Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: Wanted: Bash program idea, or application suggestion

  1. #1
    Senior Member registered user
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Columbia, Maryland USA
    Posts
    1,631

    Wanted: Bash program idea, or application suggestion

    .
    I would like to create a small bash program that would
    monitor my keystroke activity and if no keystrokes are noted
    within a fixed small time, then any currently active
    internet connection would be disconnected.

    I currently use a Knoppix LiveUSB and wifi via a broadband router
    with network connections handled by NetworkManager.

    If there's 'an app for this' already, then that might also serve.

    Thanks in advance.

  2. #2
    Senior Member registered user
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Posts
    512
    Hi utu, I do not have a bash script for you, but I have got some suggestions. First of all, you can disable and enable the network from the commandline by using the commands
    Code:
    nmcli networking off
    and
    Code:
    nmcli networking on
    I think the task is similar to a screensaver because in both cases user inactivity starts a process. I read about a user who wanted to download torrents while the screensaver is active. His or her solution was to ask dbus whether the screensaver was active. He or she used the Gnomedesktop environment. Later I read the solution has to be modified if KDE is used instead of Gnome. Since xscreensaver does not seem to use dbus I think you should try to find out if power management provides an interface to run one shell script on times of user inactivity and another if the user is active again. The absence of keyboard events should start a bash script, but what about mouse events? How long is a 'small time'? Do you intend to reconnect to the network if there is any keystroke activity again?

  3. #3
    Senior Member registered user
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Columbia, Maryland USA
    Posts
    1,631
    .
    Thanks for your responses, klaus2008.

    nmcli is probably part of the solution; I'll study up on that.

    I should have indicated keyboard and/or mouse events as an indication or
    lack of user presence or attention to internet events.

    I think 'a small time' might be some random number between 15 and 30 minutes
    as a starting point.

    If I know I'm not going to use Knoppix for a while, I manually disconnect.
    If I'm interrupted, I might forget to do this; I'd like Linux to disconnect
    automatically, if need be. Solution need not consider re-connect, since that's
    easy enough to do manually with the NM panel applet.

    You can't underestimate my programming prowess. At most I may be able to
    figure out a line of bash script. I wouldn't have a prayer with C/C+/or C++
    source, even if I had it to look at.

  4. #4
    Senior Member registered user
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Columbia, Maryland USA
    Posts
    1,631
    .
    Two other building blocks seem to be

    Code:
    xscreensaver-command -watch
    and the following perl program, which tracks the output of the -watch command
    and reacts accordingly:

    Code:
        #!/usr/bin/perl
        my $blanked = 0;
        open (IN, "xscreensaver-command -watch |");
        while (<IN>) { 
           if (m/^(BLANK|LOCK)/) { 
               if (!$blanked) { 
    #              **** action to take when screensaver starts ****
                   $blanked = 1;
               }
           } elsif (m/^UNBLANK/) {
    #              **** action (if any) to take when screensaver is reset ****
                   $blanked = 0;
           } 
        }
    I don't think perl should be necessary, and there is probably a simpler
    bash equivalent that would suffice.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  


SanDisk 1TB SSD Plus, Internal Solid State Drive - SDSSDA-1T00-G26 picture

SanDisk 1TB SSD Plus, Internal Solid State Drive - SDSSDA-1T00-G26

$74.99



Samsung 870 EVO Series 500GB 2.5

Samsung 870 EVO Series 500GB 2.5" SATA III Internal SSD MZ-77E500B/AM New Sealed

$59.00



DT8XJ Dell Intel DC S3700 800GB SATA 6Gb/s 2.5

DT8XJ Dell Intel DC S3700 800GB SATA 6Gb/s 2.5" SSD 0DT8XJ SSDSC2BA800G3R

$59.00



SSDSC2BA800G3P Intel SSD DC S3700 Series 800GB 6Gb/s 2.5'' SATA SSD picture

SSDSC2BA800G3P Intel SSD DC S3700 Series 800GB 6Gb/s 2.5'' SATA SSD

$79.00



Crucial BX500 240GB Internal SSD,Micron 3D NAND SATA CT240BX500SSD1 - OEM item picture

Crucial BX500 240GB Internal SSD,Micron 3D NAND SATA CT240BX500SSD1 - OEM item

$16.99



Netac 1TB 2TB 512GB Internal SSD 2.5'' SATA III 6Gb/s Solid State Drive lot picture

Netac 1TB 2TB 512GB Internal SSD 2.5'' SATA III 6Gb/s Solid State Drive lot

$13.99



Western Digital  WDS500G1B0A-00H9H0 500GB 2.5

Western Digital WDS500G1B0A-00H9H0 500GB 2.5" SSD Grade A SKU 5036

$18.99



Patriot P210 128GB 256GB 512GB 1TB 2TB 2.5

Patriot P210 128GB 256GB 512GB 1TB 2TB 2.5" SATA 3 6GB/s Internal SSD PC/MAC Lot

$14.99



Fanxiang SSD 512GB 1TB 2TB 4TB 2.5'' SSD SATA III Internal Solid State Drive lot picture

Fanxiang SSD 512GB 1TB 2TB 4TB 2.5'' SSD SATA III Internal Solid State Drive lot

$198.99



Fanxiang 256GB 512GB 1TB 2TB 4TB Internal SSD 2.5

Fanxiang 256GB 512GB 1TB 2TB 4TB Internal SSD 2.5" SATA III 6GB/s for PC/MAC Lot

$197.99