Lua/ReaScript Conurbation

General
1

A place for thoughts and quandaries regarding Lua and ReaScript things.

2

You did mention a Lua script that accessed the clipboard,
and could paste to a jsfx
Something like that

3

Using io.popen you can do something like:

-- using:
-- local function print(str) reaper.ShowConsoleMsg(tostring(str) .. "\n") end

local function getClipboard()
  local os = reaper.GetOS()
  local pipe, res
  if os == "Other" then
    pipe = io.popen("xclip -out selection")
  elseif os:sub(1, 3) == "Win" then
    pipe = io.popen("powershell get-clipboard")
  else
    error("Please upgrade to Linux, or Windows.")
  end
  if pipe then
    res = pipe:read("*a")
    pipe:close()
  end
  return res
end

local clip = getClipboard()
if clip then
  reaper.ShowConsoleMsg(clip)
end
print(getClipboard())

… to get the clipboard on the two OSes that matter. On Linux this doesn’t work with stuff copied from the IDE, which is weird, even though I get a notification that it copied in the OS itself. It needs xclip available in Linux too.

Getting it into a JSFX would involve writing with these functions in ReaScript:

reaper.gmem_attach(name)
reaper.gmem_write(index, value)
reaper.gmem_read(index)

… and then handling it in the JSFX.

1 Like
4

Here’s an addition to the end of that script:

local kMsgReady = 0
local kMsgBuffer = 1

local clip = getClipboard()
if clip then
  reaper.gmem_attach("gmemtest")
  reaper.gmem_write(kMsgReady, clip:len())
  for i = 1, clip:len() do
    local c = clip:sub(i, i)
    reaper.gmem_write(kMsgBuffer + i - 1, c:byte());
  end
  reaper.gmem_attach("")
end

That copies the clipboard into the gmem for a plugin called ‘gmemtest’. Here’s a simple JSFX plugin that shows the clipboard:

desc:gmemtest

options:gmem=gmemtest

@init
  kMsgSize = 0;
  kMsgBuffer = 1;
  
@gfx 300 300
  gfx_setfont(1, "Verdana", 13, 'b');
  gfx_set(1,1,1);
  gfx_x = gfx_y = 20;
  
  gmem[kMsgSize] ? (
    i = 0;
    loop(gmem[kMsgSize],
      gfx_drawchar(gmem[kMsgBuffer + i]);
      i += 1;
    );
    gmem[kMsgSize] = 0;
  );

It works on Linux anyhoo, with the caveat that it doesn’t work copying stuff from Reaper itself.

5

The clipboard in linux distros is a mess, like everything else. Ha ha. Possibly of help: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/84246/how-many-clipboards-are-in-system

6

Cheers, that’s weirder… that xclip -selection clipboard -o hangs (Reaper) when there’s nothing in the clipboard or when something is copied from Reaper.

7

I’m not sure how it might matter, but Justin did mention at one time targeting GDK instead of GTK for linux. It should come up if you search here: Ask Justin Frankel

8

Yeah, maybe it would be better that on Linux. There’s a cross platform lib I can use, there’s defo some selective strangeness between ‘primary’ and ‘clipboard’ clipboards. If it didn’t hang when checking `clipboard’ then xclip would do.

9

What is being copied/pasted? Is it maybe an issue with size of the data? I wonder if a really small file hangs the same. Possibly related: https://github.com/astrand/xclip/issues/43 If so, see ‘hackerb9’ in that issue.

10

I think it’s just with an empty clipboard, I checked again and the copy/paste from the Reaper IDE isn’t going to the system clipboard, at least not today. I’ve rustled together a tiny app using this library that just outputs the clipboard that works when it’s empty so that’s that solved.

11

Nice. Seems a pretty janky issue to have to deal with in the first place. Probably worth reporting to cockos.

12

Oh, I guess bug reporting is via the forum. Irony.

13

xclip hangs on the command line so it’s not ReaScript’s fault. If I do come across any bugs I’ll be sure to log in and report them! :slight_smile:

With this I’m using Lua’s popen which when we read with "*a" will wait until the program has finished so I’ve just changed it to read a line and only get the rest if there’s something in that line. Works well enough.

Should probably put it in a coroutine for the most graceful solution, getting up to X lines at a time since too many scripts doing lengthy things could bog a DAW down after all and nobody cares about a couple of 1/30s delays in getting a clipboard.

Or put a clipboard hunter in its own thread with C++ so that Lua just checks and gets like the JSFX does instead of doing any dirty work itself.

The last one would only be a Windows and Linux solution though since I can’t compile for macOS.

14

What’s the issue there?

15

Oh it would be a shared library I’d be compiling to use from Lua, but you need a mac to legally compile for macOS. Or there are online services, but I can’t jump through any hoops because Apple forbid running macOS VMs on non-Apple branded hardware.

16

:smiley:

17

Yeah, they are weirdos. They’re not preventing anybody from actually doing it, but I’d rather not since I respect the spirit of laws unlike some corporations. :laughing: