Clock Screen Saver is a screen saver application. It can be launched and quit at will. (You may want to put it in your System Folder:Startup Items.) Unlike most screen savers, it does not modify the operating system, and is therefore considered reliable for continued use with AppleÕs future Systems.
Clock Screen Saver will save monitors independently. A monitor is considered ÒidleÓ if the mouse doesnÕt move onto it for a certain number of minutes. The monitor with the mouse pointer displayed on it is considered idle if the mouse does not move and no keys are pressed for a certain number of minutes.
When a (the) monitor is idle, it displays a clock that roams progressively across the screen, which is itself blacked-out. Use the menus to select the font and style of the clock and the number of minutes before activation. These settings are saved in a data file called ÒClock Screen Saver PreferencesÓ in the System Folder:Preferences Folder.
There is currently one weakness of the independent monitor scheme: if the foreground application has a window open on an idle monitor other than the monitor with the mouse pointer, Clock Screen Saver can not save the part of the screen occupied by that window. If, however, the monitor with the mouse pointer goes idle, Clock Screen Saver will foreground itself, and thus be able to save all monitors completely. This is a limitation of the Macintosh windowing system.
This weakness may be considered useful, as it usually only arises when the user is in front of the computer doing useful work with that program; thus, windows the user is likely to want to see will not be covered. The user can also use the Application menu to arrange which programsÕ windows (besides the foreground application) will appear over the clock background on secondary monitors; selecting Clock Screen Saver and then switching back to the former foreground application will hide all other apps behind the clock.
Clock Screen Saver requires System 7. If used on a system earlier than 6.0.4, it will crash at launch time, since it assumes Gestalt is present.
Clock Screen Saver is shareware in the literal sense: Repay me by giving a copy to someone else. Requests for source code are welcome. Please send all correspondence via Internet electronic mail to lardieri@princeton.edu.
