Re: [MacPerl] Open and open terms in MacPerl

[Chris Nandor <pudge@pobox.com>]

At 09.02 -0500 1999.03.23, Paul J. Schinder wrote:
>On Tue, Mar 23, 1999 at 01:37:41PM +0000, Peter Westlake wrote:
>} I drop a file onto the app's icon, and it works if I use MPW to
>} invoke the app by its path, with the filename as a parameter. But
>} life would be much simpler for me if I could just call this app
>} from a Perl script. MacPerl doesn't have system(), so I'm trying
>} to use AppleScript to call the app, using "launch" and "open file".
>
>No, but modern MacPerl can send an AppleEvent directly, and Chris
>Nandor has been working to make this much easier to do than it is by
>using only the stuff that comes with MacPerl.

MacPerl does have system() if you have ToolServer installed, though.

>} This is in a Perl script running in MacPerl 5.2.0r4, just to confuse
>} matters. Now, sometimes it works, but sometimes the app puts up its
>} interactive window, as if it hadn't been given a file to open.
>}
>} Let's just check that I understand how all this is meant to work,
>} since I've never written a Mac program in my life! I gather that
>} dragging a file onto an application is implemented by the Finder
>} starting the application and sending it an 'odoc' AppleEvent.
>
>That's the way I understand it happens.

Not quite.  When you open from the Finder (such as with a droplet), the
Finder is the one getting the odoc event.  It basically would look like
this using Mac::AppleEvents::Simple:

  use Mac::Files;
  use Mac::AppleEvents::Simple;

  # code passes ...

  do_event(qw[aevt odoc MACS], # aevt class, odoc event, MACS app id (Finder)
    q"'----':alis(@@), usin:alis(@@)",
    NewAliasMinimal($file),
    NewAliasMinimal($app));

Or in AppleScript:

  tell application "Finder"
    open alias myfile using alias myapp
  end tell

This is different than:

  tell application "MacPerl"
    open alias myfile
  end tell


But since it seems you are just trying to populate @ARGV, I would use the
Mac::StandardFile package.

  use Mac::StandardFile;

  if (!@ARGV) {
    my $reply = StandardGetFile(0, '') or die $^E;
    die $^E if !$reply->sfGood;
    push @ARGV, $reply->sfFile;
  }

If you want more than one file, you can wrap it in another dialog:

use Mac::StandardFile;

  if (!@ARGV) {
    my $sf_done;
    while (!$sf_done) {
      my $reply = StandardGetFile(0, '') or die $^E;
      die $^E if !$reply->sfGood;
      push @ARGV, $reply->sfFile;
      $sf_done++ unless
        MacPerl::Answer('Select another file?', qw(OK Cancel));
    }
  }

--
Chris Nandor          mailto:pudge@pobox.com         http://pudge.net/
%PGPKey = ('B76E72AD', [1024, '0824090B CE73CA10  1FF77F13 8180B6B6'])

===== Want to unsubscribe from this list?
===== Send mail with body "unsubscribe" to macperl-request@macperl.org