Last month, Black Ice introduced a new “Batch
Converter" add-on to the printer driver, which
enabled developers to monitor a specified email
address and would convert any files attached to the
incoming emails into images.
The Batch converter sample has
now been further enhanced to monitor a specified
directory and automatically convert any supported
files into image files. This invaluable feature
provides developers with the ability to automate the
document conversion process
Developers can specify a
directory for the Batch converter to monitor.
Any supported file placed in the directory will be
automatically converted into an image file by
printing that file to the Black Ice printer driver.
Settings such as the generated file format and
output directory can be changed from within the
sample as well. The sample also provides access to
some of the more common printer settings, such as
file format type, file name generation details, and
the output directory for the generated image files.
The Batch Converter sample
application can also log in to a specified POP3
email address and retrieve the emails from a given
user account. The attachments of the emails (Word,
Excel, HTML, text files, etc.) will be printed to
the Black Ice printer driver which will result in
converting the received documents into images (JPEG,
PDF, TIFF, BMP, etc.).
Some possible uses for the new
Batch Converter add-on include:
Network wide document conversion:
Creating a network shared drive which is monitored
by the batch converter. Network users can then save
or drop files into the shared folder and they will
be automatically converted into an image file.
Automated faxing: Users can drag
or save a file into a directory monitored by the
batch converter. The files can then be converted
into TIFF files for faxing and automatically faxed
out.
Developers can modify this sample
later on to fit their exact needs by adding
additional features to suit their specific needs.
The new Batch Converter sample
is part of the Printer Driver Resource Toolkit (RTK)
and is available with the purchase of the latest
version of the printer driver.