Xref: utzoo comp.sys.mac.apps:3778 comp.sys.mac.programmer:21279
Path: utzoo!dciem!client2!gee@dretor.dciem.dnd.ca
From: gee@dretor.dciem.dnd.ca (Thomas Gee)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps,comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Automatic Control over Mac Software
Keywords: expect QuicKeys
Message-ID: <3991@client2.DRETOR.UUCP>
Date: 1 Feb 91 18:41:12 GMT
Sender: gee@client2.DRETOR.UUCP
Organization: Defence and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine
Lines: 25

Coming from a Unix background, my biggest complaint with the Mac is that which
is considered its greatest boon.  My problem with wonderful graphical programs
like Cr*cket Graph, St*tView, etc., is that they assume that because I want
to have wonderful, interactive control over the plotting process occassionally,
that I want such control all the time.  So, if I have 1000 graphs to produce,
I do the same things, over and over and over and over and ....

On Unix machines there is a wonderful little program called "expect".  It
allows me to provide input to interactive programs, examine their responses
to said input, and apply more input based on how the program responds.  

So my question is: does there exist anything like this for the Mac?  Is there
some wonderful, magical software that allows me to fake any keyboard and
mouse input, and read any resulting dialog box, alert box, flashing icon in
the upper corner, etc.?

I've used QuicKeys.  A nice program, but it has no decision making
capabilities; essentially no *input* functions whatsoever.  I know that there
are programs that have great macro capabilites, eg. Igor.  But what I want is
something to take control over essentially any normal Mac application.

Can anyone help?  Or should I go back to my Unix box? (mac iifx w/ A/UX, nice!)

Thanks,
	Tom.