Lispect

• A text-terminal automation tool similar to expect(1) of UNIX and Linux
• It runs on Windows 10 and later, and Linux
• The script is written in the subset of ISLisp (gmnlisp)

(if (equal (getenv "OS") "Windows_NT")
  (spawn "cmd.exe" "/k" "set PROMPT=$$$S")
  (spawn "bash"))

(defglobal ctrlc (create-string 1 (convert 3 <character>)))
(block main
  (while t
    (expect*
      ("xxx"
       (send ctrlc)
       (expect "$ ")
       (sendln "exit")
       (return-from main nil)
       )
      (("yyy" "zzz")
       (send ctrlc)
       (expect "$ ")
       (sendln 'interval 200 "echo test")
       )
      (10 ; timeout second
       (send ctrlc)
       (expect "$ ")
       (sendln "exit")
       (return-from main nil)
       )
      )
    )
  )

Functions

Parameters enclosed in curly braces {...} are optional and can be omitted.

• (send {'interval MS} "STRING")
  • Send STRING to the terminal
  • Specify the 'interval MS option to make the program wait MS milliseconds before outputting each character
• (sendln {'interval MS} "STRING")
  • send STRING and Enter-key to the terminal
• (expect {'timeout SEC} "STRING-0" "STRING-1" ...)
  • Wait until STRINGs are found on the terminal
  • When STRING-n is found on the terminal, it will return n
  • If a timeout occurs after SEC seconds have elapsed, it returns -1
• (expect* ("STRING-0" COMMANDS-0...) ("STRING-1"...)... (SEC COMMANDS-FOR-TIMEOUT...))
  • When STRING-n is found on the terminal, COMMANDS-n will be executed
  • After SEC seconds have elapsed, COMMANDS-FOR-TIMEOUT will be executed
• (spawn "COMMANDNAME" "ARG-1" ...)
  • Start the executable file

Other functions are defined on ISLisp

Technologies used

• Creating a Pseudoconsole session - Windows Console | Microsoft Learn
• aymanbagabas/go-pty: Cross platform Go Pty interface
• hymkor/gmnlisp: gmnlisp - the subset of ISLisp

Comparison with Expect-lua

	Expect-lua	Lispect
Started	2017	2024
Script	Lua (GophaLua)	ISLisp (gmnlisp)
Windows 7/8	Supported	Not Supported
Windows 10/11	Supported	Supported
Linux	Not Supported	Supported
Mechanisms	ReadConsoleOutputW	PseudoConsole
Read Misses	Possible1	Unlikely
Stdout Redirection	Unavailable	Available
Status	Stable	Work in Progress

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1. When the output is too excessive, there might be some dropped data ↩︎