ShareWare OnLine 2/ShareWare OnLine Volume 2 (CMS Software)(1993).iso/demos/russoft1.zip/INTERREC.ZIP/README.ENG

Text File | 1992-07-12 | 19KB | 392 lines

        Optical character recognition system InterRec
                         Version 1.0

                        User's Manual

     1. Purpose of the InterRec system
     The InterRec  system  of optical character recognition is
intended for the recognition of texts entered into  a personal
computer  with  the aid of any kind of equipment for the input
of optical information.
     The source material for InterRec's  work  is  a  graphics
file  of  the  text  aquired  with the aid of a device for the
input of optical information and stored on a hard  disk  or  a
diskette in PCX format (two colors).
     The result of the system's work is a file  containing the
ASCII representation of the source graphics image of the text.

     2. General information
     InterRec is  an omnifont system.  This means that it does
not need any kind of setup or teaching for the  recognition of
a specific font.
     The text being processed must me written  in  a  graphics
file  with  a resolution not less that 200 pixels per inch.  A
resolution  of  300  dots  per  inch  is  recommended,   which
increases  the  accuracy of recognition (with an insignificant
increase in processing time).
     The character height must be within the following limits:
     for a resolution of 200 pixels per inch:  6 to 50  points
     (2.2 to 19 mm);
     for a resolution of 300 pixels per inch:  4 to 30  points
     (1.5  to  11  mm).
     The system   has   modes   of    operation    that    are
user-selectable:  ENGLISH  and  RUSSIAN for the recognition of
texts in the English and Russian languages respectively.
     When working  in the ENGLISH mode InterRec recognizes the
capital and small letters of the English alphabet, numbers and
the following symbols:  !  ?  . , : ; " / $ % & * ( ) - + = in
vertical and italics, in normal and wide lines.
     When working in the RUSSIAN mode InterRec  recognizes the
capital and small letters of the Russian alphabet, numbers and
the following symbols:  !  ?  .  ,  :  ;  " / % * ( ) - + = in
vertical, in normal and wide lines.
     In both  modes  InterRec recognizes letters,  numbers and
the above listed special symbols printed in proportional fonts
on   a   laser   printer,   on   a   dot  matrix  printer  (in
near-letter-quality mode), on a typewriter or on a typesetting
machine.
     To guarantee that the system works correctly,  there must
not  be  any characters other than those listed above,  or any
underlines.  The  presence  of  any  tables  or  such  graphic
elements such as drawings,  sketches or graphs may lead to the
rejection of the entire page for character recognition.
     The accuracy of recognition depends on the quality of the
graphics copy of the text and with high-quality of the  source
material  attains  99%.  The accuracy of recognition decreases
with the presence of a large number of joined  characters, and
also  with  the  presence  of  breaks in the representation of
characters.
     The time for recognizing one page (2000  characters) does
not  exceed  1.5  minutes (with a resolution of 300 pixels per
inch and using an IBM PC AT with a clock speed of 12 Mhz).
     The requirements  for a personal computer are any machine
that is compatible with an IBM PC XT/AT with not less than 512
Kbytes of real memory and an EGA or VGA video adapter. A mouse
makes the work with the system more comfortable,  though it is
not a  required  device.  The operating  system must be MS-DOS
version 3.3 or higher.

     3. The complete set
     A 5.25" DS/DD diskette containing:
     the program interrec.exe (intrdemo.exe for  demo version)
     and  the  files  needed  to  work  with  it:  eng.trr and
     rus.trr;  the instruction files for the user  in  English
     (readme.eng)  and  in  Russian  (readme.rus);  files that
     let  you  read  the  files containing  recognized Russian
     texts   on   the   screen   (egarfont.com,  vgarfont.com,
     egarfont.fnt, vgarfont.fnt).

     The  demo version of InterRec system  does not  write the
recognized text into the file. Therefore you do not  need  the
files egarfont.com, vgarfont.com, egarfont.fnt, vgarfont.fnt.

     4. How to work with InterRec
     The EXE file used to load and start the program is called
interrec.exe.
     After startup, a window containing some brief information
about the system is displayed on the screen. To enter the main
menu you must press any key  on  the  keyboard  or  any  mouse
button.
     The main menu displays the system control functions which
are divided into four groups corresponding  to  the  following
items of the main menu:  File,  Screen,  Language,  Start.  To
invoke a function of the main menu you should either
     (a) place  the  highlighted  bar on the selected function
         using the left and right arrow keys,  and  press  the
         Enter key;
     (b) move the mouse cursor to the necessary item and press
         twice  the  left button of the mouse (after the first
         click the highlighted bar will move to  the necessary
         item).
     Submenu items, falling out of the main menu, are selected
in  the  same  way  but  using  the up and down arrow keys. To
return  from submenu items to the main menu you should either:
     (a) press Esc;
     (b) press the right  button of the mouse if its cursor is
         within  the submenu, or press the  left button if the
         cursor is outside this area.

     Now, let us discuss one by one the functions  of the  main
menu.

     4.1. File
     The purpose of this function is to select both a name for
the file which stores the graphic  image  of  the  text  being
recognized,  and a name of the file which will store the ASCII
representation of the text.  Here the  exit  control  is  also
located.  Accordingly,  the submenu has three items: Load.PCX,
Load.TXT, Exit.

     4.1.1. Load.PCX.
     This item  is  used  to  select  the  name  of  the  file
containing graphics image of the text being  recognized.  This
file must have the .PCX extension.
     When  you select this option, a dialog box appears in the
center  on  the  screen in which you can see: an input line; a
scroll  window,  where  the file to be recognized is searched;
and buttons labeled Ok and Cancel.
     If using a keyboard, you must continuously  press the Tab
key to transfer control between the input line,  Ok and Cancel
buttons.
     While entering  the  system,  the input line displays the
name of the directory where InterRec is located,  and  a  .PCX
searching mask.
     The  input  line  has  7 lines. A line designated as .. \
lets  you  call  up  the  directory  of  the higher level. The
remaining  lines  contain  filenames  of the current directory
corresponding  to  the  mask  ,  i.  e.  filenames  with . PCX
extension, and also subdirectory names. If these filenames and
subdirectory names are rather numerous and cannot be displayed
simultaneously  in the given lines, use the scrolling function
to  view  them all. You should either press the down arrow key
or  move  the mouse cursor to the down arrow of the scroll bar
and press the left button of the mouse.
     Reverse scrolling is performed either with the  up  arrow
key  or  by  moving  the  mouse  cursor to the up arrow of the
scroll bar and pressing the left button of the mouse.
     You may also enter the directory you need (and change the
current drive if necessary) by direct input of the pathname in
the input line.  To open this line for writing down,  you  can
use the following ways:
     (a) if using a keyboard, press the Tab key until a cursor
         in the form of an underline appears in this line;
     (b) if  using a mouse, move the mouse cursor to this line
         and press the left button of the mouse.
     The  underline  cursor points to the position in the line
where you will start typing. You can move the cursor along the
line using the left and right arrow keys. You can type both in
replace  and  insert  modes.  The  modes are switched with the
Insert key.  Finally, you must press the Enter key.
     There are two ways to select a filename  for recognition:
     (a) move the highlighted bar using  the up and down arrow
         keys and press the Enter key;
     (b) move  the  mouse  cursor to the  appropriate item and
         press  the left button of the mouse twice (after  the
         first  click  the  highlighted  bar  will move to the
         appropriate item).
     The  selected  filename  will  be  displayed on the input
line.  To proceed, you have to confirm the correctness of your
choice.  This is performed in the following ways:
     (a) if using a keyboard, activate the Ok button  with the
         aid  of the Tab key, as stated above (doing this, the
         letters "Ok" will change to red), and  finally  press
         the Enter key;
     (b) if  using a mouse, move  its  cursor to the Ok button
         and press the left button of the mouse.

     After this   the  dialog  box  will  disappear,  and  the
following record in the upper line of the screen will appear:
     Recognition  from  full  pathname  and  name  of the file
selected  for  recognition  to  full pathname and filename for
storing ASCII code of the recognized text.
     The system itself prompts you to save the recognized text
in a file in the same  directory as  the  original  file,  and
which  retains  the  name  of  the  original  but  with  a new
extension: .TXT.  If the full pathnames are  too  long  to  be
contained  within  one  line,  only  the  head  parts  of  the
pathnames (that is,  the name of the current drive) as well as
the tail parts of it (that is,  the filenames) are displayed.
     In  addition,  in  the  window  in  the lower part of the
screen  where there is a scroll bar, the image of the graphics
file selected for recognition (or its fragment) will appear.
     Shading  in  horizontal  and/or vertical scales indicates
that  the  graphics file is too large to be fully displayed in
the  window.  Nevertheless,  the  system  lets  you  view  the
remaining  parts  of  the graphics file. The displayed area is
moved along the file in the following ways:
     (a) if  using  a keyboard, press  the left, right, up and
         down keys;
     (b) if  using a mouse, move  the  pointer to the  desired
         scroll bar arrows and pressing the left button.
     To switch control from the mouse to the keyboard and vice
versa you should use the Tab key.
     Unshaded areas on the scroll bar show the location of the
displayed fragment in relation to the whole page.
     If you are satisfied with the name and  location  of  the
ASCII file which have been proposed to you by the system, your
work with the File item of main  menu  is  completed.  If  the
choice  proposed  to you by the system does not suit you,  you
should select the Load.TXT  second option.
     Job in the dialog box can be cancelled prior to selecting
a file for recognition.  It can be done in the following ways:
     (a) if  using  a  keyboard, activate the Cancel key using
         the  Tab  key  until  the  word  "Cancel"  turns red,
         and then press Enter;
     (b) if using a mouse, move its arrow to the Cancel button
         and press the left button of the mouse.

     4.1.2. Load.TXT
     This  item is used  to select  the  filename  which  will
contain   the  recognized  text.
     The selection of  the  appropriate  file  for  the  ASCII
representation   is   done  following  the  same  sequence  of
operations as that  for  the  graphics  file.  Extension  .TXT
should  be  used  instead  as a search mask ,  and the current
directory must be the one  where the file to be recognized was
selected.  The  mask  can be changed by inputting the required
extension in the input  line  as  in  4.1.1.  After  you  have
approved  the  selection,  the  pathname  and filename will be
displayed in the upper line of the screen.
     ASCII representation  can  be  stored  in  a newly opened
file. To do so you must type its name in the input line, press
the  Enter  key  and confirm your choice (Ok) as stated above.
The pathname and the filename will be displayed in  the  upper
line of the screen.
     After  selecting the files for recognition and saving the
ASCII representation, you should check the correctness of your
choice. If you are satisfied, your work with the File function
is completed; otherwise, you need to return to the appropriate
function  (Load.  PCX  or  Load. TXT) and make a new selection
following the above sequence of operations.

     4.1.3.  Exit
     Entering  this  item results in exiting from the InterRec
system.

      4.2.  Screen
     This item is used to select the form in which information
is displayed on the screen in the  recognition  process.  Thus
the submenu has three items: Graphics, All, ASCII.

     4.2.1.  Graphics
     When item Graphics is selected,  the window  for  viewing
graphics  file  increases  in size.  In this enlarged window a
graphics file can be viewed in  the  same  way  as  in  4.1.1.
During  recognition process the graphics file will be scrolled
in the window.  The recognition results will not be displayed.

     4.2.2.  All
     With choosing  this  item the windows do not change their
positions on the screen.  In the recognition process the lower
window displays graphics file being scrolled,  and the upper -
the resulting text file.
     This mode  is  set  by  default if the Screen item of the
main menu is not invoked.

     4.2.3.  ASCII
     Upon entering this item the whole screen will be used for
a large window for demonstration of recognition results, i. e.
the  resulting  ASCII  file.  This  mode  is  faster  than the
previous one.

     4.3.  Language
     This   item  lets  you  switch  operating  modes  of  the
recognition program with regards to the language of the source
text.  The selected mode is marked with a tick. English is the
default language.
     The text editor must have an appropriate screen driver to
let you read the files containing the recognized Russian text.
If  your  text  editor  has  no  such driver, use the enclosed
drivers  that  come with the InterRec system. To use them, you
must  start  egarfont.com  (with  an  EGA  video  adapter)  or
vgarfont.com  (with a VGA video adapter)  before you work with
the editor.  The character  coding used by the system is given
in Appendix.

     4.4.  Start
     This item  of the main menu has no submenu and is used to
start the recognition program.
     If a  file  selected  for  ASCII  representation  already
exists, the following message will appear on the screen:

                  ASCII file already exists
                  New       Add      Cancel

     While  using  a  keyboard,  the required item is selected
with  the  left  and right arrow keys followed by pressing the
Enter key.  The selected item changes to red.
     If you chose the New option, the previous contents of the
text  file  will  be  lost.  If  the Add item is selected, the
recognition  result is added to the contents of the file. This
mode  of  operation  can  be  effectively  used if you want to
combine  into a single file the results of processing multiple
sheets. As soon as you select an item, recognition will begin.
Information  will  be  displayed  on  the  screen  as  it  was
described in 4.2. The unshaded area in the vertical scroll bar
corresponds to the page fragment being recognized.
     Recognition will not start if the Cancel item was chosen.
     Program  execution  can  be cancelled by pressing Esc.
     Upon the program termination a message will appear on the
screen:          Successful recognition.

     5. Possible User Errors

     The system  provides  you  with several of messages which
indicate possible incorrect actions of the user.

     5.1.  File can't be opened
     This message appears when a non-existing file is selected
for recognition.

     5.2.  Invalid drive or directory
     The message indicates that while selecting the file,  the
user has typed wrong name of the drive or directory.

     5.3.  This disk can't be set
     The message indicates that,  when trying to open a  file,
the user has typed the name of a non-existing drive.

     5.4.  Data reading error
     This message appears when an error occurs in reading from
the disk.

     5.5.  Invalid PCX format
     The message  indicates  that  the   file   selected   for
recognition does  not  meet  the  requirements  of PCX format,
version 2.8 and lower.  In this case you need to form the file
for recognition anew.

     5.6.  Not compatible format
     The message testifies to the fact, that a file with color
or gray-scale image,  not supported by current system version,
was selected for recognition.

     5.7. Graphic file not loaded
     This message  appears at the attempt to start recognition
when the graphics file is not yet selected.

     5.8.  File .TRR can't open
     This message appears during recognition when there are no
rus.trr or eng.trr files in the current directory.

     5.9.  Insufficient memory
     The message warns you that the RAM space for  the program
is not enough. In this event, you need to delete, if possible,
some resident routines the system can do without.

     5.10. Recognition is completed
     The message is possible in the following cases:  the file
contains some non-text elements of great  vertical  size;  the
size of the character is too great; two or more adjacent lines
have merged or overlapped; the lines of the inputted image and
the  higher  (lower)  edge  of the sheet of paper are far from
being parallel.

     In addition to the above mentioned messages,  some  other
error  messages  may  appear  on the screen (however,  this is
highly improbable).  In such a case,  you need to consult  the
designers  of  the  system  or  their  representative  in your
country.


                           Appendix

            Alternative ASCII code used by InterRec system

┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐
│ Ç │ ü │ é │ â │ ä │ à │ å │ ç │ ê │ ë │ è │ ï │ î │ ì │ Ä │ Å │
│128│129│130│131│132│133│134│135│136│137│138│139│140│141│142│143│
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤
│ É │ æ │ Æ │ ô │ ö │ ò │ û │ ù │ ÿ │ Ö │ Ü │ ¢ │ £ │ ¥ │ ₧ │ ƒ │
│144│145│146│147│148│149│150│151│152│153│154│155│156│157│158│159│
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤
│ á │ í │ ó │ ú │ ñ │ Ñ │ ª │ º │ ¿ │ ⌐ │ ¬ │ ½ │ ¼ │ ¡ │ « │ » │
│160│161│162│163│164│165│166│167│168│169│170│171│172│173│174│175│
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤
│ α │ ß │ Γ │ π │ Σ │ σ │ µ │ τ │ Φ │ Θ │ Ω │ δ │ ∞ │ φ │ ε │ ∩ │
│224│225│226│227│228│229│230│231│232│233│234│235│236│237│238│239│
├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤
│ ≡ │ ± │ ≥ │ ≤ │ ⌠ │ ⌡ │ ÷ │ ≈ │ ° │ ∙ │ · │ √ │ ⁿ │ ² │ ■ │   │
│240│241│242│243│244│245│246│247│248│249│250│251│252│253│254│255│
└───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘