The CSFI scanning software supports certain scanners from Scantron and NCS Corporations:

The Scantron scanners supported include the 8000 series of scanners including the models
numbered 8000, 8200, 8400 and the Scanmark 2500.

The NCS scanners supported include the OPSCAN 3 - OPSCAN 6 models.

In order for the user to select the appropriate scanning module they must click on the Setup
menu in the main CSFI program, then click on Scanner Configuration.

Then they must choose:

1) Which serial communication port is to be used (COM1 or COM2) for Scanner Connection.
2) Which Scanner Type to choose (Scantron or one of the NCS Opscan configuration options
    - the configurations are explained below in the NCS section).
3) Whether to show the Scanning Program Display or not. This should be Off for usual scanning.
     On is mainly used for diagnostic information if needed as outlined below.

Once the choices are made, click on OK, and they will remain set for future scanning.

Scantron scanners

1. Setting up the scanners:
The Scantron scanners do not need a great deal of effort to set up. They should come
with a serial cable, usually with a 9 pin D-connector on the computer end and a 25
pin D-connector on the scanner end. The 9 pin connector should go in the COM1
(or COM2) serial port connector in the back of the computer and the 25 pin end should
go in the CPU connector in the back of the scanner (NOT in the AUX connector if it has
one). The power cord of course should be plugged in a power source.

2. How the scanning software communicates with the scanner:
The scanning program for the Scantron scanners is called CSFISCN8.EXE which is
called by the main CSFI program when scanning is to be performed. It in turn uses a
program file for the scanner called CSFISCAN.800 which is a set of commands,
down loaded to the scanner, that interpret the CSFI scanning form and return the form
information to the scanning program in the computer. There it is processed and passed
to the databases in the main program. When the operator chooses the Scan menu,
then Scan Forms, and finally Start Scanning there will be a short pause while the
scanning program is loaded and then on the scanner you should see two alternately
blinking green lights (indicating sending or receiving signals during communication)
while the CSFISCAN.800 file is down loaded to the scanner and then it will scan the
forms stacked in the input hopper. When the forms have all been scanned then you
should press the End of Batch button to let the software know that the data is ready to
be processed. Note on the blank bubbles below the spaces to write in the names -
students do not need to bubble these in to indicate a blank space for separation - these
spaces really form a buffer so careless writers will not accidentally make a mark in a
letter bubble below.

3. Trouble shooting:

Most of the time the setup goes smoothly but sometimes there are problems. The most
common problems are outlined below:

a) If you get the message Scanning module failed then you need to make one more setup
change. The main CSFI program was probably looking for a ".pif" file to start the
scanning program but it did not exist. These are not usually necessary but another part
of the setup has been set to look for a ".pif" file instead of an ".exe" file. To modify this
part of the setup click on the Scan menu, click on Scan Forms, then right click on any
open space between the various controls on the screen. This will bring up a small pop up
menu which has its last option as Scan Program Settings. Click on that. You should have
Yes for Wait:, EXE for Execute:, off for Scanning Program Display, and COM 1 or
COM 2 for Scanner Connection whichever is appropriate. IF you do this then you must
go back to the Setup menu and reset the Scanner Configuration with the appropriate
Scanner Type and Off for the Scanning Program Display.

b) When the operator starts the scanning program nothing happens and the scanning program
times out back to the main program. If no lights flash at all on the scanner then there is no
communication between the scanner and the computer.
Some possibilities are:

(1) The cable is not completely plugged into either the scanner or the computer so carefully check connections.
(2) If the cable is routed through a switch box make a direct connection to the scanner from the computer.
(3) The cable has been inserted in the wrong COM port or the wrong port has been selected in Setup and they
don't match so change selections and/or change the cable port.
(4) There is some interference in the computer (such as shared ports or incorrect IRQ numbers) not allowing the
initial signal to be sent to the scanner so have a knowledgeable computer technician carefully check the computer setup.

c) There is only one or two blinks of the green send or receive lights on the scanner and then everything stops.
This indicates there has been initial contact from the computer to the scanner but the CSFISCAN.800 file has not
been down loaded to the scanner.
(5) Check the display on the scanner and see if there has been a scanner error in reading the .800 file. If so reset the
scanner by turning it off then back on and from the Scan menu click on Scanner Error, then click on Yes so the scanning
software is reset. Then try running the scanning program again.
(6) If it still will not down load call your Scantron customer engineer and have them scan a form using their Scan Book
software with the same CSFISCAN.800 file.
d) A final check on the scanning program can by accomplished by scanning outside the CSFI main program.
(7) First we need to note that there is an ASCII file in the directory called CSFIFLAG.ASC that is a 30 byte string of
digits. The value of individual digits are used by the scanning program to know what your setup is. The second digit will
be a "0" provided you chose Scanning Program Display to be Off as recommended. For this test you should temporarily
reset this second digit to be a "1" instead of a "0" (you can go into the Setup menu and choose Scanner Configuration
and set the Scanning Program Display to On. Be sure to reset it back to Off when finished with this check).
(8) Then exit to a DOS prompt (you can just click on the MSDOS menu button in the main CSFI program).
(9) Type in the command CSFISCN8 which is the name of the Scantron scanning program and press.
10) You should see a screen which says "Please turn on the scanner.", "Press to exit.", and "Press the when ready to proceed."
(11) Press the to begin the down loading and scanning sequence. When finished type "exit" to return to the main CSFI program.
(12) If the same errors occur then as stated above then there is some type of hardware problem. It could be the COM port,
the cable, a switching box (if you use one) and/or the scanner. Sometimes it can be difficult to diagnose. To help determine the
source of the problem you might try temporarily loading the software on say a borrowed portable computer and try scanning
using it and/or try another scanner if one is at all available. You can accomplish this by making a temporary CSFI directory (or
folder) on the borrowed computer and use a floppy disk to copy over the files:

(i)   CSFISCN8.EXE
(ii)  CSFIFLAG.ASC
(iii)  CSFISCAN.800


Then follow the rules outlined above for scanning outside the main program.

II. NCS scanners

1. Setting up the scanners:
The NCS scanners do not need a great deal of effort to set up if they are configured to match one of the two configurations
available. See the copies of the two configurator sheets included with this addendum. The scanner should also have its Default
Modes with scanning settings as Yes for Image Mode, Stack for Feed Mode, SCAN for Power-Up Mode, and YES for
Display Comm Status. They should come with a serial cable, usually with a 9 pin D-connector on the computer end and a
25 pin D-connector on the scanner end. The 9 pin connector should go in the COM1 (or COM2) serial port connector in
the back of the computer and the 25 pin end should go in the MAIN connector in the back of the scanner (NOT in the AUX
connector if it has one). The power cord of course should be plugged in a power source.)

2. How the scanning software communicates with the scanner:
The scanning program for the NCS scanners is called
CSFISCNN.EXE which is called by the main CSFI program when scanning is to be performed. It directly communicates
with the scanner which passes a compressed page image that the scanning software interprets from the CSFI scanning form,
processes it and passes the data to the data bases in the main program. To let the scanning software know when the last form
of the batch has gone trough you need an End of Batch form. A copy of this from is included with this addendum. Note that it
has all the blank bubbles under the name fields bubbled in. Students do not need to bubble these in to indicate a blank space
for separation - these spaces really form a buffer so careless writers will not accidentally make a mark in a letter bubble below.
Before beginning scanning be sure the scanner is turned on and the feed tray is in the up position with the forms correctly
stacked in the feed tray and the End of Batch form at the bottom of the stack. When the operator chooses the Scan menu,
then Scan Forms, and finally Start Scanning, there will be a short pause while the scanning program is loaded and then you
should see the forms feeding through the scanner one at a time. When the End of Batch form goes through the scanning
software knows that it is the end of this batch of forms and it automatically stops scanning. The data is then processed for the
databases in the main CSFI software.

3. Trouble shooting:
Most of the time the setup goes smoothly but sometimes there are problems due to various errors. For information on
configuring the scanner you should consult the scanner's manual. Be sure that it is properly configured before checking the list
below. The most common problems are outlined below:

a) If you get the message Scanning module failed then you need to make one more setup change. The main CSFI program
was probably looking for a ".pif" file to start the scanning program but it did not exist. These are not usually necessary but
another part of the setup has been set to look for a ".pif" file instead of an ".exe" file. To modify this part of the setup click
on the Scan menu, click on Scan Forms, then right click on any open space between the various controls on the screen.
This will bring up a small pop up menu which has its last option as Scan Program Settings. Click on that. You should have
Yes for Wait:, EXE for Execute:, off for Scanning Program Display, and COM 1 or COM 2 for Scanner Connection
whichever is appropriate. IF you do this then you must go back to the Setup menu and reset the Scanner Configuration
with the appropriate Scanner Type and Off for the Scanning Program Display.

b) When the operator starts the scanning program nothing happens and the scanning program times out back to the main
program. If no form starts through the scanner then there is no communication between the scanner and the computer.
Some possibilities are:

(1) The cable is not completely plugged into either the scanner or the computer so carefully check connections.
(2) The feed tray with the forms in it is not in the "up" position so reset the scanner by turning it off then back on, press the
right button on the scanner to put the feed tray in the up position and retry scanning.
(3) If the cable is routed through a switch box make a direct connection to the scanner from the computer.
(4) The cable has been inserted in the wrong COM port or the wrong port has been selected in Setup and they don't match
so change selections and/or change the cable port.
(5) There is some interference in the computer (such as shared ports or incorrect IRQ numbers) not allowing the initial
signal to be sent to the scanner so have a knowledgeable computer technician carefully check the computer setup.
c) The first form starts through and then everything stops and usually there is an error message sent to the scanning software.
This indicates there has been initial contact from the computer to the scanner but something isn't right.
(6) Check the display on the scanner and see if the form was skewed or so me other mechanical reason. If so re-stack the
forms and try running the scanning program again.
(7) Verify that the actual configuration on the scanner matches the choice made in the Scanner Configuration on the computer.
d) A final check on the scanning program can by accomplished by scanning outside the CSFI main program.
(8) First we need to note that there is an ASCII file in the directory called CSFIFLAG.ASC that is a 30 byte string of digits.
The value of individual digits are used by the scanning program to know what your setup is. The second digit will be a "0"
provided you chose Scanning Program Display to be Off as recommended. For this test you should temporarily reset this
second digit to be a "1" instead of a "0" (you can go into the Setup menu and choose Scanner Configuration and set the
Scanning Program Display to On. Be sure to reset it back to Off when finished).
(9) Then exit to a DOS prompt (you can just click on the MSDOS menu button in the main CSFI program).
(10) Type in the command CSFISCNN which is the name of the NCS scanning program and press
(11) You should see a screen which says "Please turn on the scanner.", "Press to exit.", and "Press the when ready to
proceed."
(12) Press the to begin the down loading and scanning sequence. When finished type "exit" to return to the main CSFI program.
(13) If the same errors occur then as stated above then there is some type of hardware problem. It could be the COM port, the
cable, a switching box (if you use one) and/or the scanner. Sometimes it can be difficult to diagnose. To help determine the
source of the problem you might try temporarily loading the software on say a borrowed portable computer and try scanning
using it and/or try another scanner if one is at all available. You can accomplish this on another computer by making a temporary
CSFI directory (or folder) on the borrowed computer and use a floppy disk to copy over the files:
(i) CSFISCNN.EXE
(ii)CSFIFLAG.ASC
Then follow the rules outlined above for scanning outside the main program.

(14) If there are still scanning problems contact your NCS customer engineer and have the scanner checked.

 

   4. Common Scanning Error Codes:

ERROR 24 'Device time out errcomment$="Device time out, check if scanner not on"
ERROR 53 'File not found errcomment$="File not found"
ERROR 57 'Device I/O error errcomment$="Incorrect scanner configuration"
ERROR 58 'File already exists errcomment$="File already exists"
ERROR 55 'File already open errcomment$="File already open"
ERROR 62 'Input past end of file errcomment$="Past end of file"
ERROR 67 'Too many files open errcomment$="Too many files open"
ERROR 68 'Device unavailable errcomment$="This port is not available"

  CSFI Scanforms can be ordered on the CSFI site license order page (in the shipping request area).

  CSFI information

  CSFI Technical support

For additional information please contact us:

Ombudsman Press, Inc.
8825 Auburn Valley Rd.
Auburn, CA 95602
Phone: (530) 269-3230
FAX:   (530) 269-1025

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