Clear the Ruby Console with Win32 API?

thomthom · 24 Feb 2010, 18:36

Using WinDowse I could change the Ruby Console text output.

So I was wondering - one should be able to do that using Win32 API calls.
But I'm not so experienced with the Win32 API.

How would you:
Get the active Ruby Console window?
I guess one can make the command work only from the console. So the method would get the handle for the currently active foreground window and check that it's title is "Ruby Console".
?

How do you get the handles for the correct textbox?

How do you change its text properties.

tbd · 24 Feb 2010, 20:12

last time when I checked it didn't help much because the whole text will be back on the print/puts

Chris Fullmer · 24 Feb 2010, 20:33

Have you looked at Jim's plugin that doe this? I don't know about the prints/puts thing though. His plugin only works in 32bit, so it never quite worked for me.

thomthom · 24 Feb 2010, 20:45

@unknownuser said:

last time when I checked it didn't help much because the whole text will be back on the print/puts

awh crud! why on earth?!?

thomthom · 25 Feb 2010, 07:38

So this means SU caches ALL the text? it doesn't append to the existing text, to completely rewrites it?? No wonder that thing is slow!

thomthom · 25 Feb 2010, 20:45

looking at this again:

After using WinDowse to clear the text:

if I click the command line textbox in the Ruby Console to bring up any old commands - then all the old stuff comes back
if I don't do that - and use a script that uses a puts statement - or type in a new command or blank line into the Ruby Console command line - then the old history doesn't come back any more.

jessejames · 25 Feb 2010, 22:16

@thomthom said:

So this means SU caches ALL the text? it doesn't append to the existing text, to completely rewrites it?? No wonder that thing is slow!

The Ruby console "As Is" needs to die a torturous and horrible death, and in its place, a new multi-line console "shining prince" (not IO! ) would herald in the new era of scripting bliss!

TIG · 26 Feb 2010, 09:15

@thomthom said:

looking at this again:
After using WinDowse to clear the text:

if I click the command line textbox in the Ruby Console to bring up any old commands - then all the old stuff comes back

if I don't do that - and use a script that uses a puts statement - or type in a new command or blank line into the Ruby Console command line - then the old history doesn't come back any more.

After you have cleared the console why not have your code do an empty puts to help you ?

thomthom · 26 Feb 2010, 09:23

well - I have not written the code yet. I've only used WinDowse to poke about.
But yes - that would be a solution - if I now could work out how to do this from Ruby.

TIG · 26 Feb 2010, 09:45

I have PM'd you clearConsole.rb that works OK - I didn't publish it here as I'm unsure where it came from - no accreditation in the header ?

thomthom · 26 Feb 2010, 11:04

Excellent TIG.

Now - if only we found the author so we could get this posted publicly...

Jim · 26 Feb 2010, 14:57

morisdov compiled a small windows exe to clear the console. It is called using the system command. I use it, and like to have it around because I can also double-click it from my file manager and clear the console.

http://morisdov.googlepages.com/

(I was sure this was posted at morsidov's site, but it does not seem to be available now.)

Al Hart · 26 Feb 2010, 18:58

Here is a routine which should work.

If you have problems, let me know.
(Sometimes code I extract from larger projects only works because of other plugins I have loaded already)

Place Win32API.so in the Plugins folder (I grabbed a copy from the ruby install and placed it there)
place clear_ruby_console.rb in your Plugins folder.
"Clear Ruby Console" should appear at the bottom of the Window drop-down menu after you start SketchUp

clear_ruby_console.rb


# you need Win32API.so in the Plugins folder for this to work.
# I grabbed a copy from the ruby install and placed it there
require 'Win32API' 



def clear_ruby_console

	# Find a window called Ruby Console
	# (Note; if there is more than one, then this may not work)
	fw = Win32API.new("user32.dll", "FindWindow", ['P', 'P'], 'N')
	pw=fw.call(0, "Ruby Console")	
	if (!pw)
		puts "Ruby Console not found"
		return
	end#if
	
	# get the text output window in the Ruby Console
	fw_ex = Win32API.new("user32.dll", "FindWindowEx", ['N', 'N', 'P', 'P'], 'N')
	h_text = fw_ex.call(pw, 0, "Edit", 0) # Text Input for Ruby Console
	if (!h_text)
		puts "Ruby Console text window not found"
		return
	end#if
	
	# get the output window
	h_output = fw_ex.call(pw, h_text, "Edit", 0) # Output for Ruby Console
	if (!h_output)
		puts "Ruby Console output window not found"
		return
	end#if
	
	# Clear the text in the ruby output
	# by sending it an empty string
	sm = Win32API.new("user32.dll", "SendMessage", ['N', 'N', 'N', 'P'], 'N')	
	wm_settext = 0x000c # windows constant to set text
	sm.call(h_output, wm_settext, 0, "")	
	
	#You can change this to whatever message you want to display
	#after the console is cleared.
	puts "--- Ruby Console Cleared ---"
			
end#def

# Add to Windows menu
if ( !$clear_console_loaded)
   UI.menu("Window").add_item("Create Ruby Console") {clear_ruby_console}
   $clear_console_loaded = true
end

filsaz · 10 Jun 2010, 21:57

@al hart said:

Here is a routine which should work.

If you have problems, let me know.
(Sometimes code I extract from larger projects only works because of other plugins I have loaded already)

Place Win32API.so in the Plugins folder (I grabbed a copy from the ruby install and placed it there)

place clear_ruby_console.rb in your Plugins folder.

"Clear Ruby Console" should appear at the bottom of the Window drop-down menu after you start SketchUp

[attachment=0:2o2wyuvn]clear_ruby_console.rb[/attachment:2o2wyuvn]

clear_ruby_console.rb


> # you need Win32API.so in the Plugins folder for this to work.
> # I grabbed a copy from the ruby install and placed it there
> require 'Win32API' 
> 
> 
> 
> def clear_ruby_console
> 
> 	# Find a window called Ruby Console
> 	# (Note; if there is more than one, then this may not work)
> 	fw = Win32API.new("user32.dll", "FindWindow", ['P', 'P'], 'N')
> 	pw=fw.call(0, "Ruby Console")	
> 	if (!pw)
> 		puts "Ruby Console not found"
> 		return
> 	end#if
> 	
> 	# get the text output window in the Ruby Console
> 	fw_ex = Win32API.new("user32.dll", "FindWindowEx", ['N', 'N', 'P', 'P'], 'N')
> 	h_text = fw_ex.call(pw, 0, "Edit", 0) # Text Input for Ruby Console
> 	if (!h_text)
> 		puts "Ruby Console text window not found"
> 		return
> 	end#if
> 	
> 	# get the output window
> 	h_output = fw_ex.call(pw, h_text, "Edit", 0) # Output for Ruby Console
> 	if (!h_output)
> 		puts "Ruby Console output window not found"
> 		return
> 	end#if
> 	
> 	# Clear the text in the ruby output
> 	# by sending it an empty string
> 	sm = Win32API.new("user32.dll", "SendMessage", ['N', 'N', 'N', 'P'], 'N')	
> 	wm_settext = 0x000c # windows constant to set text
> 	sm.call(h_output, wm_settext, 0, "")	
> 	
> 	#You can change this to whatever message you want to display
> 	#after the console is cleared.
> 	puts "--- Ruby Console Cleared ---"
> 			
> end#def
> 
> # Add to Windows menu
> if ( !$clear_console_loaded)
>    UI.menu("Window").add_item("Create Ruby Console") {clear_ruby_console}
>    $clear_console_loaded = true
> end
> 
> 
>

Thanks, it works! And I learned something new (win32api calls) with this example of yours. Thanks!
Yet, be careful there... I am sure you know about this but, in ruby only "false" and "nil" evaluate to "false", "C language" NULL does not, so you need to test against 0(zero) instead of using the "not operator" on the return values, which are numbers and therefore using "not" always yield to false in ruby.

MartinRinehart · 14 Jun 2010, 14:49

t=28571

Clears input and output windows. Toggle output off and on to clear just output.

http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=323&t=28571