Copy action doesn't work well

Scripting Forums AppleScript | Mac OS X
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#1

Hello,
i’ve a bit trouble with this script snipped here:

--Copies contents of selection
tell application "System Events" to keystroke "c" using command down

in fact, this command isn’t able to put the actual selection (of a text-string) into the clipboard. I got instead the last - not the actual entry of the clipboard- in order to get the actual selection into the board, you have to activate this snippet again.

…because the UI -scripting is for me the last solution which i integrate into a script, (they are soo a rough commands, without elegance)

#2

Joy, this works for me…

--Copies contents of selection
tell application "TextEdit" to activate
tell application "System Events" to tell process "TextEdit" to keystroke "c" using {command down}

Tom

Browser: Safari 525.27.1
Operating System: Mac OS X (10.5)

#3

Thanks Tom_X,
but in my case i can’t know which application to call. My script -snippet should be useful in every circumstances, like for use with text editors , preview -apps and browsers…
Perhaps i must call (activate) first the front application, and then execute my snipped…

#4

Hi Joy, If you are launching your script from the Dock or the Script menu, make it a background app and it will copy from the front application.

Tom

Browser: Safari 525.27.1
Operating System: Mac OS X (10.5)

#5

Hey, Tom

not to give you contra, but this snippet runs in the first paragraph of a longer script, which i activate via keystroke -trigger.(i need not an application)
The option to catch selected text directly with the UI -scripting system is only a “bridge” to shorten obvious passages.

i cannot understand why these snipped will request a repeat- loop. What prevents the snippet, to not catch data already the first time??

#6

Of course you have to. Keyboard shortcuts affect always the frontmost application

#7

Stefan,
it sounds strange for me to activate the frontmost application, if this one is already in front of! here we go.

Let’s assume that we:
.have selected an text-string in a open web-site of “Safari”
.activate my UI-script (snippet) from the script -menu (in the right corner of our main toolbar)

what happens in the second instance? Which application will answer

i) “System events”
ii) “Safari”

on call ?

i’ve added too:

--Copy contents of selection
repeat 3 times
	tell application "System Events" to keystroke "c" using command down
end repeat

because 2 times returns are not enough to get the right output.
What is going on with this snippet ?

#8

From the System Events dictionary:

keystroke (verb)cause the target process to behave as if keystrokes were entered (from Processes Suite)

consider the target process:

tell application "System Events" to tell process "Safari" to keystroke "c" using command down