Desktop Images Macros v 4.4
2022-04-16 - Version 4.4
Documentation for Desktop Images
This package several dozen macros to manage Desktop Wallpaper.
All of its main functions are accessed either through Hot Keys, or through KM Status Menu items.
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A user tells this package which folder contains the JPEGs to use as background wallpaper. tested it with one and two physical screens using all Mac virtual desktops (using the Mission Control app). If you change the number of virtual desktops, you need to re-run the initialization command. If there is only one screen, the all macros referring to the second screen are ignored.
I do not distribute the content, only the software that manages the content. I haven't written support for more screens, but it doesn't look hard to do that. I run it on all my Macs on a regular basis, in both static and in screensaver mode. I have at this time a shared folder with over 11,000 high resolution images downloaded over the last few months with topics covering Black Lives Matter, Corona-19, Beirut, nature, animals, museum artwork, landscapes, etc.
The package also has an option to autohide a menu bar and desktop icons, so that the entire screen can be used. You can also set the speed in which wallpaper changes.
You can scan through the existing spaces on each monitor one time, or update them one time. You can also scan or update them continuously, which I call "screensaver mode". Exit screensaver mode using the ESC key. A setting defines an approximate "idle" time before the screensaver function automatically starts, and another defines how much time is spent on the screen before an image changes to a new one.
You can inquire which JPEG is showing on for the current space each screen, or randomly change the JPEG showing on the current space on each screen.
All settings can be changed with the Change Settings menu item by typing the hot key "^⇧G" . They are saved and restored automatically on the local machine whenever changed.
Help and documentation is available by typing the hot key "^⇧⌥=".
Initialization is required. It is invoked by typing "^⇧I".
This software is provided “as is”. Use at your own risk.
Version 3.8: Added support for Vanilla, a menubar management program that interacted with MenuBar Hide/Show. Changed AutoHide MenuBar to be a toggle rather than explicit On/Off. Added sound reminder when screensaver starts automaticall when idle, controlled by the existing reminder option. Tested on MacOS X High Sierra and Big Sur up to 11.2.
Version 3.9: Fixed an interesting bug. To enable or disable the screensaver, the coding technique I used was to enable or disable the macros that control when the screensaver starts. This turns out to be a bad idea, because the enable/disable state of a macro is shared among all Macs sharing the Macros, so disabling the function on one disables on all. I changed the strategy so enabling/disabling is controlled by a boolean flag, which is not shared.
Version 4.4: Fixed a minor but that also simplifies the control structure. Now, typing ESC simply sets a state variable, which cases the screensaver thread to stop. See the release notes for more detail.
Desktop Images Macros 4.4.kmmacros (318.7 KB)