Script copy the content of the clipboard into a file

command linecopy/pastekeyboardterminal

I want to write a shell script which copies the contents of the clipboard (plain-text only) when the previous content changes. When I launch the script each time I copy something (so the content of the clipboard changes) the script copies the new values into a file.

I wrote a script which works correctly:

#!/bin/bash
prev=" "
while true
do
curr=$(pbpaste)
if [ "$curr" != "$prev" ]
then
   echo -n " " >> /Users/davide/desktop/file   
echo -n $curr >> /Users/davide/desktop/file     
fi
done

I don't like this solution very much. There must be different ways to solve this problem.

1) Get the content of the clipboard, store into a variable and compare this value with the current value of the clipboard (my solution.)

2) Detect key pressed CMD+C. When the user presses CMD+C (shortcut for copy something into the clipboard) almost certainly the content of clipboard changes, but I don't know if is possible to detect the keystroke without installing additional libraries.

3) See the process.

Can monitor the cpu or mem usage of the pboard process (when copying something into the clipboard the value of this percentage change)?

Or (I don't know if is it possible) I can see to address space of the process?

So my question is this:

In your opinion, is there a better alternative to the script which I wrote, considering the alternatives 2 and 3?

Best Answer

A product like this already exists and is available free on the App Store - Flycut.

From their Github project page:

Save the clipboard history item currently displayed to a file, closing the Bezel. Delete the item from the clipboard history if capital S was pressed. Clipping is saved to a file on the Desktop, akin to how Screen Shots are saved by OS X. e.g. "Desktop/Clipping 2015-07-15 at 08.35.10.txt

Related Solutions

MacOS – AppleScript: How to check if the clipboard consists of a file (instead of text)

If the Clipboard contains a file object, then clipboard info will contain, e.g., «class furl» (a file URL), along with many other classes.

The follow example code will check for the presence of «class furl» in the clipboard info:

if ((clipboard info) as string) contains "«class furl»" then
    say "the clipboard contains a file named " & (the clipboard as string)
else
    say "the clipboard does not contain a file"
end if

Update:

As I mentioned in one of my comments, there are other ways to code this, and this approach will return either an empty list or a list containing one list, which should be faster instead of the 14 that the first example returns if it contains a file. If the Clipboard does not contain a file, then the list returned is empty and it errors out, setting cbFile to false, and if not empty, setting it to true, which then is tested against in the following example.

try
    (item 1 of (clipboard info for «class furl»))
    set cbFile to true
on error
    set cbFile to false
end try
if cbFile then
    say "the clipboard contains a file named " & (the clipboard as string)
else
    say "the clipboard does not contain a file"
end if

By the way, I ran the purge command in Terminal in between testing these two examples and it felt like the second example is a bit faster, however YMMV.

MacOS – Copy & Paste doesn’t work

From this Apple Support discussion:

So, to fix a stuck clipboard (pasteboard) problem, you simply need to:

Open your application folder

Open the utilities subfolder

Open the Activity Monitor app

Type “pboard” into the search box at the top right

In the search results below, there should only be one result — a row listing the “pboard” process. Highlight it by clicking on it.

Click the “x” button at the top left of the window which represents ‘quit this process’

Once you’ve done that, OS X will kill the faulty PBoard process and re-establish it with a fresh one automatically. Your clipboard should be back to normal.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

MacOS – AppleScript: How to check if the clipboard consists of a file (instead of text)

MacOS – Copy & Paste doesn’t work

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