How can I copy text to the clipboard from a Mono/C# console application on OS X?

Question

I'm writing a console app in C#, using Mono on OS X.

On Windows, here is how I copy text to the clipboard:

Clipboard.SetText("text");

...from a method marked up with the STAThread attribute:

[STAThread] // for OLE
public static void Main (string[] args)
{
    Clipboard.SetText("text");
}

Clipboard is defined in System.Windows.Forms. That code compiles and runs both under the official Microsoft .NET runtime on Windows and on the the Mono runtime on OS X.

On Windows, the text gets copied, so it's not an issue of forgetting a reference or a using statement.

Unfortunately, when I run the code under Mono/OS X, the text isn't actually copied to the Clipboard. Something appears quickly on my Dock and then disappears just as quickly, but either way, the text I'm trying to copy doesn't end up on the clipboard.

So: how do I copy text do the clipboard on OS X (and Linux?) using Mono?

If you're interested in seeing the entire project, the code is here: https://github.com/leeohsheeus/boom-sharp.

score 8 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

8

If you want to program for multiple platforms using Mono, Gtk.Clipboard might be interesting for you.

Minimum Usage-Example:

Gtk.Clipboard clipboard = Gtk.Clipboard.Get(Gdk.Atom.Intern("CLIPBOARD", false));

clipboard.Text = "Hello World";

Also this Stackoverflow-Question might be interesting.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:54

Community

1
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answered May 02 '13 at 20:24

Random Citizen

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http://stackoverflow.com/questions/17178864/clipboard-gettext-always-returns-empty-string-in-mono-on-mac. Maybe use some linux api function instead? – Luba Jan 02 '15 at 10:44

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 10 '11 at 14:56

0

Console apps themselves cannot copy text to a clipboard. The user will have to use Copy&Paste from the terminal application.

answered Sep 10 '11 at 14:56

jstedfast

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Do you mean at all? Or just on Mono? Because copying to the clipboard works on Windows from a console app. – Joshua Tompkins Sep 10 '11 at 16:02
I mean "at all". If it works on Windows in .NET, then it's a Windows-only feature. – jstedfast Sep 12 '11 at 00:44

How can I copy text to the clipboard from a Mono/C# console application on OS X?

2 Answers2