What solutions are available to automate keystokes and entry of incrementing filenames?

I am assembling image sequences, each 开发者_JAVA百科sequence consisting of 1-5K png images. Each sequence is then subject to a large number of image manipulations. These manipulations are identical for each image, though may be slightly different from sequence to sequence. I wish to automate this whole operation. I can automate all the image manipulations using tools I have (PaintShop Photo Pro, IrfanView32, among others). The problem I have is automating the first step - the assembly of the images initially.

The images are produced from a tool, written in Java. There is no access to the source for this tool. In addition the tool was written in a GUI style derived in the Unix world. The implications of this are that normal Windows shortcuts are not necessarily recognised by the tool (eg Alt-F for the file menu; some buttons do not have shortcuts; etc). The tool provides two windows - a control window and an image window.

The sequence of actions I need to carry out to derive the images is as follows:

Initial steps (no automation needed).

1. Run tool
2. Load an initialisation file from the control window
3. Use the image window to setup the image full screen at the required magnification
4. Load a log file from the control window (format not available outside the tool)

The repetitive steps are:

1. Press a button in the image window to generate the image
2. Enter a file name in the resultant dialog box. This file name will need to have a root applicable to the sequence plus a unique increasing number (5 digit in string form) specific to the image.
3. Press a button in the control window to advance the log file

One final twist - the only way of determining the end of the sequence is that the tool indicates the end of log file by disabling the button on the control window. There is no other indication of EOF readily available.

My first thought was to use Microsoft's Powershell, but my limited understanding of that tool suggests that the Unix/Windows/GUI incompatibilites and the lack of availability of the java objects, precludes this approach.

My environment is Windows 7 Ultimate 64; development tools available to me are Delphi XE, 2006, 7; there are a number of other languages installed (Java, Python, Haskell).

What approaches and/or tools will enable me to automate this task. As a sole developer, my preference is for free or cheap tools.

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