sane-project-backends/doc/sane.man

.TH sane 7 "11 Aug 2001"
.IX sane

.SH NAME
sane \- Scanner Access Now Easy: API for accessing scanners

.SH DESCRIPTION
.B SANE
is an application programming interface (API) that provides standardized
access to any raster image scanner hardware. The standardized interface makes
it possible to write just one driver for each scanner device instead of one
driver for each scanner and application.

While
.B SANE
is primarily targeted at a UNIX environment, the standard has been carefully
designed to make it possible to implement the API on virtually any hardware or
operating system.
.PP
This manual page provides a summary of the information available about SANE.

.SH TERMINOLOGY

An application that uses the 
.B SANE
interface is called a 
.B SANE frontend.
A driver that implements the 
.B SANE
interface is called a
.B SANE backend.
A 
.B meta backend
provides some means to manage one or more other backends.

.SH SANE STANDARD AND WRITING BACKENDS
The 
.B SANE
standard defines the application programming interface (API) that is used to
communicate between frontends and backends. It can be found at
@DOCDIR@/sane.ps (if latex is installed on your system) and on the SANE
website: http://www.mostang.com/sane/html/ (HTML), or
http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane.ps (Postscript).
.P
There is some more information for programmers in
@DOCDIR@/backend-writing.txt. Before a new backend or frontend project is
started, have a look at @DOCDIR@/PROJECTS for projects that are planned or not
yet included into the SANE distribution.
.P
Your help is always appreciated. Look at @DOCDIR@/TODO for things that should
be done. Not only programmers are needed, but also reading and fixing the
documentation and reporting bugs would be nice. Contact the SANE mailing list
for details.

.SH SOFTWARE PACKAGES
The package 
.B `sane-backends'
contains a lot of backends, documentation (including the 
.B SANE
standard), networking support, and the command line frontend `scanimage'.  The
frontends `xscanimage´ and `xcam´ are included in the package
.B `sane-frontends'. 
Both packages can be downloaded from the
.B SANE
homepage (http://www.mostang.com/sane/). Information about other frontends
and backends can be found on the frontend page 
(http://www.mostang.com/sane/frontends.html).

.SH GENERAL INFORMATION
The following sections provide short descriptions and links to more
information about several aspects of
.B SANE.
A name with a number in parenthesis (e.g. `sane-dll(5)') points to a manual
page, in this case `man 5 sane-dll'. Entries like `@DOCDIR@/sane.tex' are
references to text files that were copied to the SANE documentation directory
(@DOCDIR@) during installation. Everything else is an URL to a resource on the
web.

.TP 2
.B SANE homepage
Information on all aspects of SANE including a tutorial and a link to the SANE FAQ
can be found on the SANE homepage: http://www.mostang.com/sane/.
.TP
.B SANE mailing list
There is a mailing list for the purpose of discussing the SANE standard and
its implementations: sane-devel.  Since this is currently the only mailing
list devoted to SANE, it's perfectly OK to ask questions that are not strictly
related to SANE development. How to subscribe and unsubscribe:
http://www.mostang.com/sane/mail.html
.TP
.B Compiling and installing SANE
Look at @DOCDIR@/README and the os-dependent README files for information about
compiling and installing SANE.
.TP
.B SCSI configuration
For information about various systems and SCSI controllers see sane-scsi(5).
.B USB configuration
For information about USB configuration see sane-usb(5).

.SH FRONTENDS AND MISCELLANEOUS PROGRAMS
.TP 2
.B scanimage
Command-line frontend. See scanimage(1).
.TP
.B saned
.B SANE
network daemon that allows remote clients to access image acquisition devices
available on the local host. See saned(1).
.TP
.B sane-find-scanner
sane-find-scanner is a command-line tool to find SCSI and some USB scanners
and determine their Unix device files. See sane-find-scanner(1).
.P
Also, have a look at the sane-frontends package (including xscanimage and xcam)
and the frontend information page at
http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane-frontends.html.

.SH BACKENDS FOR SCANNERS
.TP 2
.B abaton
The SANE backend for Abaton flatbed scanners supports the Scan 300/GS (8bit,
256 levels of gray) and the Scan 300/S (black and white, untested). See
sane-abaton(5) for details.
.TP
.B agfafocus
This backend supports AGFA Focus scanners and the Siemens S9036 (untested).
See sane-agfafocus(5) for details.
.TP
.B apple
The SANE backend for Apple flatbed scanners supports the following scanners:
AppleScanner, OneScanner and ColorOneScanner. See sane-apple(5) for details.
.TP
.B artec
The SANE Artec backend supports several Artex/Ultima SCSI flatbed scanners as
well as the BlackWidow BW4800SP and the Plustek 19200S. See sane-artec(5) for
details.
.TP
.B as6e
This is a SANE backend for using the Artec AS6E parallel port interface
scanner. See sane-as6e(5) for details.
.TP
.B avision
This backend supports Avision AV 630 CS flatbed scanners. See sane-avision(5)
for details.
.TP
.B bh
The bh backend provides access to Bell+Howell Copiscan II series document
scanners. See sane-bh(5) for details.
.TP
.B canon
The canon backend supports the CanoScan 300, CanoScan 600, and CanoScan
2700F SCSI flatbed scanners. See sane-canon(5) for details.
.TP
.B coolscan
This is a SANE backend for Nikon Coolscan film-scanners. See sane-coolscan(5)
for details.
.TP
.B epson
The SANE epson backend provides support for Epson SCSI, parallel port and USB
flatbed scanners. See sane-epson(5) for details.
.TP
.B hp
The SANE hp backend provides access to HP ScanJet scanners and OfficeJet
multi-function peripherals (MFPs) which support SCL (Scanner Control Language
by HP). See sane-hp(5) for details.
.TP
.B m3096g
This backend supports the Fujitsu M3096Gm flatbed scanner. See sane-fujitsu(5)
for details.
.TP
.B microtek
The microtek backend provides access to the "second generation" Microtek
scanners with SCSI-1 command set. See sane-microtek(5) for details.
.TP
.B microtek2
The microtek2 backend provides access to some Microtek scanners with a
SCSI-2 command set. See sane-microtek2(5) for details.
.TP
.B mustek
The SANE mustek backend supports most Mustek SCSI flatbed scanners including
the Paragon and ScanExpress series and the 600 II N (non.SCSI). Some Trust
scanners are also supported. See sane-mustek(5) for details.
.TP
.B mustek_pp
The mustek_pp backend provides access to Mustek parallel port flatbed
scanners. See sane-mustek_pp(5) for details.
.TP
.B nec
The SANE nec backend supports the NEC PC-IN500/4C SCSI scanner. See
sane-nec(5) for details.
.TP
.B pie
The pie backend provides access to PIE and Devcom SCSI flatbed
scanners. See sane-pie(5) for details.
.TP
.B plustek
The SANE plustek backend supports Plustek parallel port scanners. See
sane-plustek(5) for details.
.TP
.B ricoh
The ricoh backend provides access to the following Ricoh flatbed
scanners: IS50 and IS60. See sane-ricoh(5) for details.
.TP
.B s9036
The s9036 backend provides access to Siemens 9036 flatbed scanners. See
sane-s9036(5) for details.
.TP
.B sharp
The SANE sharp backend supports Sharp SCSI scanners. See sane-sharp(5) for details.
.TP
.B sm3600
The SANE sm3600 backend supports the Microtek ScanMaker 3600 USB scanner. See
sane-sm3600(5) for details.
.TP
.B snapscan
The snapscan backend supports AGFA SnapScan flatbed scanners. See
sane-snapscan(5) for details.
.TP
.B sp15c
This backend supports the FCPA ScanPartner 15C flatbed scanner. See
sane-fujitsu(5) for details.
.TP
.B st400
The sane-st400 backend provides access to Siemens ST400 and ST800. See
sane-st400(5) for details.
.TP
.B tamarack
The SANE tamarack backend supports Tamarack Artiscan flatbed scanners. See
sane-tamarack(5) for details.
.TP
.B umax
The sane-umax backend provides access to several UMAX-SCSI-scanners and some
Linotype Hell SCSI-scanners. See sane-umax(5) for details.
.TP
.B umax_pp
The sane-umax_pp backend provides access to Umax parallel port flatbed scanners
and the HP 3200C. See sane-umax_pp(5) for details.

.P
Also, have a look at the backend information page at
http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane-backends.html and the list of projects in
@DOCDIR@/PROJECTS.

.SH BACKENDS FOR DIGITAL CAMERAS
.TP 2
.B sane-dc210
Backend for Kodak DC210 Digital Camera. See sane-dc210(5).
.TP
.B sane-dc240
Backend for Kodak DC240 Digital Camera. See sane-dc240(5).
.TP
.B sane-dc25
Backend for Kodak DC20/DC25 Digital Cameras. See sane-dc25(5).
.TP
.B sane-dmc
Backend for the Polaroid Digital Microscope Camera. See sane-dmc(5).
.TP
.B sane-qcam
Backend for Connectix QuickCam cameras. See sane-qcam(5).

.P
Also, have a look at the backend information page at
http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane-backends.html and the list of projects in
@DOCDIR@/PROJECTS.

.SH MISCELLANEOUS BACKENDS
.TP 2
.B sane-dll
The sane-dll library implements a SANE backend that provides access to an
arbitrary number of other SANE backends by dynamic loading. See sane-dll(5).
.TP
.B sane-net
The 
.B SANE
network daemon saned provides access to scanners located on different
computers in connection with the net backend. See sane-net(5) and saned(1).
.TP
.B sane-pnm
PNM image reader pseudo-backend. The purpose of this backend is primarily to
aid in debugging of SANE frontends. See sane-pnm(5).
.TP
.B sane-pint
Backend for scanners that use the PINT (Pint Is Not Twain) device driver.  The
PINT driver is being actively developed on the OpenBSD platform, and has been
ported to a few other *nix-like operating systems. See sane-pint(5),
.TP
.B sane-v4l
The sane-v4l library implements a
.B SANE
backend that provides generic access to video cameras and similar equipment
using the V4L (Video for Linux) API. See sane-v4l(5).
.P
Also, have a look at the backend information page at
http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane-backends.html and the list of projects in
@DOCDIR@/PROJECTS.

.SH PROBLEMS
Please note that the default configuration uses sane-dll as the top-level
backend.  Hence it is probably a good idea to start with reading sane-dll(5).
The top-level backend is determined by the libsane.* symlinks in
@LIBDIR@.
.P
For SCSI scanners reading of sane-scsi(5) is recommended. For USB scanners,
sane-usb(5) may help.
.P
If you encounter any problems with getting your device(s) recognized, try
setting the various environment variables that are available to assist in
debugging such problems.  The environment variables are documented in the
relevant manual pages.  For example, to get the maximum amount of debug
information when testing a Mustek SCSI scanner, set environment variables
SANE_DEBUG_DLL, SANE_DEBUG_MUSTEK, and SANE_DEBUG_SANEI_SCSI to 128 and then
invoke scanimage or whatever program you're trying to debug.  For a Mustek
scanner at /dev/scanner, you might want to invoke scanimage as follows:
.IP
scanimage -d mustek:/dev/scanner -h
.TP
If this works, you could try to acquire an image with:
.IP
scanimage -d mustek:/dev/scanner >t.pnm
.PP
If you are not sure what generic SCSI or USB device your scanner is connected
to, try the command sane-find-scanner.  Usually, It's sufficient to invoke the
program without any arguments.  Invoking this command should produce output
similar to this:
.IP
$\ sane-find-scanner
.IP
sane-find-scanner:\ found\ "MUSTEK\ MFC-06000CZ\ 1.01" at device /dev/scanner
.br
sane-find-scanner:\ found\ "MUSTEK\ MFC-06000CZ\ 1.01" at device /dev/sge
.PP
Note that sane-find-scanner will find any scanner that is connected to a SCSI
bus.  It will even find scanners that are not supported at all by SANE.

There may be several causes for the following messages from the frontends:
"scanimage: no SANE devices found" or "xscanimage: no devices available.".
.TP 2
*
Your scanner is not recognized by any backend. It is not supported. You may
ask the maintainer of your backend (see @DOCDIR@/AUTHORS) or the SANE mailing
list (see above) if support is planned.
.TP
*
SANE can't access the device files (e.g /dev/sga). Check the permissions.
.TP
*
Your backend is not listed in @CONFIGDIR@/dll.conf (or commented out).
.TP
*
There are older installations of SANE on your system. If you installed the
SANE libraries in /usr/local/lib (default) you should check if there are
older SANE libraries at /usr/lib. Remove them (rm -r /usr/lib/libsane*
/usr/lib/sane).
.TP
*
If you can use SANE with scanimage but not with other (graphical) frontends,
check that /etc/ld.so.conf contains /usr/local/lib and does
.B not
contain /usr/local/lib/sane. See also the documentation of the frontends.

.SH REPORTING BUGS
If you think you found a bug in a backend, contact the author of your
backend. Usually the email address can be found in the @DOCDIR@/AUTHORS
file. If he isn't marked as `active maintainer´ you can also contact the SANE
mailing list sane-devel (see http://www.mostang.com/sane/mail.html for
details). You must be subscribed to the list, otherwise your mail won't be
sent to the subscribers.
.P
If you want to report bugs concerning compilation, installation, porting, and
documentation of SANE, you can also contact the author of this manual page:
<henning@meier-geinitz.de>.

.SH AUTHOR
David Mosberger-Tang and many many more (see @DOCDIR@/AUTHORS for details).
This man page was written by Henning Meier-Geinitz. Quite a lot of text was
taken from the SANE standard, several man pages, and README files.