asmem - the AfterStep memory utilization monitor

asmem [-h] [-H] [-V] [-iconic] [-withdrawn] [-standout] [-used] [-asis] [-free] [-mb] [-position [+|-]x[+|-]y] [-u update rate] [-dev device] [-display display] [-bg color] [-fg color] [-memory color] [-buffer color] [-cache color] [-swap color]

The asmem is a X11 application that acts as a memory utilization monitor. It shows the current amount of memory and swap space, the free amounts of those, and the bars representing graphically the different types of memory.

The display consists of two areas. The one above shows utilization of the memory, the one below - the utilization of the swap space. Each area contains a graphical bar that represents the percentage of the occupied space. For the memory utilization there are three bars: user/system memory used, buffer memory and cache memory. For the swap space only one bar showing the used space. Above each bar is the total amount of space, below the bar - the available space in kbytes and percents. If the memory amount is above 999999 kbytes the displays switches to Mbytes instead of kbytes.

It is possible to force the display into Mbytes. You can also ask asmem to display the occupied memory amounts and percentages rather than those still available.

-h or -H

Prints a short description and usage message.

-V

Version control. Prints out the version of the program.

-position [+|-]x[+|-]y

Displays the window at the specified location on the screen. This works like the standard X Windows geometry option. (See XParseGeometry (3x)).

-iconic

Starts the asmem application in the iconized mode. The icon has the same appearance with the main window. When this option is given, the -position refers to the position of the icon window as well as the main window.

-withdrawn

Starts the asmem application in the withdrawn mode. This option is necessary to be able to dock the asmem in the WindowMaker dock. When this option is given, the -position refers to the position of the icon window as well as the main window. asmem ignores the -iconic option when started in withdrawn mode.

-standout

This changes the appearance of the asmem display from "pushed-in" to "popped-out". The first is the default look. The "popped-out" applets look much better in WindowMaker's dock according to some opinions. Give it a try in any case.

-used

By default asmem displays the amount of memory or swap space still left unused. This switch tells asmem to display the amounts of memory and swap space already in use. This switch affects the percentages displayed in accordance.

-asis

Uses an alternative number for the display of the free memory. Or, rather, by default an alternative amount is used. When this switch is specified, the applet displays the amount of memory free as reported by the /proc/meminfo. Sometimes this is not really helpful since the occupied memory includes the file system cache and the buffers space. When this switch is not specified asmem will add the cache space and the buffer space to the amount of the actual free memory since both of those may be discarded by the OS to free up some memory for the programs.

-free

Exactly the same as -asis. Provided for backward compatibility. Obsolete. Do not use. Use -asis instead.

-mb

Force the display in MBytes instead of kilobytes even if the numbers would fit into the window.

-u <update rate>

Changes the polling rate for updating the memory utilization information. The update rate is specified in seconds. The value of 1 is the minimum. Default value is 1 second.

-dev <device>

The device that should be polled for the memory utilization information. On Linux, this defaults to /proc/meminfo

-display <name>

The name of the display to start the window in. It works just as X Windows display option.

-bg <color>

Changes the color of the background of the applet. Default colour is #303030.

-fg <color>

Changes the color of the foreground of the applet. Default colour is #20b2aa.

-memory <color>

Changes the color of the bar that represents the used memory amount. Default colour is #4141d7.

-buffer <color>

Changes the color of the bar that represents the memory used for buffers. Default colour is #aa80aa.

-cache <color>

Changes the color of the bar that represents the memory used for caching. Default colour is #bebebe.

-swap <color>

Changes the color of the bar that represents the swap space utilization level. Default colour is #ffa649.

asmem can be called in different ways. The most common invocation is the command line:

user@host[1]% asmem -bg blue -fg white &

Another way to call asmem is from the window manager:

*Wharf "asmem" nil Swallow "asmem" asmem &

This line, when placed in the wharf file in the user's Afterstep configuration directory will cause asmem to be a button on the Wharf (1) button bar under the afterstep (1) window manager.

If you run WindowMaker then you should use the "-withdrawn" option:

user@host[1]% asmem -withdrawn -standout &

and then drag the icon to the dock.

My programs do not have bugs, they just develop random features ;-)

Well, there are limitations. All the strings for the color names, display name, and the geometry have the length limit of 50 characters (terminating zero included). The string copying routine cuts the names that are longer.

proc(5)

Copyright (c) 1999-2003 Albert "Tigr" Dorofeev <albert@tigr.net>

Distributed under GNU General Public License v2 ; see LICENSE file for more informations.

Albert "Tigr" Dorofeev <albert@tigr.net>

See the README file for credits.