Using Expect in a ActivePerl envirnoment

TASdvlper has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Hi All,

I've read a FAQ that Active Perl (Windows) does not support Expect. Is this true, and if so, is there a good alternate method ??

Basically, I have a program in Windows that's interactive and has about 10 different menus. So, I would like to automate this. So for example, say that program is mytest (executable) I would like to entering the following choices (1, 2, yes, no, 5, 6, yes, yes, no, 7, 10). Each choice followed by a carriage return, of course.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all.

***UPDATE***

So, I'm guessing I can not use Expect so I guess what I need to do it make STDIN a variable in the script (if you know what I mean) ?

Comment on Using Expect in a ActivePerl envirnoment

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Re: Using Expect in a ActivePerl envirnoment by BrowserUk (Patriarch) on Jun 08, 2004 at 15:17 UTC
You can do this using Win32::Console. Be warned, it is non-trivial. The documentation in the module is sparse and the included links to the MSDN documentation are out of date ( go here for an overview and links to the API docs ). Examine what is said, not who speaks. "Efficiency is intelligent laziness." -David Dunham "Think for yourself!" - Abigail	[reply]
Re: Using Expect in a ActivePerl envirnoment by Fletch (Bishop) on Jun 08, 2004 at 15:00 UTC
Expect runs things on a pseudo-terminal (pty) via IO::Pty. A pty is a Unix-ism for a fake serial termnial (tty) device that behaves (more or less) the way a serial console would. Windows console mode . . . stuff (for lack of a better term) doesn't work this way and hence there's no pty-y mechanism for Expect to use. You might see if the IPC::Run module's expect-like stuff works on Wintendo.	[reply]
Re: Using Expect in a ActivePerl envirnoment by jfroebe (Parson) on Jun 08, 2004 at 15:34 UTC
Hi, Active State has Expect for Windows 1.0. This is probably what you are looking for. Jason L. Froebe No one has seen what you have seen, and until that happens, we're all going to think that you're nuts. - Jack O'Neil, Stargate SG-1	[reply]
Re: Using Expect in a ActivePerl envirnoment by Mr. Muskrat (Canon) on Jun 09, 2004 at 00:17 UTC
Another fine module for this sort of thing is Win32::GuiTest. You start your script, have it find the window handle of the executable that you wish to interact with, and then feed it keystrokes and/or mouse movements and clicks.	[reply]