iSpring SDK command line interface

iSpring SDK contains a command line application iSpringSDK.exe which is based on iSpring SDK COM API. This application provides a command line interface to the iSpring SDK functionality and can be used to perform batch conversion from a command line or shell scripts and other automation tools.

Table of contents

iSpring SDK command line syntax

The general iSpring command line application syntax is as follows.

ispringsdk.exe <command> [command options]

If the command line application is started without any parameters, it will print the list of supported commands and options to the standard output.

The command parameter specifies an action the command application will perform. iSpring SDK commands can have short alias which simplify and accelerate command line application usage. The following commands are currently supported.

Commands

Command

Short synonim

Command description

make-solid-swf

s

Performs batch conversion of PowerPoint presentations to solid Flash files. The syntax is as follows.

ispringsdk.exe make-solid-swf [conversion-options] <ppt> <swf> [<ppt> <swf> ...]
or
ispringsdk.exe s [conversion-options] <ppt> <swf> [<ppt> <swf> ...]

Examples:

ispringsdk.exe s "c:\presentations\business plan.ppt" c:\flash\business-plan.swf
ispringsdk.exe s presentation1.ppt presentation1.swf presentation2.ppt presentation2.swf

make-slides

l

Performs batch conversion of PowerPoint presentations to standalone Flash slides if a player skin is not set, or compound Flash presentation if player skin is specified. The syntax is as follows.

ispringsdk.exe make-slides [conversion-options] <ppt> <output-folder> [<ppt> <output-folder> ...]
or
ispringsdk.exe l [conversion-options] <ppt> <output-folder> [<ppt> <output-folder> ...]

Examples:

ispringsdk.exe l "c:\my presentations\business plan.ppt" "c:\flash files\business-plan"
ispringsdk.exe l presentation1.ppt presentation presentation2.ppt presentation2

save-thumbnails

t

Exports presentation slides to images of the specified format and resolution. The syntax is as follows.

ispringsdk.exe save-thumbnails [thumbnails-options] <input-ppt> <output-folder>
or
ispringsdk.exe t [thumbnails-options] <input-ppt> <output-folder>

Examples:

ispringsdk.exe s "c:\presentations\business plan.ppt" c:\flash\business-plan.swf
ispringsdk.exe s presentation1.ppt presentation1.swf presentation2.ppt presentation2.swf

activate

a

Performs an activation of iSpring SDK. The syntax is as follows. 

ispringsdk.exe activate <license name> <license key>
or
ispringsdk.exe a <license name> <license key>

Examples:

ispringsdk.exe a "John Lewis" "BYN6S-ZK10N-BHHDG-Q4658-L9PEE-7CW9H-Z0RLQ-5W5E1"

deactivate

d

Performs a deactivation of iSpring SDK. The syntax is as follows.

ispringsdk.exe deactivate <license name> <license key>
or
ispringsdk.exe d <license name> <license key>

Examples:

ispringsdk.exe d "John Lewis" "BYN6S-ZK10N-BHHDG-Q4658-L9PEE-7CW9H-Z0RLQ-5W5E1"

Presentation conversion options

Presentation conversion options affect the behavior of the make-solid-swf and make-slides commands. These options can be separated into the following categories.

Compression options

Compression options specify the multimedia objects compression and allow controlling the size of the generated Flash content.

Key

Short key

Default value

Description

--audio-bitrate <bitrate>

 
-ab

128

Specifies audio files bitrate (kbit/sec). Possible values are:
8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 80, 96, 112, 128, 160, 192, 224, 256, 320 and "original"

--video-bitrate <bitrate>

-vb

400

Specifies video files bitrate. Possible values are between 50 and 4000

--image-quality <image quality>

-iq

75

Specifies a compression ratio applied to non-photorealistic images such as charts, graphs, diagrams and clip art objects.
Note: possible values are integers from 1 to 100 specifying lossy JPEG compression quality, or an "original" value meaning that lossless PNG compression is applied.
Higher JPEG compression quality values result in higher image quality, the lower values result in smaller Flash content size.

--jpeg-image-quality <jpeg quality>

-jiq

75*

Specifies a compression ratio applied to photorealistic images such as photos and complex pictures.
Note: possible values are integers from 1 to 100 specifying lossy JPEG compression quality, or an "original" value meaning that lossless PNG compression is applied.
Higher JPEG compression quality values result in higher image quality, the lower values result in smaller Flash content size.

--gif-image-quality <gif quality>

-giq

75*

Specifies a compression ratio applied to animated GIF images.
Note: possible values are integers from 1 to 100 specifying lossy JPEG compression quality, or an "original" value meaning that lossless PNG compression is applied.
Higher JPEG compression quality values result in higher image quality, the lower values result in smaller Flash content size.

*When --jpeg-image-quality or --gif-image-quality option is not specified explicitly, its value is equal to the --image-quality option.

In most cases the highest image quality to Flash content size ratio is provided by setting an image quality to the "original" value while jpeg and gif image quality values are between 65 and 85.

Animation and playback options

Animation options control the way animations and t

Key

Short key

Default value

Description

--shape-animations <on/off>

 
-a

on

Indicates whether animation effects are enabled

--transition-effects <on/off>

-t

on

Indicates whether transition effects are enabled

--loop-presentation <on/off>

-lp

off

Indicates whether the presentation playback is looped

--auto-step-advance <on/off>

-sa

off

Indicates whether slide animation steps are played automatically

--step-advance-time <time>

-st

5

If the --auto-step-option option is set to on, the time parameter specifies step advance time. The possible values for this option are >0 and <= 100 seconds

--framerate <frame rate>

-f

24

Specifies Flash presentation frame rate (number of frames per second). The bigger framerate - the smoother animations.

--auto-start <on/off>

 

on

Indicates whether presentation playback starts automatically

--preserve-complete-info <on/off>

-i

on

Indicates whether complete presentation info is to be available via ActionScript API

--export-slide-background <on/off>

-eb

on

Specifies whether the slide background will be exported

--change-slides-automatically <on/off>

-csa

off

Indicate whether the automatic slides change is forced.

--minimal-slide-duration <seconds>

-msd

Specifies the minimal slide duration. The possible values for this option are > 0 and <= 1000

Appearance options

Appearance options control Flash presentation appearance.

Key

Short key

Default value

Description

--width <slide width>

 
-w

 

Specifies slide width (in pixels)

--height <slide height>

-h

 

Specifies slide height (in pixels)

--scale <scale>

-s

 

Specifies slide scale (in percent)
Note: this option must not be used with --width and --height options

--screen-size <width> <height>

-ss

 

If specified, optimizes raster images to the given screen resolution. This option allows to enhance raster images quality when the presentation is viewed full screen

--image-smooth <on/off>

-is

on

Indicates whether smoothing is applied to raster images

--bgcolor <#RRGGBB>

-b

#FFFFFF

Specifies flash movie background color in #RRGGBB format

--fullscreen <on/off>

-fs

off

Indicates whether the presentation is playing full screen.
Note: there are some full-screen mode restrictions for Flash files running in browser window:

  • Adobe Flash Player 9.0.28.0 or later is required
  • allowFullScreen tag parameter must be included to the <object> and <embed> tags of the HTML code.
  • Users cannot enter text in text input fields while in full-screen mode.

--skin <skin name>

    

The skin name parameter can be one of the following types:

  • an integer value specifying skin order number.
    Note: order number is 1-based
  • a string specifying skin name, id or alias. Skin id, name and alias are specified in the .skin XML files in the {iSpringSDK installation folder}\players folder.

Output control options

Output control options affect the generated content format or properties

Key

Short key

Default value

Description

--zip

 
-z

 

Creates a .ZIP archive with the generated Flash content

--xml <file name>

-x

  

Creates an XML file with the XML description of the generated Flash content

--flash-version <version>

-fv

7

Specifies an Adobe Flash Player version required to play the generated Flash content.
Notes: possible values are 7, 8, and 9
This option guarantees that the generated Flash content will require the Flash player version no less than the specified one

--menu <on/off>

-m

on

Enables or disables a context menu of the Adobe Flash Player

--printing <on/off>

-p

on

Enables or disables a "Print..." option in a context menu of the Adobe Flash Player

--exe

    

Wraps the generated Flash content into windows executable module allowing its playback in Windows-compatilbe system without Adobe Flash player installed

Multimedia control options

Multimedia control options affect the multimedia content conversion.

Key

Short key

Default value

Description

--export-audio <on/off>

 
-ea

on

Indicates whether audio content of the original presentation is included into the generated Flash content

--export-video <on/off>

-ev

on

Indicates whether video of the original presentation is included into the generated Flash content

--export-flash <on/off>

-ef

on

Indicates whether embedded Flash objects of the original presentation is included into the generated Flash content

--external-audio <on/off>

-xa

off

Indicates whether audio content is stored separately from the generated Flash content.
Note: this option affects only if a presentation is converted into a solid Flash file

--external-video <on/off>

-xv

off

Indicates whether video files are embedded into the generated Flash presentation or saved separately into .FLV files.
Note: due to Flash format limitations embedded video files can contain as many as 16000 frames (about 11 minutes of 24 fps video). This limitation is removed when videos are stored in separate FLV files.

--external-flash <on/off>

-xf

off

Indicates whether Flash movies are embedded into the generated slides or stored externally.
Note: some Flash movies don't work properly being embedded into another Flash file. Storing them separately from the presentation helps to resolve this problem in most cases.

--advanced-smart-art-processing <on/off>

off

Enables or disables advanced processing of Office 2007 Smart Art objects. Turning on this option can improve quality of Smart Art objects conversion.
Being turned on, this option opens PowerPoint application window and uses Windows clipboard during conversion.

Navigation options

Key

Short key

Default value

Description

--enable-hyperlinks <on/off>

-hl

on

Indicates whether hyperlinks within a presentation are preserved

--hyperlinks-target <target>

-ht

_self

Specifies a browser window name where hyperlinks to external resources are opened

--advance-on-click <on/off>

-c

on

Specifies whether slide or step advance on mouse click is enabled

--click-advance-type <slide/step>

-ct

step

Specifies the way mouse click advances the presentation - to the next slide or to the next animation step

--enable-keyboard-navigation <on/off>

-k

on

Indicates whether keyboard navigation is enabled

Licensing options

Key

Short key

Default value

Description

--license <name> <serial number>

 
-l

 

Specifies registration name and serial number of the iSpring SDK license.
Note: when this option is omitted or incorrect registration name or serial number is specified, each slide of the generated Flash content will contain a watermark

Security options

Key

Short key

Default value

Description

--allowed-domain <name>

 
-ad

*

Specifies the name of the domain which Flash files are allowed to access the ActionScript API of the generated Flash content.
Note: the generated presentation passed the specified domain name to the System.security.allowDomain() method.

--restricted-domain <name>

-rd

 

Specifies the domain name (or names separated by semicolon) where the generated Flash presentation playback is allowed.
This property prevents Flash presentation playback on unauthorized domain or local computer.
If this option is omitted, the generated Flash content is generated without any playback restrictions

--watermark <file-path>

-wm

 

Path to bitmap or SWF file that will be used as watermark

--watermark-alignment <alignment>

-wa

left-top

Set watermark alignment within the slide. Possible <alignment> values are: left-top, center-top, right-top, left-middle, center-middle, right-middle, left-bottom, center-bottom, right-bottom

--watermark-offset-x <offset x>

-wx

0

Set horizontal offset of watermark from the alignment point.

--watermark-offset-y <offset y>

-wy

0

Set vertical offset of watermark from the alignment point.

--watermark-transparency <transparency>

-wt

0.0

Specifies watermark transparency. The possible values are in range from 0.0 to 1.0
Transparency = 0 indicates that the watermark is fully apaque while the transparency = 1 indicates that the watermark is fully transparent

--watermark-url <url>

-wu

 

Specifies web page address to be opened on mouse click

--watermark-target <target>

-wtg

_self

Specifies browser window name where the url specified with the --watermark-url option is to be opened

--password <password>

-pass

 

Protects the generated Flash presentation from unauthorized viewing with the specified password

Miscellaneous options

Key

Short key

Default value

Description

--cpu <cpu usage>

  

100

Specifies maximum CPU usage allowed for the presentation conversion.
Note: possible values are from 10 to 100

--log <log file path>

    

Specifies a log file name where presentation conversion events are stored

--temp <temporary folder>

    

Overrides a temporary files folder where temporary files are created during conversion

--range <slide indices>

-r

  

Specifies slide indices to be converted to Flash format.
Example:

ispringsdk.exe s -r 1,3,8-15 presentation.ppt presentation.swf

--settings-file <file path>

-sf

  

Loads presentation conversion settings from the specified XML file.
Note: The settings XML file can be created with iSpring SDK Code Builder or via iSpring SDK COM API using the Save() method of the Settings Interface.

--verbose

-v

  

Outputs conversion progress to console

--add-built-in-plugins <plugins>

-plug

Adds one or more player built-in plugins (comma-separated). The following plugin types are currently supported:
js - Java script connection module as3 - ActionScript 3 connection module

Thumbnails generation options

Thumbnail generation options affect the save-thumbnails command behavior

Key

Short key

Default value

Description

--width <width>

-w

  

Specifies thumbnail width

--height <height>

-h

 

Specifies thumbnails height

--format <jpg/png/bmp/gif>

-f

  

Specifies thumbnails file format

--prefix <thumbnail file name prefix>

-p

thumb

Specifies thumbnail file name prefix. Thumbnail names are generated according to the following scheme:
<prefix><slide index>.<thumbnail format>

--quality <quality>

-q

75

Specifies JPEG image quality for jpeg thumbnails. Possible values are in range 1-100

--range <slide indices>

-r

Specifies slide indices which thumbnails will be generated for. Example: 

ispringsdk.exe t -r 1,3,8-15 presentation.ppt presentation