Image - Convert

Declaration

<AMIMAGE ACTIVITY="convert" MATCHCASE="YES/NO" SUBFOLDERS="YES/NO" KEEPFOLDERSTRUCT="YES/NO" ARCHIVETURNOFF="YES/NO" OVERWRITE="YES/NO" ISNEWER="YES/NO" ONLYIFEXIST="YES/NO" OVERWRITEREADONLY="YES/NO" OVERWRITEHIDDEN="YES/NO" EXCLUDE="text" RE="YES/NO" ISNEWERTHAN="%DateSerial+TimeSerial%" ISOLDERTHAN="%DateSerial+TimeSerial%" ATTRFILTER="+r+a-s+h-c+e" SOURCEIMAGE="text" TYPE="text (options)" DATASET="text" DESTINATIONIMAGE="text" />

Related Topics

Overview

Converts an image to the desired file format. Supported image formats are JPG, JPEG, PNG, BMP, TIF, TIFF, and GIF.

Practical usage

Mainly used to convert an image file presently set to a non-supported image format into one that is supported (for example, PDF to PNG). This enables other image-related activities to be performed on the newly converted image file. Can also be used to convert an image to another format to reduce its size.

Parameters

General

Property Type Required Default Markup Description
Source Text Yes (Empty) SOURCEIMAGE="c:\temp\source.jpg" The path and file name of the source image file to convert. Supported image formats are JPG, JPEG, PNG, BMP, TIF, TIFF, and GIF.  This can be a fully qualified path and file name (preferred) or a single file (requires use of the File System - Change folder activity). You can use wildcard characters (for example, * or ?) to specify all files matching a certain mask. You can specify multiple files and file masks by separating each entry with a pipe (|). For example, c:\temp\*.txt|c:\backup\*.bak. See File Masks & Wildcards for more information.  
Destination Text Yes (Empty) DESTINATIONIMAGE="c:\temp\dest.jpg" The path and file name of the destination image. This allows you to save your file under a new path, name, and/or type to avoid overwriting the source (original) file. To overwrite the source file, enter its original path and file name.
NOTE: If performing an overwrite, make sure to set the Overwrite if exists parameter to YES (enabled) in the File Options properties. This allows matching files found in the destination folder to be overwritten.
Convert to --- --- --- --- The image file type to convert to. This is a visual mode parameter used only during design time to select the file type that appears in the Destination parameter, therefore, it contains no properties or markup. The available options are:
  • Bmp (Default) - Converts to Bitmap.
  • Png - Converts to PNG.
  • Gif - Converts to Gif
  • Jpeg - Converts to Jpeg
  • Tiff - Converts to Tiff

Advanced

Property Type Required Default Markup Description
Create and populate dataset Text No (Empty) DATASET="datasetName" The name of a dataset to create and populate with information about this results of the activity. For more details, see Datasets.

File Options

Property Type Required Default Markup Description
Exclude mask Text No (Empty)
  • EXCLUDE="*.txt"
  • EXCLUDE="*.txt|*.bak
  • EXCLUDE="c:\foldename"
 Omits files matching the specified masks. You can use file names or wildcard masks. You can specify multiple entries by separating them with a pipe (|) (for example, *.txt|*.bak).
Regular expression Yes/No No No RE="YES" Specifies whether the Exclude mask parameter is a regular expression. If disabled (default), the Exclude mask parameter contains literal text.
Only if newer than Date No (Empty) ISNEWERTHAN="%DateSerial(2001,10,12) + TimeSerial(00,00,00)%" If enabled, causes this action to only act on files that are newer than the specified date/time. If this parameter is left blank or disabled (default), files with newer than dates are ignored. Click Custom to select from a list of pre-defined date parameters. select the Expression check box to allow entry of a date/time expression.
Only if older than Date No (Empty) ISOLDERTHAN="%DateSerial(2001,10,12) + TimeSerial(00,00,00)%" If enabled, causes this action to only act on files that are older than the specified date/time. If this parameter is left blank or disabled (default), files with older than dates are ignored. Click Custom to select from a list of pre-defined date parameters. Enable the Expression check box to allow entry of a date/time expression.
Overwrite if exists Yes/No No No OVERWRITE="YES" If selected, indicates that, if files with matching names already exists in the destination, they will be overwritten. If disabled (default), files with matching names will not be overwritten, however, an error will occur during runtime stating a file with the same name already exists.
Only if newer Yes/No No No ISNEWER="YES" If selected, indicates that, if files with matching names already exist in the destination, only source files that are newer overwrite existing files. If disabled (default), all matching files found in the destination folder are overwritten regardless of their date properties. This parameter is active only if the Overwrite if Exists parameter is selected.
Only if exists in destination Yes/No No No ONLYIFEXIST="YES" If selected, only files that already exist in the destination are copied from the source. All other files, regardless of whether they match the mask or other parameter settings are bypassed. This parameter is disabled by default and becomes active only if the Overwrite if Exist parameter is selected.
Overwrite read-only files Yes/No No No OVERWRITEREADONLY="YES" If selected, matching files found in the destination folder are overwritten even if they are marked with the read-only attribute. If disabled (default), read-only files are not overwritten. This parameter is active only if the Overwrite if Exist parameter is selected.
Overwrite hidden files Yes/No No No OVERWRITEHIDDEN="YES" If selected, matching files found in the destination folder are overwritten even if they are marked with the hidden attribute. If disabled (default), hidden files are not overwritten. This parameter is active only if the Overwrite if Exist parameter is selected.
Include subfolders Yes/No No No SUBFOLDERS="YES" If selected, subfolders are searched for files matching the mask specified in the Source parameter. If disabled (default), subfolders are ignored. Only files that exist in the root of the source folder are searched.
Preserve folder structure Yes/No No No KEEPFOLDERSTRUCT="NO" If selected, subfolders found in the source folder are created in the destination folder and source files are copied into their respective folders. If disabled (default), subfolders are not created in the destination. Instead, source files that exist in these subfolders are copied into the root of the destination folder. This parameter is active only if the Include subfolders parameter is selected.
Turn archive attribute off Yes/No No No ARCHIVETURNOFF="YES" If selected, specifies that the archive attribute of the source files is OFF. The Windows archive attribute is generally used to track whether a file is backed up. Disabling the source file archive attribute indicates to many backup programs that the file is backed up. This parameter is disabled by default.
Match case Yes/No No No MATCHCASE="YES" If selected (default), the activity is case sensitive. If disabled, the activity is case insensitive, whereas, it does not distinguish between uppercase and lowercase characters.

File Attributes

Property Type Required Default Markup Description
Attributes Text (Options) No (Empty)
  • ATTRFILTER="+R+A-H" (read-only & archive files will be affected but not hidden files)
  • ATTRFILTER="-S+H+E" (hidden and encrypted files will be affected but not system files)
 Instructs the activity to filter the files to act on based on whether the original attribute settings of the file match the attribute settings specified in this parameter. For example, if the Read-only attribute is set to Off (in visual mode) or "-R" (in AML mode), only source files where the Read-only attribute is disabled are affected. Source files where the Read-only attribute is enabled are ignored. In visual mode, a group of controls is provided to assist in the selection of attribute settings. In AML mode, a single text item must be entered that contains the original attribute mask of the files you want to affect. Available options are:
  • R—Read-only - Specifying On or "+R" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included. Specifying Off or "-R" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included. Specifying Doesn't matter or excluding the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.

  • A—Archive - Specifying On or "+A" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included. Specifying Off or "-A" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included. Specifying Doesn't matter or excluding the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.

  • S—System - Specifying On or "+S" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included. Specifying Off or "-S" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included. Specifying Doesn't matter or excluding the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.

  • H—Hidden - Specifying On or "+H" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included. Specifying Off or "-H" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included. Specifying Doesn't matter or excluding the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.

  • C—Compression - Specifying On or "+C" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included. Specifying Off or "-C" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included. Specifying Doesn't matter or excluding the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.

  • E-Encrypted - Specifying On or "+E" causes files with this attribute turned on to be included. Specifying Off or "-E" causes files with this attribute turned off to be included. Specifying Doesn't matter or excluding the letter (default) causes this attribute to be ignored.

Description

Error Causes

On Error

Additional notes

Datasets

A dataset is a multi-column, multi-row object that contains a collection of data collected during execution of an activity and stored in memory. This activity creates and populates a dataset with the following rows:

Name Type Return Value      
theDataset.Destination Text The path and file name of the output file.      
theDataset.Message Number If theDataset.Result returns 1, this field returns a description of the error. If theDataset.Result returns 0, this field is left blank.      
theDataset.Result Number The runtime result of this activity. If 0 is returned, this activity ran successfully. If 1 is returned, this activity failed with an error.      
theDataset.Source Text The path and file name of the source (original) file.      

Example

NOTE:
  • Copy and paste the sample AML code below directly into the Task Builder Steps Panel.
  • To successfully run the sample code, update parameters containing user credentials, files, file paths, or other information specific to the task to match your environment.

Description

The following sample task converts an image from the BMP format to JPEG:

Copy 
<AMIMAGE ACTIVITY="convert" SOURCEIMAGE="c:\temp\image1.bmp" TYPE="jpeg" DATASET="conversionData" DESTINATIONIMAGE="c:\temp\image2.jpeg" SUBFOLDERS="yes" KEEPFOLDERSTRUCT="yes" OVERWRITE="yes" />