Auto Convert Documents Using C#

We often contacted by developers who are building a program that will look for document files in a folder and convert these files to PDF. To illustrate how this can be done we have made a small C# program that will do just that.

The example source code is not bullet proof. You will need to add your own configuration and error handling. Nevertheless it serves the purpose of showing how this problem can be solved.

When you run the program it will look for files in the input folder and convert them to PDF documents in the output folder. In case something goes wrong the input document is copied to the errors folder. If the conversion is a success the then the input document is copied to the done folder.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.IO;
using bioPDF.PdfWriter;
using System.Reflection;

namespace Converter
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            string applicationFolder = 
                new Uri(Path.GetDirectoryName(Assembly.GetAssembly(typeof(Program)).CodeBase)).LocalPath;
            string inputFolder = Path.Combine(applicationFolder, "input");
            string outputFolder = Path.Combine(applicationFolder, "output");
            string doneFolder = Path.Combine(applicationFolder, "done");
            string errorFolder = Path.Combine(applicationFolder, "errors");

            // Check that folders exist
            if (!Directory.Exists(inputFolder)) Directory.CreateDirectory(inputFolder);
            if (!Directory.Exists(outputFolder)) Directory.CreateDirectory(outputFolder);
            if (!Directory.Exists(doneFolder)) Directory.CreateDirectory(doneFolder);
            if (!Directory.Exists(errorFolder)) Directory.CreateDirectory(errorFolder);

            // Get the printer name
            string printerName = PdfUtil.DefaultPrinterName;

            // Get file names from input folder
            string[] inputFileNames = Directory.GetFiles(inputFolder);

            foreach (string inputFileName in inputFileNames)
            {
                bool isError = false;
                string errorMessage = null;

                Console.Write(string.Format("Printing {0}... ", Path.GetFileName(inputFileName)));

                string outputFileName = 
                    Path.Combine(outputFolder, Path.GetFileName(inputFileName) + ".pdf");
                PdfSettings settings = new PdfSettings();
                settings.PrinterName = printerName;

                // Set the output file name
                settings.SetValue("Output", outputFileName); 

                // Disable all dialogs
                settings.SetValue("ShowSettings", "never");
                settings.SetValue("ShowSaveAS", "never");
                settings.SetValue("ShowProgress", "no");
                settings.SetValue("ShowProgressFinished", "no");
                settings.SetValue("ShowPDF", "no");
                settings.SetValue("ConfirmOverwrite", "no");

                // Get the name of a status file and delete it if it already exist
                string statusFileName = Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), "converter_status.ini");
                if (File.Exists(statusFileName))
                    File.Delete(statusFileName);

                // Make the printer write a status file
                settings.SetValue("StatusFile", statusFileName);

                // Write the settings to the printer
                settings.WriteSettings(PdfSettingsFileType.RunOnce);

                try
                {
                    // Print the file using the associated program for the specific file type
                    PdfUtil.PrintFile(inputFileName, printerName);

                    // Wait for the status file to appear. This means that the print has finished
                    PdfUtil.WaitForFile(statusFileName, 60000);

                    // Check if output file exists
                    isError = !File.Exists(outputFileName);
                }
                catch (Exception ex)
                {
                    isError = true;
                    errorMessage = ex.Message;
                }

                // Move the input file
                if (isError)
                    File.Move(inputFileName, Path.Combine(errorFolder, Path.GetFileName(inputFileName)));
                else
                    File.Move(inputFileName, Path.Combine(doneFolder, Path.GetFileName(inputFileName)));

                // Write a status
                if (isError)
                {
                    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(errorMessage))
                        Console.WriteLine("Error");
                    else
                        Console.WriteLine(errorMessage);
                }
                else
                    Console.WriteLine("Done");
            }
        }
    }
}

Example source files are included in the zip file that can be downloaded here.

Convert Documents.zip