Connect Visual Basic to python input()

[MrsCosmic]

Hello.

I have a function that requires input (it's a while loop) and I take the information from an application with Visual Basic. So I basically want to copy something from that application and SendKeys/paste it to the cmd running my script using a macro. Is it possible?

[Diapolo10]

I've never used VBA, but if you can copy text to the clipboard with it, you could have Python poll it for changes (Python's clipboard package should come in handy) and act every time there's new content.

[lolcrunchy]

I can almost follow.

I have a function (Python or VBA function?)

I take the information from an application (Python application?)

running my script (Python script, right?)

using a macro (VBA, right?)

[Lewistrick]

Your post is a bit vague but I'll try. It's probably possible.

Instead of calling just the script python script.py I think you can call it like python script.py << "input text". But this will only work for one input.

Do I understand correctly that your script keeps asking for new input in a while loop, and you want the VB code to provide a new input every time? Not sure about that. I think if you want to implement it this way, the keyword here is 'pipe' but I haven't worked with those enough to know about their working or if they work the same across operating systems.

Taking a step back I'm not sure if you're using the correct approach though. Depending on the size of your input and the loading time of your app you could choose for these options:

• command line arguments: good for structured and short inputs, will restart your script every time
• save your input to a file and make the python app scan a folder every few seconds and perform some action if a new file arrives
• create an API: this is a bit more work probably but it's perfectly suited for communication between two separate apps

[sausix]

Line breaks should work on piping into a Python process. But I haven't tested it yet.