How to access mac pasteboard (clipboard) buffer from a C language or bash program?

Asked Jun 03 '18 at 02:08

Active Jun 03 '18 at 02:08

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This is not a repeat of this question: How to access clipboard data programmatically ?

It is similar to the copied question, but I'm wondering if it's possible to access the buffer from a C language or bash program. I know about the method NSGeneralPboard readObjectsForClasses:options: from cocoa and pbcopy and pbpaste from mac terminal, but what I'm looking for is more lower level than that. Is this possible or does mac only let you develop with their API in cocoa, swift, or objective C?

My main goal is to build a simple program that can store history of the clipboard. I know there are a ton of apps that do this, but I'm curious to see how to build this.

asked Jun 03 '18 at 02:08

David John Coleman II

2

Bash can use `pbcopy` and `pbpaste` — the 'terminal' is (typically) running Bash, so what can be used at the 'terminal' can be used in Bash (within broad limits). I'm not clear what you'd mean by 'lower level' than those. Yes, you're likely to need to use Swift or Objective C to do the work — or write C that calls onto one of those. – Jonathan Leffler Jun 03 '18 at 02:30
Thanks @chepner, yep, that Q you linked is my answer – David John Coleman II Jun 03 '18 at 03:04
how to close the question? – David John Coleman II Jun 03 '18 at 03:05
For all practical purposes, the question is closed — nothing further is needed from you. – Jonathan Leffler Jun 03 '18 at 03:34

How to access mac pasteboard (clipboard) buffer from a C language or bash program?

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