2003-09-23 19:44:12 +00:00
|
|
|
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<html>
|
|
|
|
|
<head>
|
|
|
|
|
<title>SANE - Contributing</title>
|
|
|
|
|
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
|
|
|
|
|
<meta name="author" content="Henning Meier-Geinitz">
|
|
|
|
|
<meta name="keywords" content="sane, scanner, help, helping, contributing, contribution">
|
|
|
|
|
<meta name="description" content="Contributing to SANE">
|
|
|
|
|
<link href="mailto:hmg-guest@users.alioth.debian.org" rev="made">
|
|
|
|
|
<link rel="icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
|
|
|
|
|
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
|
|
|
|
|
</head>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
|
|
|
|
|
<center>
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="http://www.sane-project.org"><img src="images/sane.png"
|
|
|
|
|
alt="SANE" height="117" width="346" border="0"></a>
|
|
|
|
|
</center>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<center>
|
|
|
|
|
<h1>SANE - Contributing or: How Can You Help SANE?</h1>
|
|
|
|
|
</center>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
We appreciate any help we can get. Here are some topics on which you can work:
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2><a href="manufacturers.html">Information for Manufacturers</a></h2>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
Are you a manufacturer or vendor of scanners and one of your scanners is not supported by SANE
|
|
|
|
|
yet? In this case please have a look at our <a
|
|
|
|
|
href="manufacturers.html">information for manufacturers</a>.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>Reporting Unsupported Scanners and Adding more information</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
If you can provide more information for one of the scanners that's listed as "unsupported" in
|
|
|
|
|
our <a href="lists/sane-backends-cvs.html#UNSUPPORTED">current list of unsupported
|
|
|
|
|
scanners</a> or even want to add a new scanner, please send all information you have to us.
|
|
|
|
|
If you own an unsupported scanner, please send as much information as possible. Especially the
|
|
|
|
|
output of <em>sane-find-scanner -v -v</em> and/or <em>cat /proc/scsi/scsi</em> (for SCSI
|
|
|
|
|
scanners) or <em>cat /proc/bus/usb/devices</em> (for USB scanners) can help. If you dare to
|
|
|
|
|
open the scanner, have a look at the text that's printed on the chips. That may help to
|
|
|
|
|
identify the chipset. If you know that the scanner is similar to another one (e.g. supported
|
|
|
|
|
by the same Windows driver), please also mention this fact. Contact us by using using <a
|
|
|
|
|
href="http://www.meier-geinitz.de:80/tinc?key=rDoQ7lrj&formname=adddev">the form for
|
|
|
|
|
adding an unsupported device</a> or by sending mail to the <a
|
|
|
|
|
href="mailing-lists.html">sane-devel mailing list</a>. If you think anything in the list or
|
|
|
|
|
on this web page is wrong, please also contact us or <a href="bugs.html">file a bug
|
|
|
|
|
report</a>.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>Writing a Backend (Driver)</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
If your scanner is unsupported by SANE, please consider writing a
|
|
|
|
|
backend for it. As scanners are very different to each other, you can't
|
|
|
|
|
expect the SANE developers to write the backend for you. If your scanner
|
|
|
|
|
is similar to one that already works, it may be easy to add support. But
|
|
|
|
|
if it's necessary to write a completely new backend, it's up to you.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
The time and skills needed for writing a backend depends on the
|
|
|
|
|
"intelligence" of the scanner. If it's rather high-level,
|
|
|
|
|
i.e. understand commands like "scan-at-600-dpi", it may be possible to
|
|
|
|
|
write a basic driver in 10-20 hours. If the protocol is more low-level
|
|
|
|
|
(e.g. move-motor-one-step), it can take much longer.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
You don't need to be an experienced programmer. Backends are usually
|
|
|
|
|
written in C, so some basic knowledge of this language helps. You need a
|
|
|
|
|
lot of patience, however, especially if you can't get programmer's
|
|
|
|
|
documentation from your scanner's manufacturer.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
2004-02-14 19:50:11 +00:00
|
|
|
If you intend to write a backend: contact the <a
|
|
|
|
|
href="mailing-lists.html">sane-devel mailing list</a> and let us know. Get
|
|
|
|
|
all the information about your scanner that's available: chipset
|
|
|
|
|
application manual (sometimes it's on the web), Windows drivers used
|
|
|
|
|
(sometimes they tell which chipset is used), programmer's information (if
|
|
|
|
|
the manufacturer provides those). If you don't have enough information
|
|
|
|
|
about the protocol used by the scanner, <a
|
|
|
|
|
href="http://www.meier-geinitz.de/sane/misc/develop.html">try to find out
|
|
|
|
|
what the MS Windows driver does</a>. For basic information about how SANE
|
|
|
|
|
works, get the latest <a href="cvs.html">development version of SANE</a>,
|
|
|
|
|
read man sane and <a
|
|
|
|
|
href="backend-writing.txt">doc/backend-writing.txt</a>. Also have a look
|
|
|
|
|
at existing backends, e.g. one of the USB backends, if you want to support
|
|
|
|
|
a USB scanner.
|
2003-09-23 19:44:12 +00:00
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>Writing a Frontend</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
There are already <a href="sane-frontends.html">some very capable frontends</a>. So helping
|
|
|
|
|
with improving the existing frontends may make more sense than to write yet another one. On
|
|
|
|
|
the other hand there may be reasons to start writing a completely new frontend, like support
|
|
|
|
|
for a specific widget set, a programming language or a special type of devices (e.g. cameras,
|
|
|
|
|
slide scanners). In any case, keep the <a href="mailing-lists.html">sane-devel mailing
|
|
|
|
|
list</a> informed of your plans.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>Reporting Bugs and Missing Features</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
If you think something in SANE isn't working as it should, please don't hesitate to <a
|
|
|
|
|
href="bugs.html">file a bug report</a> Please provide as many details as possible. Describe
|
|
|
|
|
which software you are using (operating system + version, distribution, version of
|
|
|
|
|
sane-backends and of the frontend you use). Explain exactly what doesn't work, is wrong or
|
|
|
|
|
missing.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>Adding and fixing documentation</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
If you found a bug in any documentation (man pages, web site, READMEs), please contact us
|
|
|
|
|
using the <a href="mailing-lists.html">sane-devel mailing list</a> or <a href="bugs.html">file
|
|
|
|
|
a bug report</a>. Also write us if you think some documentation is missing. Please include a
|
|
|
|
|
patch in this case, if possible. Don't hesitate to send spelling and grammar mistakes. Most of
|
|
|
|
|
us are not native English speakers.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>Translations</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
The options of the backends can be translated. For some languages, the translations are almost
|
|
|
|
|
complete, but some are lacking a lot of words and for most languages there is no translation
|
|
|
|
|
at all. If you want to help to translate the options to your native language (or a language
|
|
|
|
|
you speak fluently), contact the <a href="mailing-lists.html">sane-devel mailing list</a> and
|
|
|
|
|
have a look at the po/ directory in the <a href="cvs.html">source code</a>.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>Success reports</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
If you had success using SANE we want to know about that, too. Especially if your scanner is
|
|
|
|
|
not in the lists yet or is marked "untested". Please send an email to the <a
|
|
|
|
|
href="mailing-lists.html">sane-devel mailing list</a> or <a href="bugs.html">file a bug
|
|
|
|
|
report</a>.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="/">SANE homepage</a><br>
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="imprint.html">Contact</a>
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
<font size="-1">$Date$ $Author$</font>
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
</html>
|
