Simple(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Simple(3)NAMEMac::AppleEvents::Simple - Simple access to Mac::AppleEvents
SYNOPSIS
#!perl -w
use Mac::AppleEvents::Simple;
use Mac::Files; # for NewAliasMinimal
$alias = NewAliasMinimal(scalar MacPerl::Volumes);
do_event(qw/aevt odoc MACS/, "'----':alis(\@\@)", $alias);
# [...]
use Mac::Errors '$MacError';
use Mac::AppleEvents; # for kAENoReply
$evt = build_event(qw/aevt odoc MACS/, "'----':alis(\@\@)", $alias);
die "There was a problem: $MacError" if $^E;
$evt->send_event(kAENoReply);
die "There was a problem: $MacError" if $^E;
DESCRIPTION
Requirements
For MacPerl 5.2.0r4, you should have the latest cpan-mac distribution:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/cpan-mac/
For MacPerl 5.6.1 and up, everything you need is included.
For Mac OS X, you should have the latest Mac::Carbon:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/macperl/
Also note the differences between MacPerl and perl on Mac OS X listed
in Mac::Carbon, especially regarding $^E.
Overview
This is just a simple way to do Apple Events. The example above was
previously done as:
#!perl -w
use Mac::AppleEvents;
use Mac::Files;
$alias = NewAliasMinimal(scalar MacPerl::Volumes);
$evt = AEBuildAppleEvent(qw/aevt odoc sign MACS 0 0/,
"'----':alis(\@\@)", $alias) or die $MacError;
$rep = AESend($evt, kAEWaitReply) or die $MacError;
AEDisposeDesc($rep);
AEDisposeDesc($evt);
The building, sending, and disposing is done automatically. The
function returns an object containing the parameters. (Previously, the
"AEPrint" results of "AEBuildAppleEvent" and "AESend" would be in
"$event->{EVENT}" "$event->{REPLY}", but this was wasting way too much
memory, as some of these things got big; you can call
"AEPrint($event->{REP})" yourself).
Also, the Mac::AppleEvents::Simple method will launch the application
for you, whereas the Mac::AppleEvents method requires the program to be
running already (or launched via Mac::Processes or Mac::Apps::Launch).
Launching works only when the target is an app signature or bundle ID.
The raw AEDesc forms are in "$event->{EVT}" and "$event->{REP}". So if
I also "use"'d the Mac::AppleEvents module (or got the symbols via "use
Mac::AppleEvents::Simple ':all'"), I could extract the direct object
from the reply like this:
$dobj = AEPrint(AEGetParamDesc($event->{REP}, keyDirectObject));
An easier way to get the direct object data, though, is with the "get"
method, described below.
The sending of the event uses as its defaults ("kAEWaitReply",
"kAENormalPriority", "kNoTimeout"). To use different parameters, use
"build_event" with "send_event".
Setting "$Mac::AppleEvents::Simple::SWITCH = 1" forces the target app
to go to the front on sending an event to it. This works only when the
target is an app signature or bundle ID.
Sending an event with "send_event" or "do_event" will check for errors
automatically, and if there is an error and
$Mac::AppleEvents::Simple::WARN is true, a warning will be sent to
"STDERR". You can also check $^E after each call, or check the values
of "$event->{ERRNO}" and "$event->{ERROR}".
If the event reply itself contains a "errn" or "errs" parameter, these
will also be placed in "$event->{ERRNO}" and "$event->{ERROR}" and $^E
as appropriate.
You may decide to roll your own error catching system, too. In this
example, the error is returned in the direct object parameter.
my $event = do_event( ... );
die $MacError if $^E; # catch execution errors
my_warn_for_this_app($event); # catch AE reply errors
sub my_warn_for_this_app {
my $event = shift;
my $error = AEGetParamDesc($event->{REP}, keyDirectObject);
if ($error) {
my $err = $error->get;
if ($err =~ /^-\d+$/ && $^W) {
warn "Application error: $err";
}
AEDisposeDesc($error);
}
}
FUNCTIONS
[$EVENT =] do_event(CLASSID, EVENTID, TARGET, FORMAT, PARAMETERS ...)
The first three parameters are required. The FORMAT and PARAMETERS
are documented elsewhere; see Mac::AppleEvents and macperlcat.
TARGET may be a four-character app ID or a hashref containing
ADDRESSTYPE and ADDRESS. Examples:
{ typeApplSignature() => '...' } # default
{ typeTargetID() => pack_ppc(...) } # Mac OS only
{ typeTargetID() => pack_eppc(...) } # Mac OS only
{ typeApplicationURL() => pack_eppc_x(...) } # Mac OS X
{ typeProcessSerialNumber() => pack_psn(...) }
{ typeKernelProcessID() => pack_pid(...) } # Mac OS X only
{ typeBundleID() => '...' } # Mac OS X only
See the pack functions below for details.
$EVENT = build_event(CLASSID, EVENTID, TARGET, FORMAT, PARAMETERS ...)
This is for delayed execution of the event, or to build an event
that will be sent specially with "send_event". Build it with
"build_event", and then send it with "send_event" method. The
parameters are the same as "do_event".
$EVENT->send_event([GETREPLY, PRIORITY, TIMEOUT]);
For sending events differently than the defaults, which are
"kAEWaitReply", "kAENormalPriority", and "kNoTimeout", or for re-
sending an event. The parameters are sticky for a given event, so:
$evt->send_event(kAENoReply);
$evt->send_event; # kAENoReply is still used
$EVENT->handle_event(CLASSID, EVENTID, CODE [, SYS]);
Note: Untested under Mac OS X. Testing and patches welcome.
Sets up an event handler by passing CLASSID and EVENTID of the
event to be handled. If SYS is true, then it sets up a system-wide
event handler, instead of an application-wide event handler.
CODE is a code reference that will be passed three parameters: a
Mac::AppleEvents::Simple object, the CLASSID, and the EVENTID. The
object will work similarly to a regular object. The REP and EVT
parameters are switched (that is, you get the event in the REP
parameter, and the reply to be sent is in the EVT parameter). This
is so the other methods will work just fine, and since you will
only be using actual methods on the object and not accessing its
data directly, it shouldn't matter, right?
The other difference is that there is an additional data member in
the object, called HANDLER, which is for properly disposing of the
handler when you are done with it. Your event handler should get
disposed of for you in the background.
An example:
my @data_out;
handle_event('CLAS', 'EVNT', \&handler);
sub handler {
my($evt) = @_;
my @data = $evt->get;
push @data_out, [$data[0], $data[9]] if $data[0] && $data[9];
}
while (1) {
if (my $data = shift @data_out) {
print "woohoo: @$data\n";
}
}
$EVENT->data([KEY])
$EVENT->get([KEY])
data(DESC[, KEY])
get(DESC[, KEY])
Similar to "get" and "data" from the Mac::AppleEvents module. Get
data from a Mac::AppleEvents::Simple object for a given key
("keyDirectObject" is the default). Can also be called as a
function, where an AEDesc object is passed as the first parameter.
For "data", if the descriptor in KEY is an AE list, then a list of
the descriptors in the list will be returned. In scalar context,
only the first element will be returned.
On the other hand, "get" will return a nested data structure, where
all nested AE lists will be converted to perl array references, and
all nested AE records will be converted to perl hash references.
In scalar context, only the first element of the base list will be
returned for AE lists.
Also, "get" will attempt to convert other data into a more usable
form (such as resolving aliases into paths).
pack_ppc(ID, NAME, SERVER[, ZONE])
Note: Not implemented under Mac OS X.
Packs a PPC record suitable for using in "build_event" and
"do_event". Accepts the 4-character ID of the target app, the name
of the app as it may appear in the PPC Chooser, and the server and
zone it is on. If not supplied, zone is assumed to be '*'.
pack_eppc(ID, NAME, HOST)
Note: Not implemented under Mac OS X (see pack_eppc_x).
Packs an EPPC record suitable for using in "build_event" and
"do_event". Accepts the 4-character ID of the target app, the name
of the app as it may appear in the PPC Chooser, and the hostname of
the machine it is on. Requires Mac OS 9.
pack_eppc_x(NAME, HOST [, UID, PID, USERNAME, PASSWORD])
Note: Not implemented under Mac OS (see pack_eppc).
Packs an EPPC record suitable for using in "build_event" and
"do_event" under Mac OS X. Accepts the name of the app, the
hostname of the machine it is on, and, optionally, the uid of the
owner of the app, the process ID of the app, and the
username/password to connect with. Note that it is normally
preferable to allow the Keychain to handle the username/password
(enter it the first time it is asked for, and select "Add to
Keychain?"). Requires Mac OS X.
Note: the UID/PID stuff doesn't actually work for me, in my tests.
Huh.
Note: the eppc port (for both Mac OS and Mac OS X) is 3031.
pack_psn(PSN)
Simply packs a PSN into a double long.
pack_pid(PID)
Note: Mac OS X only.
Converts a PID into a PSN, then calls "pack_psn".
EXPORT
Exports functions "do_event", "build_event", "handle_event",
"pack_ppc", "pack_eppc", "pack_psn", "pack_pid". All the symbols from
Mac::AppleEvents are available in @EXPORT_OK and through the "all"
export tag.
AUTHOR
Chris Nandor <pudge@pobox.com>, http://pudge.net/
Copyright (c) 1998-2005 Chris Nandor. All rights reserved. This
program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
SEE ALSO
Mac::AppleEvents, Mac::OSA, Mac::OSA::Simple, macperlcat, Inside
Macintosh: Interapplication Communication.
http://projects.pudge.net/
perl v5.16.2 2006-07-06 Simple(3)
