orrinfacey01: Batch convert NeoOffice spreadsheets to Excel

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Batch convert NeoOffice spreadsheets to Excel

Having recently needed to convert a large pile of .ods and .xlsx to .xls for uniformity, I created the following AppleScript. To make it, I tried using Automator to record actions, but couldn't edit the list of actions recorded to make it generic, rather than specific to the document that was on top.

However, I found that if you select a number of recorded actions from inside the 'recorded actions' box in Automator and drag them into the empty space below the command, it will generate an AppleScript of those actions.

I was also having problems with the action timing out during the switch and open save dialog. I fixed this by deleting the on error event, so that the command would continue to try until the timeout elapsed. That seemed to work.

Here's the script: