vncviewer man page on aLinux

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vncviewer(1)		   Virtual Network Computing		  vncviewer(1)

NAME
       vncviewer - VNC viewer for X

SYNOPSIS
       vncviewer [options] [host][:display#]
       vncviewer [options] -listen [display#]

DESCRIPTION
       vncviewer  is  a	 viewer	 (client) for Virtual Network Computing.  This
       manual page documents the version for the X window system.

       If you run the viewer with no arguments it will prompt you  for	a  VNC
       server  to  connect  to.	  Alternatively,  specify the VNC server as an
       argument, e.g.:

	      vncviewer snoopy:2

       where 'snoopy' is the name of the machine, and '2' is the display  num‐
       ber of the VNC server on that machine.  Either the machine name or dis‐
       play number can be omitted.  So for example ":1" means display number 1
       on  the	same  machine, and "snoopy" means "snoopy:0" i.e. display 0 on
       machine "snoopy".

       If the VNC server is successfully contacted, you will be prompted for a
       password	 to  authenticate  you.	  If the password is correct, a window
       will appear showing the desktop of the VNC server.

AUTOMATIC PROTOCOL SELECTION
       From version 3.3.4 onwards, the viewer tests the speed of  the  connec‐
       tion  to the server and chooses the encoding and pixel format appropri‐
       ately.  This makes it much easier to use than previous  versions	 where
       the user had to specify arcane command line arguments.

       The  viewer  starts out assuming the link is slow, using an 8-bit pixel
       format and using the encoding with the best compression.	 If  it	 turns
       out  that  the  link is fast enough it switches to full-colour mode and
       will use an encoding which compresses less but is faster	 to  generate,
       thus improving the interactive feel.  Automatic selection can be turned
       off with the -noauto option, or from the popup window.

POPUP WINDOW
       The viewer has a popup window containing a set of buttons which perform
       various	actions.  It is usually brought up by pressing F8, but this is
       customisable, as is the entire contents of the  popup.	Actions	 which
       buttons in the popup window can perform include:

	 * switching in and out of full-screen mode

	 * quitting the viewer

	 * generating  arbitrary  key and mouse events, e.g. sending ctrl-alt-
	   del

	 * transferring the clipboard to or from the VNC server

	 * switching on or off automatic selection of encoding and pixel  for‐
	   mat

	 * switching 8-bit mode on or off

       By  default, key presses in the popup window get sent to the VNC server
       and dismiss the popup.  So to get an F8 through to the VNC server  sim‐
       ply press it twice.

       See  the	 sections on customisation below for how to customise the con‐
       tents of the popup window.

FULL SCREEN MODE
       A full-screen mode is supported.	 This is particularly useful when con‐
       necting to a remote screen which is the same size as your local one. If
       the remote screen is bigger,  you  can  scroll  by  bumping  the	 mouse
       against the edge of the screen.

       Unfortunately  this  mode  doesn't work completely with all window man‐
       agers, since it breaks all the X	 window	 management  conventions.   It
       tends  to  work	better	when the viewer is started in full-screen mode
       than when switching to it from normal mode.

OPTIONS
       You can get a list of options by giving -h as an option	to  vncviewer.
       Most  of	 these	options can also be specified as X resources - see the
       section on customisation below.

       -via Xgateway
	      Makes the connection go though SSH to a gateway host. The	 gate‐
	      way should be the target host for best connection secrecy.

       -listen [display-number]
	      Causes  vncviewer	 to  listen  on port 5500 + display-number for
	      reverse connections from a VNC server.  WinVNC supports  reverse
	      connections  initiated using the 'Add New Client' menu option or
	      the '-connect' command-line option.  Xvnc supports reverse  con‐
	      nections with a helper program called vncconnect.

       -shared
	      When  you	 make a connection to a VNC server, all other existing
	      connections are normally closed.	This option requests that they
	      be  left	open,  allowing	 you to share the desktop with someone
	      already using it.

       -display Xdisplay
	      Specifies the X display on which the VNC	viewer	window	should
	      appear.

       -passwd password-file
	      If  you  are on a filesystem which gives you access to the pass‐
	      word file used by the server, you can specify it here  to	 avoid
	      typing it in.  It will usually be "~/.vnc/passwd".

       -viewonly
	      Specifies that no keyboard or mouse events should be sent to the
	      server.  Useful if you want to view a desktop without  interfer‐
	      ing; often needs to be combined with -shared.

       -fullscreen
	      Start in full-screen mode.

       -geometry geometry
	      Standard X position and sizing specification.

       -noauto
	      Turn  off	 the automatic selection of encoding and pixel format.
	      Normally the viewer tests the speed of  the  connection  to  the
	      server and chooses the encoding and pixel format appropriately.

       -8bit, -bgr233
	      This  option implies -noauto.  Tells the VNC server to send pix‐
	      els which are only 8 bits	 deep.	 If  your  server  desktop  is
	      deeper  than this then it will translate the pixels before send‐
	      ing them. Less data will generally be sent  over	then  network,
	      which can be a big advantage on slow links, but you may get some
	      colour mismatches.  "BGR233" means an 8-bit  true	 colour	 pixel
	      format,  with  the most significant two bits of each byte repre‐
	      senting the blue component, the  next  three  bits  representing
	      green  and  the  least significant three representing red.  This
	      format is also used by the java client.

       -encodings encodings
	      This option implies -noauto.  This option specifies  a  list  of
	      encodings	 to  use  in order of preference, separated by spaces.
	      For example, to use only raw and CopyRect,  specify  "raw	 copy‐
	      rect".

       -owncmap
	      Try  to  use  a PseudoColor visual and a private colormap - this
	      allows the VNC server to control the colormap.

       -truecolour
	      Try to use a TrueColor visual.

       -depth d
	      This is only useful on a (real) X server which supports multiple
	      TrueColor	 depths.  On such a display vncviewer will try to find
	      a Visual of the given depth.  If successful this means that  the
	      appropriate  pixel format will be requested from the VNC server.
	      You cannot use this to force a particular	 depth	from  the  VNC
	      server.  The only option which does this is -bgr233.


CUSTOMISATION
       The behaviour of vncviewer is extremely customisable using X resources.
       You can set X resources by any of the usual means - in an  app-defaults
       file  such  as  ".Xresources",  or  on  the  command line with the -xrm
       option, e.g.:
	      vncviewer -xrm '*nColours:64'
       See the X window system documentation for details.

       The application resources are:

       shareDesktop (option -shared)
	      Whether to leave other viewers connected.	 Default false.

       viewOnly (option -viewonly)
	      Block mouse and keyboard events.	Default false.

       fullScreen (option -fullscreen)
	      Full screen mode.	 Default false.

       passwordFile (option -passwd)
	      File from which to get the password (as generated	 by  the  vnc‐
	      passwd program).	Default is null, i.e. to request password from
	      the user.

       passwordDialog
	      Whether to use a dialog box to get the password (true) or get it
	      from  the	 tty  (false).	 Irrelevant  if	 passwordFile  is set.
	      Default false.

       autoDetect (option -noauto turns off)
	      Whether to automatically select encoding and pixel format	 based
	      on the speed of the connection to the server.  Default true.

       encodings (option -encodings)
	      A	 list of encodings to use in order of preference, separated by
	      spaces.  Default is null.

       useBGR233 (option -8bit or -bgr233)
	      Always use the BGR233 (8-bit) pixel format on the wire,  regard‐
	      less  of	the visual.  Default is false, although autoDetect may
	      choose BGR233 anyway, and BGR233 is always  used	for  non-True‐
	      Color visuals with forceOwnCmap false.

       nColours
	      When  using  BGR233,  try	 to allocate this many "exact" colours
	      from the BGR233 colour cube.  When using a shared colormap, set‐
	      ting  this  resource  lower  leaves  more	 colours  for  other X
	      clients.	Irrelevant when	 using	truecolour.   Default  is  256
	      (i.e. all of them).

       useSharedColours
	      If  the  number of "exact" BGR233 colours successfully allocated
	      is less than 256 then the rest are filled in using the "nearest"
	      colours  available.   This resource says whether to only use the
	      "exact" BGR233 colours for this purpose, or whether to use other
	      clients' "shared" colours as well.  Default true (i.e. use other
	      clients' colours).

       forceOwnCmap (option -owncmap)
	      Try to use a PseudoColor visual and a private  colormap  -  this
	      allows the VNC server to control the colormap.  Default false.

       forceTrueColour (option -truecolour)
	      Try to use a TrueColor visual.  Default false.

       requestedDepth (option -depth)
	      If  forceTrueColour  is true, try to use a visual of this depth.
	      Default 0 (i.e. any depth).

       useSharedMemory
	      Whether to use the MIT shared memory extension if	 on  the  same
	      machine as the X server.	Default true.

       wmDecorationWidth, wmDecorationHeight
	      The  total  width	 and height taken up by window manager decora‐
	      tions.  This is used to calculate the maximum size  of  the  VNC
	      viewer window.  Default is width 4, height 24.

       bumpScrollTime, bumpScrollPixels
	      When  in full screen mode and the VNC desktop is bigger than the
	      X display, scrolling happens whenever the mouse hits the edge of
	      the  screen.  The maximum speed of scrolling is bumpScrollPixels
	      pixels every bumpScrollTime milliseconds.	 The actual  speed  of
	      scrolling	 will be slower than this, of course, depending on how
	      fast your machine is.  Default 20 pixels every 25 milliseconds.

       popupButtonCount
	      The number of buttons in the popup window.  See below for how to
	      customise the buttons.

       rawDelay
	      This  is	useful	for  debugging VNC servers by checking exactly
	      which parts of the screen are being updated.   For  each	update
	      rectangle vncviewer puts up a black rectangle for the given time
	      in milliseconds before putting up the  pixel  data.   This  only
	      highlights  pixel	 data  sent using the raw encoding.  Default 0
	      (i.e. don't do it).

       copyRectDelay
	      Similar to rawDelay, but highlights the areas copied  using  the
	      copyrect encoding.

   CUSTOMISING THE POPUP WINDOW
       Set the number of buttons with the popupButtonCount resource, e.g.:

	 *popupButtonCount: 2

       For  each button, set the label, and override the button press transla‐
       tions, e.g.:

	 *popup*button1.label: Left mouse button click at 100,100
	 *popup*button1.translations: #override\n\
	   <Btn1Down>,<Btn1Up>: SendRFBEvent(ptr,100,100,1)\
				SendRFBEvent(ptr,100,100,0)

	 *popup*button2.label: Send "Think thin!"
	 *popup*button2.translations: #override\n\
	   <Btn1Down>,<Btn1Up>:\
	     SendRFBEvent(key,T) SendRFBEvent(key,h)\
	     SendRFBEvent(key,i) SendRFBEvent(key,n)\
	     SendRFBEvent(key,k) SendRFBEvent(key,space)\
	     SendRFBEvent(key,t) SendRFBEvent(key,h)\
	     SendRFBEvent(key,i) SendRFBEvent(key,n)\
	     SendRFBEvent(key,exclam)

   CUSTOMISING THE DESKTOP WINDOW
       You can override translations on the desktop window.   For  example  to
       change  the key used to bring up to popup window from F8 to Escape, and
       make F12 switch in and out of full screen mode:

	 *desktop.translations: #override\n\
	    <Key>F8: SendRFBEvent()\n\
	    <Key>Escape: ShowPopup()\n\
	    <Key>F12: ToggleFullScreen()

   X RESOURCE ACTIONS
       These are the actions which you can use in X resource translations:

       ShowPopup(), HidePopup()
	  Show and hide the popup window, respectively.

       SendRFBEvent()
	  Send an RFB event to the VNC server.	With no argument, simply sends
	  the  RFB  equivalent	of  the X event which caused the action.  With
	  arguments, generates either key or pointer events depending  on  the
	  arguments:

	  SendRFBEvent(keydown,keysym)
	  SendRFBEvent(keyup,keysym)
	  SendRFBEvent(key,keysym) (short for keydown then keyup)
	  SendRFBEvent(ptr,x,y,buttonMask)
	  SendRFBEvent(ptr,buttonMask)

	  where

	  * keysym  is	the  string representing an X keysym.  The best way to
	    find    these    is	   to	 use	 "xev",	    or	   look	    in
	    /usr/include/X11/keysymdef.h and strip off the "XK_".

	  * x  and y are the position of the pointer event.  If not specified,
	    use the position of the X event which caused the action.

	  * buttonMask is a bit mask representing buttons 1 to 8 with  bits  0
	    to	7  respectively, 0 meaning up, 1 meaning down (pressed).  So 0
	    means no buttons, 1 means button 1 pressed, 5 means buttons 1 &  3
	    pressed, etc.

       SelectionToVNC()
	  Send the local X selection or cut buffer to the VNC server.  This is
	  usually invoked when the mouse enters the viewer  window.   With  no
	  argument  or an argument "new", this is only done if this is a "new"
	  selection, i.e. it hasn't  already  been  sent.   With  an  argument
	  "always", it is sent each time.

       SelectionFromVNC()
	  Set the local X selection and cut buffer to the current value of the
	  VNC server "cut text".  This	is  usually  invoked  when  the	 mouse
	  leaves  the  viewer  window.	With no argument or an argument "new",
	  this is only done if there has been new "cut text"  since  the  last
	  time it was called.  With an argument "always", it is set each time.

       Quit()
	  Quit the VNC viewer.

       Pause()
	  Pause	 for a given number of milliseconds (100 by default).  This is
	  sometimes useful to space out events generated by SendRFBEvent.

       ToggleFullScreen()
	  Toggle in and out of full screen mode.

       SetFullScreenState()
	  Sets the "state" resource of a  toggle  widget  to  reflect  whether
	  we're in full screen mode.

       ToggleBGR233()
	  Toggle 8-bit (BGR233) mode.

       SetBGR233State()
	  Sets	the  "state"  resource	of  a toggle widget to reflect whether
	  we're in 8-bit mode.

       ToggleAuto()
	  Toggle automatic selection of encoding and format.

       SetAutoState()
	  Sets the "state" resource of a toggle widget to reflect whether  the
	  viewer is automatically selecting encoding and format.

       ServerDialogDone(), PasswordDialogDone()
	  Used	to  tell  the  dialog  boxes that entry has finished.  Usually
	  invoked by the return key.

BUGS
       vncviewer uses the original X11 Athena widget set which is a little bit
       out of date.  On the plus side it is available in every installation of
       the X window system.

SEE ALSO
       vncconnect(1), vncpasswd(1), vncserver(1), Xvnc(1)
       http://www.realvnc.com

AUTHOR
       Tristan Richardson, RealVNC Ltd.

       VNC was originally developed by the  RealVNC  team  while  at  Olivetti
       Research Ltd / AT&T Laboratories Cambridge.  It is now being maintained
       by RealVNC Ltd.	See http://www.realvnc.com for details.

RealVNC Ltd			15 August 2002			  vncviewer(1)
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