On 2007.09.25 15:16 "Visser, Martin" wrote:
Robert, by explanation and driven by the context of
the original poster, they are a different use-cases.
"*dialogs" are very useful when the "user" entering
the commands is sitting on the outside of the glass.
It makes it easy to write a simple unambiguous user
interface
"expect" and their ilk are useful when the "user" is
in fact a program, and hence is trying to drive the
the input interface of aanother program, emulating a
flesh-ware user.
You are, of course, correct. However, in my limited experience, I have
found that most well-written programs that require initial user input
will also accept that input, either as an argument or from stdin, when
the programs are called thus eliminating the necessity for interactive
dialogue. Other programs, perhaps not so well-written, use a simple
prompt:response couplet that is easily forestalled (eg, by expect,
read:echo, etc.). Anything more complex than that is perhaps best done
by simply running the end program.
Robert
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