Features or bugs?

[jvoskuil]

I used to have a simple command-line script for creating a directory tree and populating the tree with converted images. First I put a set of jpgs or raw files from camera to a path location. Then I use Paintshop to tweak the good ones by hand, and save them as psd. Next I run the script from the proper location. It takes out the psd files and puts them in a separate directory, leaving the original files in another directory. Then it converts the psd-files to jpeg in two flavours, one with high quality, and one with low, each in a separate directory, all underneath the current projectdir. Very handy indeed. This way I grow a very transparent photo archive. But with the new version of Irfan, it doesn't work anymore, for two reasons. Reason 1. the program doesn't recognize the working directory as such. Thus, when you run the script from, say, "c:\fotos\2008-10-holliday" (which serves as the root for the directories to create; consider it the project directory), you can't just cd into that directory and say "iview32.exe .\psd\*.psd /convert=.\hires\*.jpeg /ini=[some dir]", even when "c:\fotos\2008-10-holliday\psd" actually exists and contains psd files. This doesn't work anymore since Irfanview doesn't recognize the dot as the current working directory. Rather, it (falsely) interprets it as the directory where the exe-file is located (namely, "C:\Program Files\IrfanView"). Reason 2. The program runs in a separate, independent process, unrelated to the shell from which it is started. The command returns immediately, while in the background the conversion process is still running. With a batch of 50 image files this may take several minutes. This is a major problem when you run the script from the command line. You can't have a sequence of commands and assume that the next starts when the previous one is finished. Also, it is convenient to be able to see on the command line whether or not the script has ended. Conclusion. I think the two observations are closely related and should be categorised as bugs. Can anyone provide me with an older version of Irfanview that worked correctly in these respects? Or are there ways to make the "new" Irfanview behave as desired? Some inifile-options perhaps?

[Laurent]

Hi jvoskuil,

About reason 1)
In the Command Line Options section of the help file, one reads: "- Write always the FULL paths for file names (incl. drive letter)."

About Reason 2)
Sorry I don't understand what you means as a program that "runs in a separate, independent process, unrelated to the shell from which it is started". What is the problem?

Laurent