Hello folks,
I´ve been trying to make something happen with the External Tool function in the batch processor
The manual says this:
“In this dialog, you can configure external tools to work with WaveLab Pro. For example, you can run a tool to zip the output files or an FTP tool to upload the files to the Internet.”
However, I can´t get nothing to happen.
How exactly would you setup the External tool, to create a zipped file of the entire processed batch?
Thanks!
I don’t think there’s an easy way to call the built in zip function on Windows because Microsoft doesn’t make it easy (?), maybe someone else knows better, but it should work calling 7-zip or Winzip to do it with an argument. I’ll try it with 7-zip later. 7-zip should do it on Win and Mac, but also maybe the built-in zip is easier to call on Mac.
I tweaked a little on this dialogue, but apart from opening the external program, I don´t know what to do to create a compressed file containing all the files that were converted by the batch processor, which is what the manual says you can achieve (and which would also save me a lot of time)
Do you think this is possible?
And if so, how do you set it up?
The argument I used is just one possible use of the variables:
a $(FileFolder)$(FileNameNoExt).zip $(OutputFiles)
The basic 7-Zip command I used is:
a OutputZipFilePath\OutputZipFileName.zip InputFiles
I never could get it to work with built in Windows zip, but reading about it, it sounded incredibly convoluted and only even feasible now with Powershell (?), but maybe PG or somebody else would know.
7-Zip is a great program to have anyway, I’ve used it for a long time. It works to extract many zip files I’ve received that Windows won’t open, and it can extract multiple selected zips at once.
Also, if the Output Folder Name is, or was available, you wouldn’t need to name and save the batch, like in my command, which would be a good thing.
Can it be added if it’s not there?
Good idea. Noted.
Philippe
Thanks Philippe. I just noticed that with my command, the output files are zipped directly inside the zip file, without the containing folder inside the zip that I would expect when I normally right-click a folder, “send to compressed (zipped) folder” on Windows (and similarly on Mac).
The resultant zip file extracts as I would want on Windows (it adds the containing folder when extracting), but not when extracting with 7-Zip “extract here”. To have the 7-Zip program create the zip file with the containing folder inside the zip file is what I (and probably others) would expect in order to use this. But I can’t figure out how to place the existing (or future) arguments to do that. I think that’s what most people would need to happen in order to make use of this external tool method instead of manually “right-click send to compressed folder”, because that always includes the containing folder inside the zip file. If you see any way to do that with the existing arguments, or possible future arguments, I think it would be a necessary part of this for many people including myself.
I guess an Output Folder with Path argument would work, because the existing Wavelab Settings Folder argument works correctly (putting the enclosing Settings folder inside the zip).
