Re: raw parallel device Q

Andreas Dilger (adilger@enel.ucalgary.ca)
Thu, 16 Jul 1998 09:48:11 -0600 (MDT)

Chris writes:
> Is it possible to give commands to a parallel device via a socket
> connection?
> What I was thinking is Linux box has a parallel scanner. I want to make
> an IPC style connection to the serial device via a socket, then create a
> "virtual" connection to that port on a M$ box that has the correct driver.
> Since Win9X doesn't share reliably, we have put all of the shareable
> devices on the server.

At first glance, this sounds like it would fall under the same type of
system as having saned on the Win box, and using saned on your Linux box
handle the network protocol. However, it would need the saned on the Win
box to talk to the Windows scanner driver via TWAIN, and TWAIN allows the
scanner driver to have the GUI built into the driver. This would mean you
need to be sitting at the Win box to handle the TWAIN GUI, and at that
point you might as well scan the image under Windows and FTP it over to
your Linux box. If saned on the Win box talked directly to the PPort, you
would be back in the same situation as we are with SANE all over - you
need to get the protocol from the manufacturer.

However, if the scanner is supported under SANE, it would be possible to
create a SANE backend to run under Windows - in fact many people have
expressed a desire to do this, but the last I recall was that the people
who know SANE and the people who know TWAIN and the people who know the
saned network protocol weren't the same people...

Cheers, Andreas

-- 
Andreas Dilger   University of Calgary  \"If a man ate a pound of pasta and
                 Micronet Research Group \ a pound of antipasto, would they
Dept of Electrical & Computer Engineering \   cancel out, leaving him still
http://www-mddsp.enel.ucalgary.ca/People/adilger/       hungry?" -- Dogbert



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