[Novalug] Neatreceipts??

Bryan J Smith b.j.smith@ieee.org
Sun Sep 6 00:16:37 EDT 2009


On Sat, 2009-09-05 at 17:13 -0400, Rich Goodwin wrote:
> Actually, I was only looking at the portable scanner and whether anyone
> could attest to whether it was TWAIN-compatible or not.

There's no such thing as "TWAIN-compatible" from a scanner standpoint,
only an application.  TWAIN is an _application_ API, not a driver
interface.  A TWAIN call merely launches a "fat" interface which can
then transfer back images.

It's kinda like saying MS Exchange is "MAPI-compliant."  It's not, but
there is a provided, "fat" MAPI interface via MS Outlook, which then
talks XMLRPC to MS Exchange.  It launches the "fat" Outlook client to
service MAPI calls for programs that make them.

I.e., you buy a scanner with a "fat" TWAIN program.  In many cases,
multiple TWAIN programs can actually conflict.  All TWAIN programs only
work on select Windows versions, and most do _not_ work under NT 6.0
(Vista) and NT 6.1 (2008, 7).  Many _never_ worked under NT 4 or even
5.0 (2000), and only NT 5.1 (XP) which included several Windows 98 DLLs
and NT/Win32 security bypasses (long story).

To combat these issue, starting with Windows NT 5 (2000+), Windows Image
Acquisition (WIA) was introduced.  WIA offers a true interoperability
standard for Windows between devices and their simple drivers, a
standard set of user interfaces, and a program API.  Again, TWAIN itself
is only the program API, and the driver and user interfaces are left to
a "fat," non-standard program.

WIA is largely Microsoft's answer to Scanner Access Now Easy (SANE).
Before WIA, SANE was the only, true API available for Windows that
wasn't vendor-specific.  I've been using SANE for almost a decade ... on
Windows (not just Linux) ... for many things (including network-based
scanning ;).

> The S/W was irrelevant essentially (could use it on the Vista box bit
> I really rarely use it).

But many TWAIN "fat" programs take issue with various programs.  I have
also found that many TWAIN "fat" programs don't work under NT 6+ (Vista
on-ward), and vendors don't offer TWAIN updates for older devices.

Again, starting with NT 5+ (2000+), Microsoft introduced WIA.  And
starting with NT 6+ (Vista on-ward), Microsoft pushes WIA hard and has
deprecated TWAIN.

> Until vendors are willing to provide a digital receipt, we need to scan
> & organize as we deem appropriate for us.  I currently create PDFs of
> receipts using a Brother scanner and then digitally sign them with a
> Verisign certificate.  This does not do everything others referred to
> like the NeatReceipts does but it works for me.

The key is to see if there is a SANE driver, as WIA does not support
Linux, and TWAIN is a "fat" Win32 program (and often not even NT 6+
compatible).



-- 
Bryan J  Smith         Professional, Technical Annoyance 
Linked Profile:       http://www.linkedin.com/in/bjsmith 
-------------------------------------------------------- 
Only engineers can solve the growing needs of consumers
Stop being "aware" (that's so '70s) and start supporting
real solutions that actually work and sustain the planet






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