for my $pdf (glob('*.pdf')) { my $txt = convert_pdf_to_text($pdf); next if ! interesting($txt); # ... } sub convert_pdf_to_text { my ($file) = @_; my $abs_file = rel2abs(catfile(curdir(), $file)); ## Start Simpo PDF To Text system(1, 'C:\Program Files\Simpo PDF to Text\PDF2Text.exe'); # Locate the window my $wid = WaitWindow('Simpo PDF to Text', 5); die "Couldn't find 'Simpo PDF to Text' window" if ! defined $wid; ## Make sure it is on top SetForegroundWindow($wid); # Convert PDFs add_pdf($abs_file); convert(); # Close the application SendKeys('%{F4}'); my $txt_file = construct_txt_file($file); return '' if ! -r $txt_file; my $data = read_file($txt_file); unlink $txt_file or die $!; return $data; }