Command Line to Convert From Any File MS Excel Can Open (Examples)

If a file can be opened by MS Excel, then converting it is straightforward using the 'MS Excel' conversion method (/M1). The example below illustrates converting a dBase IV (DBF) file to an Excel file. Since Excel can open DBF files, they can be converted into any format that Excel supports for 'Save As'. Adjust the example to fit your needs by modifying /F and /C for the appropriate input and output file types. Note: /F is included for consistency but isn't necessary in this specific case and can be left out.

Example 1: Convert a dBase IV File To Excel

To convert a single file from dBase IV (DBF) to an Excel use the following syntax:

ConvertXLS.EXE /S"C:\in\input.dbf" /T "C:\out\Final.XLS" /C-4143 /F11 /M1 /V

Next we show how to convert a whole folder (and sub-folders /R) of text files (C:\abc\*.DBF) to XLS files located in the same folder. The following syntax would be used for such a case:

ConvertXLS.EXE /S"C:\abc\*.dbf" /T "C:\abc\*.XLS" /C-4143 /F11 /M1 /R /V

• The /S and /T switches above specify Source (input) and Target (output) path respectively and are both required when converting a single file. It is always a good idea to use double quotes around the path especially if there are space characters within the path.
• The /C and /F switch specifies the output and the input file type respectively. See Excel Conversion File Type Constants for all possible values for /C and /F.
• The /M2 switch tells it to use the 'Convert XLS' conversion method which is exceptionally fast and allows for the specification of each columns width. /M1 switch is used to specify the 'MS Excel' conversion method which is a bit slower and requires MS Excel. For these examples, only /M1 will work.
• The /R switch tells it to search the input folder and its sub-folders for files to convert.
• The /V (for Verbose) switch is used to give instant feedback by having the program report the status of the conversion with a message box. You can remove this once you have perfected your command line specification. You can also (or instead of /V) create a Log file that will contain the results of the conversion by using the /L switch.

Note: It is highly encouraged that you use the Verbose (/V) switch initially to see what the status of your conversion is and to help you perfect your command line. When in verbose mode the program will tell you what went wrong or right with your command line using message boxes.