======================================
ScanView 1.0 - For the JF Scanner
By JF Software - Joshua Foster
http://www.jfsoftware.net/lego/scanner
joshua_70448@ureach.com
June 13, 2002
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
=================
* System Requirements
* Introduction
* Starting to Scan
* Stopping a Scan
* Modifying the Picture
* Saving a Scan
* Loading a Previous Scan
* How to Contact


SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
===================
* Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, Me, XP, and any other higher versions I don't know of
* 4 MB RAM
* A serial port with the Lego IR transceiver attached (sorry, no support for the
  USB transceiver with RIS2)
* A Lego remote is recommended, but not required


INTRODUCTION
============
JF Scanner is the scanner I created with the Lego Mindstorms RIS 1.5 set that I
own.  (Go to http://www.jfsoftware.net/lego/scanner for more info)  ScanView is the
software I created to decipher the image acquired by the scanner.  Of course, for
this software to be useful, you have to build the scanner first (see the above
website for more info on building instructions).


STARTING A SCAN
===============
Once you've built the JF Scanner, put the NQC program (on my website) onto your
RCX, and installed the ScanView software, start ScanView through its Start Menu
shortcut.  This will bring up the main window.  There won't be any picture yet, of
course.  Turn on your RCX and start the NQC program (should be in slot #1).  The
scanner will move itself to the initial position, beep, and wait.

Select your serial port in the COM Port box (above the Start Scanning button).  If
you want to test your serial port connection before you start, click the Test
button next to the COM Port box.  You should get a box that says "COM port test
successfully completed!"  If not, follow the suggestions in the box to fix the
problem.

Now you can start scanning by clicking the Start Scanning button.  Make sure that
the RCX has finished initializing and beeped before clicking this button, though!
If you click Start Scanning before the RCX is ready, it's alright; just point your
Lego Remote (if you have one) at the RCX and press Message 1.  This will start the
RCX.

If the buffer fills, the scanner will double-beep.  Don't worry, though; the
computer will notice this and automatically download the scanned portion and show
it to you.  Then, the scanner will start again.


STOPPING A SCAN
===============
When the scanner reaches the edge of the scanning bed (or if you want to stop it at
any time), click the Stop!!! button.  The RCX will finish its current scan line,
then return to its initial position.  The computer will download what was scanned,
and then the scan will be finished!  (Also, you can press Message 1 on your Lego
Remote to stop a scan.  However, the computer won't detect this, and leaves a
Stop!!! button.  You'll have to restart the program before scanning again.)


MODIFYING THE PICTURE
=====================
When your scan is finished, the scanned image might be a little hard-to-see.  You
can make the image look better with these three options:

* Adjust for min/max
  This fixes the contrast so that the brightest pixel is pure white, and the
  darkest pixel is pure black.  You'll see a significant jump in quality when you
  use this option.

* Ignore below 35
  This option drops any invalid pixels (below 35 is a near-impossibility).  This
  makes the picture a little neater.

* Cut sides to smallest
  Usually, a scanned image will be ragged on the right edge.  This is because the
  scanner doesn't move at the exact same speed on every scan line, and gets more
  (or less) pixels in each scan.  This option cuts the right edge to be the same
  width as the smallest row, making your picture look sharper and neater.


SAVING A SCAN
=============
If you would like to see the results of a scan at another time, you can save it.
There are two ways of doing this:

* Export to BMP
  This saves the current image as a Windows Bitmap.  You'll have to use Paint to
  trim the picture down, though, because there will be a lot of extra white space.
  As a bitmap, however, you can't modify this picture with ScanView anymore.

* Save Scan
  This saves the current scan as an SVP file (ScanView Picture).  This has the raw
  numbers received from the scanner.  You can modify a scan in ScanView from this
  format, but you can't open it with any other viewers. (Use Export to save it to
  an openable format).


LOADING A PREVIOUS SCAN
=======================
If you saved a scan as an SVP file, you can open it at any other time.  Click Load
Scan and browse for the file.  Now, you can use any of the modification options to
change the picture's appearance, and export it to a bitmap.


HOW TO CONTACT
==============
Contact name: Joshua Foster
Email: joshua_70448@ureach.com
Webpage: http://www.jfsoftware.net/lego/scanner