/* Classnotes OCR README: documentation for Classnotes
 * Author: Maxie D. Schmidt (created 12/20/2006)       */

[README Contents]:

     (*) Licsencing and Copyright
     (*) Current Version
     (*) Program Website
     (*) Program Overview
     (*) Installation and Dependencies
     (*) Usage and Runtime Options
     (*) Feature Requests; Bug Reports; Feedback; Contact Info

[Licsencing and Copyright]:

The Classnotes OCR code is GPLed (the author retains copyright over the code:
(C) Maxie D. Schmidt 2006). Additionally, any re-distribution or use of the
code must contain an unaltered version of the most recent README.

[Current Version]: Version 0.2.2

[Program Website]:

The home page for the Classnotes OCR is http://classnotes.sourceforge.net. The site includes documentation and links to download the latest version of the program.

[Program Overview]:

Classnotes is an OCR capable of translating a handwritten scans (or custom font scans) into text. In order to translate scans the the program must be trained with samples of the text the user intends on translating. The program features a full GUI for both training and parsing new scans. Currently only color PNG images are supported. As far as the text within the scans goes, the program currently supports parsing of print handwriting (fonts) where the characters can be drawn without lifting a pen from the paper and where distinct lines of text do not overlap.

[Installation and Dependencies]:

Before installing Classnotes the following programs must be installed:
     
     (*) libpng
     (*) gtkmm-2.4
     (*) pkg-config

Information on how to install these programs can be found on each programs website (see also http://classnotes.sourceforge.com/installdoc.html).

After installing the dependencies, the following instructions should work on any Linux or other *nix machine:

     (*) $ tar xvzf classnotes-<version>.tar.gz
     (*) $ cd classnotes-<version>
     (*) $ make
     (*) $ su
     (*) # make install

[Usage and Runtime Options]:

Classnotes can be run in two ways: with GUI and on the commandline without GUI. It is necessary to train the program with a GUI before the program can be run on the commandline. Instructions for how to train with the GUI can be found at http://classnotes.sourceforge.net/trainingdoc.html. Once training has been done images can be parsed from within the GUI (see http://classnotes.sourceforge.net/generalusedoc.html). 

Alternately once training has been done the program can be run from the commandline. NOTE: If any commandline options are set the GUI will not be started. The following options are supported:

     (*) [--scan-files file0 [... filen]] : this option sets the files to 
         parse. If the "--parse-all-in-scan-dir" option is used the files set
         in this option will be ignored.
     (*) [--set-scan-dir dir] : sets the programs directory (cfg_scan_dir) for
         where to look for scans to parse.
     (*) [--parse-all-in-scan-dir] : this option sets the files to be parsed to
         all png files in the scan dir. The scan dir can be set by the config
         file. Also, if this option is set any files selected by "--scan-files"
         will be ignored.
     (*) [--set-save-dir dir] : set the directory where the output files will
         be saved (note that setting "--single-output-file" will override
         this setting.
     (*) [--single-output-file file] : this option sets that the text resulting
         from parsing the (possibly multiple) scans should all be saved to
         the argument file.
     (*) [--output-file-prefix prefix] : when saving the text the prefix for
         each output file should be the argument prefix.
     (*) [--profile file] : this option sets the profile to use when parsing
         scans. The profile must have been obtained by running the training
         GUI.
     (*) [--list-profiles] : lists all of the profiles in cfg_profile_dir and then
         exits normally.
     (*) [--help] : prints the commandline program usage.

Classnotes Configuration:

Classnotes uses a config file located at "~/.classnotes/config". The config file is written after the config portion of the GUI is updated. See http://classnotes.sourceforge.net/configopts.html for more information on the configuration options available in the program.

[Feature Requests; Bug Reports; Feedback; Contact Info]:

The author of the program can be contacted via e-mail at maxieds(AT)gmail(DOT)com. If any user has any feedback or feature requests send me an e-mail. Also, if there are any bugs in the program send me an e-mail with a description of the bug AND how to reproduce the bug and I will try my best to fix it.