Squares Draws a pop-artish looking grid of pulsing colors Based on popsquares.c by Levi Burton
	Pulsar Shows a number of rotating, pulsing rectangles Based on pulsar.c by David Konerding Requires OpenGL
	Qix Shows spinning lines a'la Qix(tm) Based on qix.c by Patrick J. Naughton
	Queens Solves N-Queens problem Based on queens.c by Blair Tennessy Requires OpenGL
	Roll Shows a rolling ball Based on roll.c by Charles Vidal
	Rorschach Shows Rorschach Patterns Based on rorschach.c by Jamie Zawinski
	Rotor Shows Tom's Roto-Rooter Based on rotor.c by Patrick J. Naughton
	Rotzoomer Creates a collage of rotated and scaled portions of the screen Based on rotzoomer.c by Claudio Matsuoka
	Rubik Shows an auto-solving Rubik's Cube Based on rubik.c by Marcelo F. Vianna Requires OpenGL
	Shape Shows overlapping rectangles, ellipses and triangles Based on shape.c by Jamie Zawinski
	Sierpinski Shows Sierpinski's Triangle Fractal Based on sierpinski.c by Desmond Daignault
	Slidescreen Takes the desktop image and turns it into a slide puzzle Based on slidescreen.c by Jamie Zawinski
	Slip Shows slipping blits Based on slip.c by Scott Draves
	Sphere Shows a bunch of shaded spheres Based on sphere.c by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
	Spiral Shows a helical locus of points Based on spiral.c by Darrick Brown
	Spirograph The Spiral Generator Based on xspirograph.c by Rohit Singh
	Squiral Show square spirals Based on squiral.c by Jeff Epler
	Stairs Shows Infinite Stairs - an Escher-like GL scene Based on stairs.c by Marcelo F. Vianna Requires OpenGL
	Starfish Radially-symmetric throbbing colormap-hacking graphics demo Based on starfish.c by Jamie Zawinski
	Super Quadrics Shows 3D mathematical shapes Based on superquadrics.c by Ed Mackey Requires OpenGL
	Swarm Shows a swarm of bees following a wasp Based on swarm.c (xlock) by Patrick J. Naughton
	Thornbird Shows an animated Bird in a Thorn Bush fractal map Based on thornbird.c by Tim Aukland
	Tik Tak Shows rotating polygons Based on tiktak.c by Jouk Jansen
	Triangle Shows random mountains using iterative subdivision of triangles Based on triangle.c by Tobias Gloth
	Tube Shows an animated tube Based on tube.c by Dan Stromberg
	Vines Another geometric pattern generator Based on vines.c by Tracy Camp
	Worm Shows wiggly worms Based on worm.c by Patrick J. Naughton
	Zoom Zooms in on part of the screen and then moves around Based on zoom.c by James Macnicol