I am using Ruby on a mac to open a dozen URLs one at a time with Nokogiri etc.
For each URL I need to let my ruby program know
whether to keep the URL window for further inspection or close it.
But I cannot see the terminal window and its prompt, it is hidden behind
the last URL window.
I have to click on the terminal window in order to bring it to the front, in order to enter my decision on the keyboard.
puts "close webpage?"
if gets =~ /^y/i then 1 ; else; 0; end;
I would like the terminal window to come to the front before it prompts
me for an answer.
I think the question is two fold
Is there a terminal command that tells a terminal window to become
the active one (the one in the front) that would work with mac iTerm.
The Apple script "bringiTermtofront" works in the applescript editor.
tell application "iTerm" to activate
Is there a way to execute a terminal command from ruby.
the ruby code
system "osascript bringiTermtofront.scpt"
brings the iTerm to the front.
For Question 1, one approach would be to write an Applescript to handle the switch, and then use the Terminal command osascript to run it from your Ruby code. You could also check if rb-appscript is still usable (it's no longer supported, but might work).
For Question 2, you have a few choices. Using backticks around the command will let you capture the output of a brief command, if you want to store the result of the command in a variable. (E.g. use grep or something similar).
The system method in Kernel is probably your best choice, though, as it will execute shell commands as if at the terminal.
Per the edit showing what script you're using, you need to execute the script as Applescript, not as a terminal script. You don't even need a separate file as it's just one line. This would be :
command = %q[osascript -e "tell application \"iTerm\" to activate"]
system(command)
You could also put the Applescript in a file and execute it using just
system("osascript bringiTermtofront")
See "Running shell commands from Ruby" for a little more help on how to interact with these methods.
Related
Probably a very simple question. I just thought, after someone suggested it here, of trying (and installing) Python 3.6 on a Mac - I've been happily using 2.7 since now. I've never used the IDLE before having done everything via the command line + ATOM to write the program.
I see that 'normally' you should be able to write your program in the shell and then run it in the RUN window. However, I don't see a RUN mode in window, just the possibility of using, which you are anyhow, the shell window. I hope that makes sense!
Is this normal, or have I missed something?
p.s. I'm using OS X 10.8, if that's of any importance.
I am not exactly sure what you are asking, and whether it has anything to do with OSX, but I can explain IDLE. IDLE has two types of main window: a single Shell and multiple Editor windows.
Shell simulates python running in the interactive REPL mode that you get when you enter 'python' (or 'python3') in a console or terminal window. (The latter depends on the OS.) You enter statements at the >>> prompt. A single-line statement is run when you hit Enter (or Return). A multi-line statement is run when you hit Enter twice. This is the same as in interactive Python.
Editor windows let you enter a multi-statement program. You run the programs by selecting Run and Run module from the menu or by hitting the shortcut key, which by default is F5 (at least on Windows and Linux). This runs the program much the same as if you enter python -i myprogram.py in a console. Program output and input goes to and is received from the Shell window. When the program ends, Python enters interactive mode and prints an interactive prompt (>>>). One can then interact with the objects created by the program.
You are correct that Run does not appear on the menu bar of the Shell. It is not needed as one runs a statement with the Enter key.
Here I want to ask you to help to bring the console window top most with a shell command. Is it possible?
there was a script execution in my work environment, and will take about several minutes to complete, I will move to other work while running, it is better there are some tips to notify me when script completes run.
So I think bring the window top most is the most direct way.
Please tell me how to achieve this, I'm working on windows, new to MacOS.
Thanks,
Levi
I don't know how to bring the console window to the front, but if you're working in the terminal, you could do something like:
$ path/to/script ; tput bel
or
$ path/to/script ; say "script 1 is done"
Where path/to/script is whatever your usual method of loading the script is.
I recommend the first method, as it flashes the screen, makes a beeping noise, and causes the terminal icon to bounce up and down on my dock in OS X 10.10. The second might be better if you need to figure out which script is done from among a bunch of scripts. If you have coworkers who you don't want to disturb, you can change the preferences in terminal so that an alert only flashes the screen and doesn't also make a noise.
If you have access to the source code of the script, you can also add tput bel or say "command" to the last line of the script and you'll get the same behvaior.
I have a shell script, which I launch several times during work everyday. I do this by launching terminal, and launching the script from within. However, I would like to be able to launch it (from within a terminal) with a global OSX keyboard shortcut (Cmd+Shift+R say).
There are quite a few applications which work in this manner already (for eg. EverNote, RemindMeLater, even the default Cmd-Space which brings up the search utility) and hence, I am guessing this should be at least theoretically possible.
Could someone please tell me if and how this can be done?
Instead of using a global shortcut key, maybe try creating an applescript that runs the shell script? So just open at AppleScript Editor, and enter something like this.
do shell script "//Your script";
Then save it as an application in the format drop down.
After that, you can run the script just by opening up the application with something like spotlight.
I started using vim for my programming projects (mostly Ruby) and mostly everything works just as I want but I have a problem with compiling.
Lets say I am working on a Ruby script and I want to run it. I type :ruby sometging.rb (mapped to some other key). Then vim opens a new cmd.exe window and runs 'ruby something.rb'. Then it waits for me to press ENTER to close the window and continue working on the script.
Is there a way to configure vim on windows so that it always runs the script I'm working on in a separete window (always the same one, if none exists => open one), and not ask me to confirm with enter?
Don't know about gvim, but in normal vim you could put something like
map R <ESC>:tabnew<CR><ESC>:;%!ruby filename.rb<CR>
in your ~/.vimrc which would execute a Ruby file in a newtab when pressing R in command mode.
I've not used Ruby, but for I've found Dr Chip's RunView plugin really useful for running other interpreted languages.
Once it's installed, you can enter:
:RunView! <interpreter>
(where <interpreter> is presumably 'ruby' in your case) and it will open a (vertically if you include the !) split window with the output from passing the contents of the current window to the interpreter. Each time it is run, a new result log is appended to the end of the file (with a date and time stamp separating them).
If you have any issues with it, I'd recommend you contact Dr Chip via the Vim mailing list: he's very helpful (in fact he wrote the original version of RunView in response to a request I made on the mailing list).
This isn't exactly perfect but I use this to launch Python scripts.
command -nargs=* PY3 !start cmd /K Python.exe "%:p" <args>
It starts up a window that stays alive and doesn't interfere with my VIM window. Unfortunately it doesn't load it into an existing window.
Specifically,
In OSX 10.6 from a system call, I want to open a file for editing with VIM in a preexisting terminal (i.e. Terminal.app) by opening a new tab.
Of course I can open a new instance of terminal
/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app/Contents/MacOS/Terminal -e vim MyFile
And, of course I can figure out the PID of the running instance of Terminal but I don't know how to pass a command into that running program. Or, if Terminal supports receiving commands and if it will open a new tab.
If someone knows how to do this with a similar system (e.g. linux and xterm) it could help me figure it out with OSX and Terminal - or, is there some other technique to prevent opening so many terminals instances?
EDIT: CHEAP SOLUTION
I created an AppleAcript script
on run app_arg
tell application "System Events"
tell application process "Terminal"
key code {55, 36}
set frontmost to true
key code {55, 17}
keystroke item 1 of app_arg
keystroke return
end tell
end tell
end run
and run it via the system call like so
/usr/bin/osascript NEWSCRIPT.scpt "args"
It's dirty but it gets the job done - thanks!
The way to accomplish the is with applescript. You can send applescript to things in OS X with the osascript command. I wasn't able to find anything quickly that directly shows how to open a new tab with a command running in it, but I was able to find a couple of references to automating Terminal.app in various other ways with applescript, and I think they may point you in the right direction.
Various random Terminal.app applescript hacks mostly centered around changing colors.
An applescript hack that opens a new terminal window without creating a new Terminal process.
A nice StackOverflow question about how to query an application to discover what applescript it supports (stolen from a comment on your question by #dmckee)
And this nice StackOverflow question concerning Terminal.app's applescript specifically (again stolen from a comment by #dmckee)
An even better exploration of the Leopard Terminal.app's applescript from Ruby no less
And from that last link, it looks like the only way to do it is to use applescript to send the Command-T keystroke to the terminal. That's ugly, but it'll work. And then you can send the command you want to execute. :-)
There are three ways to do this:
Use popen
Use system
Use exec family