Change Illustrator version with scripting?

Question

Hello!
I go through several dozen files a day at work and we have to save down everything to 9 as we go.
Actions don't seem to delve that deep into the save as promt, so how can I script this so that the default goes to Version Illustrator 9 everytime?
I'm looking to do a similar script while exporting my format as default jpeg instead of png.
Help anyone on where to point me?  I'm familiar with the basics of scripting.  It's been a while but I need a starting point on if this is even possible.
Thanks!

Answer 1

I found the Applescript from Larry G. Schneider to be a great solution . . . ALMOST.  Seems like Adobe has abandoned the info Finder uses, the "file type." So I added another few lines that ALSO recognize files whose "kind" is "Adobe Illustrator Document."
Here's the code. (NOTE: This version is suited to my prefs, which is to resave as CS4. For your purposes, you would simple edit the script, changing "compatibility:Illustrator 14" to "compatibility:Illustrator 9" .)
-- BEGIN CODE:
set fileTypes to {"EPSF", "PDF ", "ART5", "TEXT"} -- file types available to resave as Illustrator
-- get a sourceFolder that holds the files to resave as AI
set sourceFolder to (choose folder with prompt "Choose a folder with files to resave as Illustrator CS4:") as text
-- get a list of files of the defined type in the sourceFolder
tell application "Finder" to set workingFiles to (every file of folder sourceFolder whose file type is in fileTypes) as alias list
-- now you have your fileList argument
-- look again, getting AI docs whose "file type" is missing (due, presumably, to CS file format changes):
tell application "Finder" to set moreFiles to (every file of folder sourceFolder whose kind is "Adobe Illustrator Document") as alias list
set workingFiles to workingFiles & moreFiles
-- get a destinationFolder to hold the new files
set destinationFolder to choose folder with prompt "Choose a folder to hold the Illustrator files:"
SaveFilesAsIllustrator14(workingFiles, destinationFolder)
on SaveFilesAsIllustrator14(fileList, destinationFolder)
set destinationPath to destinationFolder as string
repeat with aFile in fileList
tell application "Finder"
set fileName to displayed name of aFile -- get displayed name
set AppleScript's text item delimiters to "."
set newFileName to text item 1 of fileName
set newFilePath to destinationPath & newFileName & ".ai"
end tell
tell application "Adobe Illustrator"
open aFile forcing CMYK with options {update legacy text:true}
-- amend the "compatibility:" value to your preference (which might be followed up by amending some of the above lines, esp. the prompt in line 4):
compatibility (Illustrator 10/Illustrator 11/Illustrator 12/Illustrator 13/Illustrator 14/Illustrator 3/Illustrator 8/Illustrator 9/Japanese 3) : what Illustrator file format version to create ( default: Illustrator 14 )
save current document in file newFilePath as Illustrator with options {class:Illustrator save options, compatibility:Illustrator 14, embed linked files:true, font subset threshold:0.0}
close current document saving no
end tell
end repeat
end SaveFilesAsIllustrator14
-- END CODE