How to paste custom (variable) text using webView?

Discussion & Questions
1

How do you paste custom text from a variable in js?

Using the copy to json function for paste text, the string is turned into a string of characters (some kind of encoding?), "Why" becomes: "BAtzdHJlYW10eXBlZIHoA4QBQISEhA1OU1RleHRTdG9yYWdlAISEGU5TTXV0YW..."

Replacing this string with a normal text string results in nothing being pasted using

callBTT('trigger_action', json: {..., 
  "BTTAdditionalActionData": {
    "BTTActionTextToPaste": "Why"
  }
})

Is there a better way to paste text to another application than using this method? If not, how do you encode text to this format?

1 Like
2

Ah this is indeed a bit complicated because the BTTActionTextToPaste transforms its content to richtext and then base64 encodes it (so it can also paste bold/with colors etc.)

There is an undocumented way how you can paste plain text though:

(async ()=> {

BTTActions.pasteString('test');
returnToBTT('');

})()

image
image1178×851 165 KB

You can also use the BTTActions.pasteString('test'); directly in a BTT webview

2 Likes
3

Thanks Andreas! Amazing response time as always

5

Hi Andreas,

I tried using BTTActions.pasteString('test'); in a web view like this:

async function PasteTest() {
  BTTActions.pasteString('test');
}

However, I get this error message in the console:

Unhandled Promise Rejection : ReferenceError: Can't find variable: BTTActions

What am I missing?

Thanks!

6

Try calling the function in this:

/* This is called after the webview content has loaded*/
function BTTInitialize() {
    PasteTest()
}
7

Thanks for the quick reply. Here's what I tried:

<html>
<head>
  <style>



  .wrapper {
    display: grid;
    grid-template-columns: 100px 100px 100px;
    grid-gap: 10px;
    color: #444;
  }

  .box {
    background-color: #444;
    color: #fff;
    border-radius: 5px;
    padding:15px;
    font-size: 12px;
    text-decoration: none;
  }

  .box:hover {
      cursor:hand;
      background: red;
  }

  #status {
    padding:5px;
    color: red;
    font-weight: bold;
  }
  </style>
<script>

/* This is called after the webview content has loaded*/
function BTTInitialize() {
    BTTActions.pasteString('test');
}

async function PasteTest() {
  BTTActions.pasteString('test');
}

function closeTheWebView() {
  // every callBTT() function does close the webview as long as it contains the closeFloatingWebView:1 parameter
  callBTT('trigger_named', {trigger_name: '', closeFloatingWebView:1});
}

</script>
</head>
<body>
<!-- adding BTTDraggable to an element will allow you to drag the window when dragging it -->
<div class="wrapper BTTDraggable">
  <div class="box b" onclick="PasteTest()">GL</div>
  <div class="box b" onclick="closeTheWebView()">Fermer</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>

I got the same error (see attached image)

btt error
btt error1996×114 29.8 KB

Do I have to include any script file in my html file?

Best regards

9

I’m unable to look into it before tomorrow, but will try there if it’s still causing problems.

Any chance this is from a browser, not the webview?

10

Also make sure you are using a recent BTT version. The BTTActions object has not always been there.
And as @mattorp said, this will only work inside BTT floating html/webviews

11

Hi,

I'm using version 3.402 (1633) on Catalina 10.15.6.

Here a copy of the trigger used to show my webview :

[
  {
    "BTTTouchBarButtonName" : "copy",
    "BTTTriggerType" : 629,
    "BTTTriggerTypeDescription" : "Touch Bar button",
    "BTTTriggerClass" : "BTTTriggerTypeTouchBar",
    "BTTPredefinedActionType" : 249,
    "BTTPredefinedActionName" : "Show Floating WebView\/HTML Menu",
    "BTTActionURLToLoad" : "\/Users\/etiennerivard\/Dropbox\/Apps\/BetterTouchTool\/html\/gl.html",
    "BTTActionFloatingHTMLName" : "GL",
    "BTTActionFloatingHTMLConfig" : "{\"BTTSize\":\"{200, 200}\",\"BTTShowAboveDesktop\":0,\"BTTCloseOnBrowserOpen\":false,\"BTTUseWhiteBackground\":true,\"BTTCenterOnOpen\":false,\"BTTFrameOrigin\":\"{0, 0}\",\"BTTUseFixedPosition\":false,\"BTTWebviewDragEverywhere\":false,\"BTTCloseOnOutsideClick\":false,\"BTTWebviewResizable\":false,\"BTTWebviewDragEverywhereCMD\":false,\"BTTShowButtons\":false,\"BTTRelativeTo\":0,\"BTTWebViewShowDockIcon\":0,\"BTTWebviewUpdateFrame\":false,\"BTTDoNotCache\":true,\"BTTWebViewManualWindowLevel\":0,\"BTTDrawTitleBezel\":false}",
    "BTTEnabled2" : 1,
    "BTTRepeatDelay" : 0,
    "BTTUUID" : "81FD309C-5AC6-4B7C-90B3-6DC20B45CBFB",
    "BTTNotesInsteadOfDescription" : 0,
    "BTTEnabled" : 1,
    "BTTModifierMode" : 0,
    "BTTOrder" : 10,
    "BTTDisplayOrder" : 0,
    "BTTMergeIntoTouchBarGroups" : 0,
    "BTTTriggerConfig" : {
      "BTTTouchBarButtonColor" : "75.323769, 75.323769, 75.323769, 255.000000",
      "BTTTouchBarItemIconWidth" : 22,
      "BTTTouchBarButtonTextAlignment" : 0,
      "BTTTouchBarButtonFontSize" : 15,
      "BTTTouchBarAlternateBackgroundColor" : "75.323769, 75.323769, 75.323769, 255.000000",
      "BTTTouchBarItemPlacement" : 0,
      "BTTTouchBarAlwaysShowButton" : false,
      "BTTTBWidgetWidth" : 400,
      "BTTTouchBarIconTextOffset" : 5,
      "BTTTouchBarButtonWidth" : 100,
      "BTTTouchBarOnlyShowIcon" : false,
      "BTTTouchBarFreeSpaceAfterButton" : 5,
      "BTTTouchBarButtonName" : "copy",
      "BTTTouchBarItemIconHeight" : 22,
      "BTTTouchBarItemPadding" : 0
    }
  }
]

Is there a debug mode in BTT to help me find the missing piece to this puzzle?

Thanks!

12

I don't know if it could help but I can see some errors in console for the process:

error	21:46:25.107666-0400	com.apple.WebKit.WebContent	0 is not a valid connection ID.

It comes from the PID associated to the BetterTouchTool Web Content process.

Thanks!

13

Hey, I'm having the same issue. I would like to save the currently highlighted/selected text as a variable and access it using the javascript inside of my webview popup. Have you found a solution?