THE SSFI SCANNING ADDENDUM

The SSFI 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 SSFI 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 SSFISCN8.EXE which is called by the main SSFI program when scanning is to be performed. It in turn uses a program file for the scanner called SSFISCAN.800 which is a set of commands, down loaded to the scanner, that interpret the SSFI 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 SSFISCAN.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 SSFI 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 SSFISCAN.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 SSFISCAN.800 file.

d) A final check on the scanning program can by accomplished by scanning
outside the SSFI main program.

(7) First we need to note that there is an ASCII file in the directory called SSFIFLAG.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 SSFI program).

(9) Type in the command SSFISCN8 which is the name of the Scantron scanning program and press <Enter>.

(10) You should see a screen which says "Please turn on the scanner.", "Press <Esc> to exit.", and "Press the <Space Bar> when ready to proceed."

(11) Press the <Space Bar> to begin the down loading and scanning sequence. When finished type "exit" to return to the main SSFI 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 SSFI directory (or folder) on the borrowed computer and use a floppy disk to copy over the files:
(i) SSFISCN8.EXE
(ii) SSFIFLAG.ASC
(iii) SSFISCAN.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 SSFISCNN.EXE which is called by the main SSFI 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 SSFI scanning form, processes it and passes the data to the databases 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 SSFI 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 SSFI 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 some 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 SSFI main program.

(8) First we need to note that there is an ASCII file in the directory called SSFIFLAG.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 SSFI program).

(10) Type in the command SSFISCNN which is the name of the NCS scanning program and press <Enter>

(11) You should see a screen which says "Please turn on the scanner.", "Press <Esc> to exit.", and "Press the <Space Bar> when ready to proceed."

(12) Press the <Space Bar> to begin the down loading and scanning sequence. When finished type "exit" to return to the main SSFI 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 SSFI directory (or folder) on the borrowed computer and use a floppy disk to copy over the files:
(i) SSFISCNN.EXE
(ii) SSFIFLAG.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"

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