Capturing output from program in console

[mightycpa]

Hi,

I've never tried this before, but I have a dos program that returns data to the console periodically as it is running. I have created a small batch file to simulate its output:

Code: Select all

CLS
ECHO OFF
FOR /L %%A IN (1,1,10) DO (
  TIMEOUT /T 5 >NUL
  ECHO %%A
)
ECHO DONE

The batch file output looks like this, it takes a little less than a minute, 5 seconds between each count:


Obviously, my program's output is a little more complex, but this is the idea. Capture a periodic string of data from the console. What I want to do is to capture each line of data as it appears and then process it while I wait for the next one.

I don't want to output to a file if I can help it.

Can I repeatedly capture the new output in a variable with the RunProgram command or something else?

Thanks

[Grovkillen]

It's possible output continously to a file but since you're not interested in that you're as far as I can tell out of luck. I have proposed something like that though... Here>>

[JRL]

Open a command prompt.
Select "Properties" from the menu when you right click the command icon in the upper left corner.
Make sure "Use legacy console..." is unchecked.
Above that, make sure "Enable Ctrl Key Shortcuts" is checked.
Close save and close any command windows you have open.

From now forward you can:
Focus the command window Press ctrl, Send>a, Release ctrl to highlight all text in the window.
Press Press ctrl, Send>c, Release ctrl to copy the selected text.
Use getclipboard> to set that text to a variable.
Then parse the text however you need.

Not what you wanted but the best I know of.

[Grovkillen]

Yeah, using clipboard is a very slippery slope. I tend to not use it these days because it.

[mightycpa]

Hi, JRL, thanks for the suggestion. In the end, I decided to create a small ram drive, and I wrote my file to there, and read and parsed the answer. Because the drive is in memory, it's fast, it won't wear a groove in my hard drive, and so that's an acceptable substitute for reading from the console.

I appreciate the suggestion.