How to use pyperclip

Pyperclip is a python module that enables managing our system clipboard. It is a cross-platform module.

To The Point

Installation of pyperclip

System Dependency

On Windows you don't need to install any additional software.

On Linux you need to install either xclip or xsel, but the recommended is xclip:

sudo apt-get install xclip

Installation

Python module can be installed with simple pip command :

pip install pyperclip

Or via pipenv :

pipenv install pyperclip

Using pyperclip

That's pretty easy, commands are :

  • pyperclip.copy - for making a copy of data to clipboard (as a parameter)

  • pyperclip.paste - for pasting from clipboard data in python.

Examples of usage

I'm going to use pyperclip as a system for copying summaries from blog-posts.

Check out this script that I'm going to use to make my day-to-day easier and more automated:

import pyperclip
import argparse
YOUR_DOMAIN = "http://witkowskibartosz.com/blog/"

def get_summary(post_file_markdown):
    SLUG_TAG = "Slug: "
    SUMMARY_TAG = "Summary: "
    summary = ""
    slug = ""
    with open(post_file_markdown, 'r') as filemarkdown:
        for line in filemarkdown.read().split("\n"):
            if SLUG_TAG in line:
                slug = line.split(SLUG_TAG)[1]
            if SUMMARY_TAG in line:
                summary = line.split(SUMMARY_TAG)[1]

    return (slug, summary)

def make_social_text_and_copy(slug, summary):
    text = summary + " : "+ YOUR_DOMAIN + slug + ".html"
    pyperclip.copy(text)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Arguments of this script')
    parser.add_argument('markdownfile', metavar='N', type=str, nargs='+')
    args = parser.parse_args()
    data = get_summary(args.markdownfile[0])
    make_social_text_and_copy(*data)

This basically reads md file, looks for SLUG and SUMMARY and makes a social text that is being copied to clipboard.

To use this script, you need to add path to md file as argument to python script like that:

pipenv run python get_post_summary.py ~/your_path_to_md_file.md

Snippets

Simulates CTRL+C (copy):

pyperclip.copy('some text that goes to clipboard')

Simulates CTRL+V (paste):

pyperclip.paste()

Acknowledgements

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Related links

Thanks!

That's it :) Comment, share or don't - up to you.

Any suggestions what I should blog about? Post me a comment in the box below or poke me at Twitter: @anselmos88.

See you in the next episode! Cheers!

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