'Convert PowerPoint'

‘ Convert PPT ’ can be run without a user interface with command line arguments much like in the good old DOS days.  Alternatively you can initiate command line execution by going to the operating systems 'command prompt' or within Windows at the START-RUN menu and typing it in there.  Lastly, the command line interface can be used from Batch files (files with *.BAT extension). 

 There are two approaches to using the command line:

     A)  Specify a 'Conversion Job' that was built using the graphical user interface (GUI)

     B)   Specify a 'Conversion Task' in detail

 

 Specifying a 'Conversion Job' is very easy, as you only need to tell ‘ Convert PPT’ where to find the associated *.SII 'Conversion Job' file.  All the details associated with this task are executed in one fell swoop.  Specifying a 'Conversion Task' is much more tedious, but does not require the prior creation of a 'Conversion Job' file.  Each approach is discussed in more detail below.

IMPORTANT: To use the command line successfully the operating system will need to know where exactly the application is located. Otherwise, you'll see the following error:

"ConvertPPT.EXE" is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."

We suggest you do one of the following:

A)    Set the path in your operating system’s environment variables to the installation location of ConvertPPT.EXE. See your operating system’s help for setting the path.

B)    Create a batch file (a text file whose file name ends in .bat) that uses the fully qualified path of ConvertPPT.EXE.

For example the following is a typical batch file:

"C:\Program Files\Softinterface, Inc\Convert PowerPoint\ConvertPPT.EXE" /J "C:\MyJobs\SlideConversions.SII"

Specifying a 'Conversion Job'

The syntax for specifying a 'Conversion Job'  is:

     ConvertPPT /J{ConversionJobFile}  [/V] [/L{LogFile}] [/B{LogToJobFile}]

Items above enclosed in square brackets “[ ]” are optional, all other ‘switches’ are required.  Therefore /J should always be specified on the command line.

Example:
To run the 'Conversion Job' specified by the "C:\MyJobs\ApplesOranges.SII" type the following in at the 'Command Prompt':

    ConvertPPT /J"C:\MyJobs\ApplesOranges.SII"

You can include or exclude spaces between switches and parameters.  For example,  "/C6" is the same as "/C  6".  For long file names you may be required to use double quotes.  For example /J"C:\Program Files\MyApp\MyDoc.DOC".

Specifying a 'Conversion Task'

The syntax for the command line for specifying a conversion task is:

     ConvertPPT /S{Original File(s)} /T{Target File(s)} /C# [/Y#] [/Z#] [/E] [/G]  [/V] [/R] [/F#] [/L{LogFile}] [/B{LogToJobFile}]  

Items above enclosed in square brackets "[ ]" are optional, all other 'switches' are required. Therefore /S, /T, /C# should always be specified on the command line. There is one exception, however, and that is when /G (Save to original folder) is specified, the /T switch is not necessary.

You can include or exclude spaces between switches and parameters. For example, "/C6" is the same as "/C 6". For long file names you may be required to use double quotes. For example /S"C:\Program Files\MyApp\MyPresentation.PPT".

/S{Original File(s)} is used to specify which files to convert. You can specify a single file, or in some cases a whole set of files using the wildcard syntax (i.e. "C:\MyFiles\*.PPT"). /T{Target files} should always be different from /S{Original File(s)}.

Note: Any file type that MS PowerPoint can open is a valid original file /S{Original File} type.

/T{Target File(s)} is used to specify where to save the converted file(s) to. You can specify a single file, or in some cases a whole set of files using the wildcard syntax (i.e. "C:\MyFiles\*.DOC"). /T{Target files} should always be different from /S{Original File(s)}.

[/C#] tells 'Convert PowerPoint' what the file type to convert the /T{Target File(s)} files to. For all constants see 'Special Process' File Type Constants.

[/Y#] Start converting FROM this slide number.  If /Y and /Z are not specified then CPPT defaults to conversion of all slides.

[/Z#] Convert up TO and including this slide number.  If /Y and /Z are not specified then CPPT defaults to conversion of all slides.

[/E] Use this switch to create a new file for Every slide converted.  If not specified a single file will be created containing all.

[/G] Save files to their original folders. Use this instead of /T to place the converted files in the same folder as the original file. Cannot be used when converting a single, specified file from within a folder. Use the /T switch instead.

[/V] Verbose mode. Specify this switch to display a message box indicating how the conversion went. See also /L

[/R] Seek out and do all files found in the sub-folders specified in the /S switch. Recursive subdirectories. You may add this switch if you are processing whole directories of files. See /S, /T and /G for more details on selecting whole directories to be converted.

[/F#] File type of the Original file(s).  Used for special processing only (concatenation).  The original file(s) path are specified with the /S switch. This switch specifies the file type of these file(s).

[/L{LogFile}] Log file path and name (i.e. d:\mylogs\WCE.LOG) If this switch is specified a log file with the given path and name will be created and the results of the conversion will be written to it. See also /V

[/B{LogToJobFile}] Save the Log file as a 'Conversion Job' ONLY IF ERRORS OCCURRED. This is useful if the files that had problems can be done at a later time, or with a different method. /B is different from /L, since the file generated with /B will not include extraneous comments not allowed in a 'Conversion Job' file. Save as a .SII file type so it can be loaded as a job.

 

See Also:

Specifying a 'Conversion Job' File

 

'Convert PowerPoint', a comprehensive PPT Converter!

Your wonderful utility took a mere ten minutes to append all 22,000 files into one gigantic 2 gigabyte file. For comparison purposes, the program that wrote the files took approximately 30 hours to write out said 22,000 files. System: 1GHz Pentium/512 Meg RAM Laptop 'Convert XLS'  Linda Romano "Thanks. The product is terrific. It did exactly what I needed it to do. I had 1321 text files I needed to convert to Word. It did it in about 6 minutes." Don Geiger Cullen and Dykman June 2003.

Adobe Systems Inc. Chooses 'Convert Doc'.  A custom site license has been signed by Adobe allowing them to install 'Convert Doc' on their servers.  They will be using it specifically to do Doc to HTML conversions. "We look forward to using your product and potentially working together in the future", Bob Free, Adobe 6/25/2004

ATLANTA, GA --- MDdatacor, inc., a leading provider of clinical information management products for physician practices and the healthcare industry, recently choose Convert Doc, a document conversion utility, from SoftInterface, Inc. as its product of choice to convert "Office" style documents to standard text files. "We are very pleased with our decision to go with Convert Doc," commented Tim Lewis, MDdatacor Vice President of Information Systems. "It is a resource efficient program that currently converts over 75,000 documents a day for us. We like the fact that the program has a command line interface that allows us to integrate it into our automation routine. We evaluated other software packages costing 10 to 20 times more, but selected Convert Doc due to its speed and SoftInterface's service. We have been very pleased with how quickly SoftInterface's development team responds to our feedback and requests."   eCast Corporation, the makers of eCast EMRtm, uses ConvertDoc from SoftInterface for all of its Word to Text and Word to Adobe conversion needs. Running on the company's servers, ConvertDoc handles thousands of transcription documents each day, making it easy to convert them to Adobe (.pdf) and Text (.txt) for inclusion in the company's core product - eCast EMR. With the eCast EMR system and ConvertDoc, eCast users around the world can easily convert their transcribed documents to integrated chart notes in seconds. "We had our products using ConvertDoc in a matter of a few hours of coding" noted senior programmer Mike Crank. "Since we use Cold Fusion and SQL 2000, it made it easy to write code that called the ConvertDoc utilities that converted our clients' documents." "eCast Corporation designs, sells and supports a very popular web-based EMR system known as eCast EMR (www.ecastcorp.com). Its product line is sold through a reseller channel worldwide." Your products are very impressive, easy to use and script compatible, for what we desired in the management of MS Word and Excel files. Thank you for your continue contact with me in regards to these tools.  Mark Purinton EMC Corporation  'Diff Doc'  + 'Convert Doc'

"Great customer service, prompt attention to our requirements, and lightening speed development has been my experience with the staff at Softinterface Inc. Within a few hours of installing the WordConverterEXE product, I was convinced that I made the right choice in doing business with this company. For several months now, their product has been working in mission critical environment flawlessly. With a few enhancement requests that were completed and delivered the same day they were asked for, WordconverterEXE has saved us time and money.   It was a pleasure dealing with your team. Thanks Again!" Bruce King IBM Canada, Toronto, Ontario

 

Microsoft® PowerPoint® is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.