If you have trouble running these examples please see Using the Command Line and Helpful Hints For Creating a Command Line
The examples below show conversions from RTF to TXT (8 bit ASCII) using the ‘Convert Doc’ conversion method which does not require MS Word and is very fast. Alternatively, you can use the ‘MS Word’ conversion method. To use the ‘MS Word’ conversion method in the examples below:
1. Replace the /M2 switch with /M1 (this switch specifies which conversion method to use)
2. Remove the /F5 switch (Word will detect the input file type)
3. Replace /C1, which specifies the output file type, with one of the following:
a. /C2 (text)
b. /C3 (text with line breaks)
c. /C4 (DOS text)
d. /C5 (DOS text with line breaks)
e. /C7 (Unicode text).
To convert a single file, say D:\MyFolder\Doc1.RTF to C:\Results Folder\Doc1.TXT use the following syntax:
ConvertDoc /S "D:\MyFolder\Doc1.RTF" /T "C:\Results Folder\Doc1.TXT" /F5 /C1 /M2 /V
The /S and /T switches above specify Source (input) and Target (output) path respectively and are both required when converting a single file. It is always a good idea to use double quotes around the path especially if there are space characters within the path.
The /M2 switch tells ‘Convert Doc’ to use the ‘Convert Doc’ method (it is one of 3 different possible conversion methods).
/F5 is the input file type, which in this case is a RTF file. Looking up the file types within the File Type Constants Specification for the ‘Convert Doc’ method will show that the numeric value of 5 corresponds to a RTF file.
/C1 is the output file type, which in this case is a TXT file. Looking up the file types within the File Type Constants Specification for the ‘Convert Doc’ method will show that the numeric value of 1 corresponds to a TXT file.
NOTE: To convert to Unicode text use /C6 instead of /C1. This applies to all the examples in this section.
Finally, the /V (for Verbose) switch is used to give instant feedback by having the program report the status of the conversion with a message box. You can remove this once you have perfected your command line specification. You can also (or instead of /V) create a Log file that will contain the results of the conversion by using the /L switch.
Note: It is highly encouraged that you use the Verbose (/V) switch initially to see what the status of your conversion is and to help you perfect your command line. When in verbose mode the program will tell you what went wrong or right with your command line using message boxes.
To convert all the RTF files in the D:\ToDo\ folder to TXT files in the same directory, the following syntax would be used.
ConvertDoc /S"D:\ToDo\*.RTF" /T "D:\ToDo\*.TXT" /F5 /C1 /M2 /V
The /G switch can be used to tell ‘Convert Doc’ to simply place each output file in the same folder as each input file. Therefore the command line above is equivalent to the command line below:
ConvertDoc /S "D:\ToDo\*.RTF" /G /F5 /C1 /M2 /V
To extend the previous example (immediately above) to convert all subfolders within D:\ToDo\ simply add the /R switch.
ConvertDoc /S "D:\ToDo\*.RTF" /G /F5 /C1 /M2 /V /R
You may simply want to convert a whole folder and its subfolders and place the output into a separate folder/drive. In which case use this syntax:
ConvertDoc /S"D:\ToDo\*.RTF" /T "C:\Done\*.TXT" /F5 /C1 /M2 /V /R