Using the Command Line

'Convert XLS' 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. Furthermore, 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 is built using the 'Convert XLS' graphical user interface and saved as a conversion job file (*.SII).

B) Specify a conversion task in detail. A task is either a Conversion Task or a 'Special Processing Task'.

Specifying a 'Conversion Job' file is very easy, you only need to create the file with the 'Convert XLS' user interface and then specify where to find the associated *.SII 'Conversion Job' file by using the /J switch. You can have hundreds or thousands of tasks specified in the 'Conversion Job' file, all of which will get executed in one fell swoop. For example:

"ConvertXLS.EXE /J"D:\My Conversion Job Files\AccountingBatch.SII"

Specifying a 'Conversion Task' is much more tedious; however it does not require the prior creation of a 'Conversion Job' file.

Each approach is discussed in more detail below.

If you must get started quickly use the following two sections to find an example and modify according to your needs:

Examples For Conversion of Files

Examples For Applying Special Processes

Important: To use the command line successfully you must do one of the following:

A) Set the path in your environment variables to the location of ConvertXLS.EXE

B) Copy ConvertXLS.EXE to the same folder as the batch file.

Otherwise, you'll see the following error:

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

Also, it is suggested you us fully qualified paths for any files you specify. You can however specify the current folder by using ".\" syntax.