On this tab you can see what has already been converted and what has not, and here you also set up how exactly the program does it. Which formats to produce — the “Convert cutting SVG to PNG/EMF” and “Convert labels to PDF” checkboxes — is on the “Main” tab.
Filter and buttons
The “Filter” switch: “All”, “Pending”, “Converted”. Next to it, three buttons:
- “Scan orders” — go through the orders folder and add to the table everything that has no ready files. Useful after manual intervention in the folders or after moving the installation.
- “Convert selected” — start the conversion of the checked rows without waiting for the next round. If nothing is selected, all pending orders are converted — the same as with the “Convert Now” button on “Main”.
- “Refresh” — re-read the table.
The table
One line per order: “Order No.”, “Status” (“Pending”, “In progress”, “Done”, “Error”, “Skipped”; the first two show in brackets how many files out of how many), “SVG files” — how many are still waiting for conversion, “EMF done” and “PDF done” — done out of the total. The 100 most recent orders are shown. An order with the “Error” status is the first candidate for investigation.
Conversion settings
“Processing mode” — two options:
- “Sequential mode (download and convert one by one)” — the order is downloaded, converted right away, then on to the next one. The first orders reach the machine sooner.
- “Batch mode (download all, then convert)” — first all the orders are downloaded, then everything is converted at once. The downloading finishes earlier, but the first ready files appear later.
On an ordinary day, when orders come one at a time, the difference is not noticeable. The batch mode makes sense when a whole pack arrives in the morning.
The “Parallel conversion (faster, more RAM)” checkbox and the “Number of parallel threads (1-8)” field, 2 by default. Each thread takes its own pack of files and processes it whole — a pack exactly, not file by file, because most of the time goes on starting the process, not on the picture itself. A measurement on 150 labels and two threads: about 12 minutes before and about 2 minutes now; on ten labels — 98 seconds against 23.
How many threads to set:
- 1–2 — for a weak workshop computer;
- 4 and more — if the processor and the disk allow it. Each thread takes up a noticeable amount of RAM, so “setting 8” on an office PC will rather slow the work down.
The mode, the checkbox and the number of threads are saved to the settings file as soon as they change, no restart is needed.
Progress
Below — the “Conversion progress” bar and a block with the state of each thread (W1…W8): which file each one is working on right now.
What the tab does not have
There is no separate stop button here: the conversion, like everything else, is interrupted by “Stop” on the “Main” tab; no half-written files are left behind — the result appears on the disk only as a whole. You cannot rebuild one specific file and you cannot see the error text right in the table — the details are in the log and in the invalid_svg_1.log file.