applescript - text caret position

There's code here that I use to get insertion position in Xcode.

-- check if there is no selection

--delete (paragraphs startLine through endLine)

--make new paragraph at beginning of paragraph (startLine - 1) with data theText

--set selected paragraph range to {startLine - 1, endLine - 1}

using terms from application "Xcode"

tell application "Xcode"

set lastDoc to last source document

set docText to the text of lastDoc

--set sel to selection of lastDoc

if (my isSelectedCharacterRangeEmpty(lastDoc)) then

--copy the current line to the clipboard

--set the clipboard to my copyCurrentLine(lastDoc)

set selectedCharacterRange to selected character range of lastDoc

set {startPos, endPos} to selectedCharacterRange

set selectionText to the (textstartPos thru startPos) in docText

my sendCopyCmd("Xcode")

else

--set selectedCharacterRange to selected character range of lastDoc

--set startPos to first item in selectedCharacterRange

--set endPos to last item in selectedCharacterRange

--or

--set {startPos, endPos} to selected character range of lastDoc

--set selectionText to the (text startPos thru endPos) in docText

my sendCopyCmd("Xcode")

end if

end tell

on isSelectedCharacterRangeEmpty(theContainer)

tell application "Xcode"

set selectedCharacterRange to selected character range of theContainer

set {startPos, endPos} to selectedCharacterRange

if {endPos < startPos} or ¬

(selectedCharacterRange is equal to {}) or ¬

(length of selectedCharacterRange is equal to 0) then

return true

else

return false

end if

end tell

end isSelectedCharacterRangeEmpty

on copyCurrentLine(theDoc)

tell application "Xcode"

set docText to the text of theDoc

--for text documents paragraph means line

set {startLine, endLine} to the selected paragraph range in theDoc

--only one line can be copied

if startLine > 0 and startLine = endLine then

set theText to the (paragraphs startLine through endLine) in docText as text

else

beep 1

end if

return theText

end tell

end copyCurrentLine

end using terms from

on sendCopyCmd(appName)

activateapplication "Xcode"

tell application "System Events" to tell process appName

keystroke "c" using {command down}

end tell

end sendCopyCmd

on sendCutCmd(appName)

activateapplicationappName

tell application "System Events" to keystroke "c" using command down

-- tell application "System Events" to tell process appName

-- keystroke "x" using {command down}

-- end tell

end sendCutCmd

There is no unified way to do this - some applications don't even have a text caret since they're not text-based.

Therefore any solution would be application-specific (and -dependent). WIthout knowing which app(s) you're working with there's no way to answer your question directly (and even knowing the apps might not give you what you want if the app doesn't expose that data to AppleScript).

Why 'of course'? That wasn't apparent in your original post.

In either case, my answer still stands - there is no universal attribute for this. Any support for determining the insertion point will be application-specific. You'll have to look at each application's dictionary to determine what options (if any) it has for this.

For example, Pages.app has a rather extensive definition of 'insertion point':

insertion point

insertion point (noun), pl insertion pointslocation between two characters

properties

elements

where used

The insertion point class is used in the following ways:

element of attachment class

element of character class

element of paragraph class

element of text class

element of word class

whereas other applications (e.g. TextEdit) have no apparent support. It's all down to individual applications.

In addition, you haven't stated what it is you expect to determine - are you looking for a position on screen? relative to the document? relative to the window/view portal?

Maybe an even more pertinent question is what are you trying to do with this, anyway? It seems like an odd request that may hint at there being a different (better?) way of achieving the result you're after.