Copy-Paste In Python - python-3.x

Question

I am new to python. So I wanted to improve my skills. Before posting this question I tried to find some code or an idea that would guide me with what I intend to do. I did see some examples and posts on SO and other sites. But they all(the ones I came across) showed how to do it for single object. Below is what I want to do.
I want to write a utility in python that would allow me to choose from content I want to paste based on what my last 10,say, copy commands were for.
suppose I clicked copy when selecting a folder and then later I selected some text and pressed ctrl+c. Now I want to get option that would let me paste both the folder as well as the text.
Is that possible?
Thanks.

Answer 1

You could save the last 10 text items from a clipboard using tkinter:
#!/usr/bin/env python3
from tkinter import Tk
from collections import deque
def call_repeatedly(root, delay, func, *args):
func(*args)
root.after(delay, call_repeatedly, root, delay, func, *args)
def poll_clipboard(root, items):
text = root.clipboard_get()
if not items or items[-1] != text:
items.append(text)
def main():
root = Tk()
root.withdraw() # hide GUI
clipboard_items = deque(maxlen=10) # save last 10 clipboard items
call_repeatedly(root, 50, poll_clipboard, root, clipboard_items) # ms
call_repeatedly(root, 1000, print, clipboard_items) # print every second
root.after(10000, root.destroy) # exit in 10 seconds
root.mainloop()
main()
It polls clipboard every 50 ms. Polling is bad in general if there is an alternative interface that could allow you to subscribe to the clipboard events to be notified when new item is copied into the clipboard.
will it work for any kind of content, text, images etc. ?
This code works with text only. In general, you could get/set other types e.g., images (gtk, qt might provide a cross-platform way to do it).
Will it allow me to copy-paste text across all the applications ?
You are working with a clipboard so yes, it should work across all applications that can
work with a clipboard.
Can we make it work as normal ctrl+c (copy command)
Copy command can be implemented using a set command e.g., from pyperclip.py:
def gtkSetClipboard(text):
cb = gtk.Clipboard()
cb.set_text(text)
cb.store()
gtkSetClipboard(text) copies text to the clipboard.