I had a need for Pict Convert because I have a large (very large) number of PICT's that are taking up tons of space and that I want in .GIF format anyway so that I might put them on a BBS that I may start. The .GIF viewers I've seen don't support AppleEvents, so I needed to come up with a way around that. Pict Convert does just that by taking a folder (or alias to a folder or volume) called "Target Dir", scanning it for .pict or .PICT files, and lauching "Target App" with them. After Target App opens, Pict Convert "types" a Command-S, the file name, the enter key and a Command-Q, which gets received by the .GIF viewer. (Obviously, this only works with viewers that default to saving as a .GIF) After the viewer quits, Pict Convert deletes the original PICT file and goes on to look for the next...
I doubt anyone else would have a practical use for Pict Convert, but I think the source has some handy examples of:
• Using the process manager's Launch Application with a file name to open attached to it.
• Using process and event manager routines to manipulate a running program, achieving "poor man's AppleEvents".
• Using the "App Died" event.
• Recursive directory searching.
Thanks to all the folks on AOL that helped me with this project.
If you find the code useful or educational, please let me know...
