Re: [MacPerl] system( 'clear' ) for interfaces

[ajf@afco.demon.co.uk (Alan Fry)]

Strider <Strider@baka.com> writes Wed, 9 Sep 1998 15:12:43 -0400:

>Is there or can there be a command, maybe implemented as system( 'clear' )
>(or MacPerl::Clear if you prefer), which clears a given window quickly?
>It'd be a tremendous asset. If anyone else has any other way around this
>problem, please let me know.

It is possible to select all the text in a window using AppleScript and
then delete the selection with the back-space, chr(8). Effectively, that
clears the window.

#!perl
use Mac::AppleEvents;

$|=1;
print "a line\nand another line\nand then wait for a CR";
getc;

select_text();
select(undef, undef, undef, 0.01);       # a short delay
print chr(8);

sub select_text {
    $obj1 = "obj {want:type(cwin), from:'null'(), form:name, seld:TEXT(\@)}";
    $obj2 = "obj {want:type(ctxt), from:$obj1, form:indx, seld:abso(all )}";

    $evt = AEBuildAppleEvent(
        'misc', 'slct', 'sign', 'McPL', 0, 0, "'----':$obj2", "MacPerl"
    ) or die $^E;

    AESend($evt, kAENoReply) or die $^E;
    AEDisposeDesc $evt;
}

It seems a small delay is necessary between sending the 'slct' event and
calling 'print chr(8)'; otherwise the 'print' happens before the text has
actually been 'selected'.

Is there any way of testing to see if an Apple Event has finished before
going on? Does anyone have any ideas? It is easy to see the event has been
sent, but if there is no reply (as in this case) how do you find out when
all's done?

Alan Fry



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