I see that there's a file called "~/.kde/share/config/kdesktoprc" and in that file, there's a line "Wallpaper=" in the [Desktop0] section.

If I change that, my desktop doesn't change right away (for obvious reasons, I'm sure). Is there a way to update it? Am I even going about this the correct way?

Thanks.

Just find a photo you like drag it to the desktop and let it go, and select set as desktop wallpaper.

well, I want to automate the process. I can generate an image programmatically & would like to use that image as my desktop. It'd be nice if I could set a cron job or something to do it every so often.

If you are looking to auto-rotate backgrounds, KDE has the option: right click on desktop, then select configure desktop. Under background, select slide show.

It uses some of the same stuff from the control center, but it is not the control center per say.

thanks for the suggestion, but that won't do it either. the auto-rotate thing only does backgrounds that already exist. I want to create new backgrounds & then use them. I suppose I could just overwrite one of the bg's in the auto-rotate, but that's not the answer I'm looking for. I would like the ability to have it event driven i.e. something happens & my background changes right then in addition to the cron update. I have no problem generating the bg image by events & even modifying the file I mentioned in my first post, but I don't know how to get them to display.

oh, sorry bout that; in that case, xsetbg should do what you need to. do a man on it and you should find what you need.

that's what I was looking for. Thanks!