[sane-devel] Re: new SANE hpoj backend

[Michael Piotrowski]

Henning Meier-Geinitz <henning at meier-geinitz.de> writes:

>> On a related topic as a follow-up to the recent discussion on adding new
>> device types to the SANE standard, the hpoj backend supports a wide
>> variety of devices with different ADF/flatbed capabilities: flatbed_only,
>> scrollfed_only, flatbed+ADF, and flatbed+scrollfed_ADF.  Currently the
>> SANE standard specifies "flatbed scanner" and "sheetfed scanner" (among
>> others).  Would it be acceptable for me to use a more generic string such
>> as "multi-function peripheral" or "all-in-one" so I don't have to return
>> a different string based on the device's ADF/flatbed capabilities?
>> That would also make sense because I will likely add fax-receive support
>> to a future version of the hpoj backend.  (I apologize for not bringing
>> this up earlier when Henning was soliciting input on this matter.)
>
> Maybe something like "other scanner" (because it's definitely not a
> camera or virtual device? Is there an Englisg expression for a scanner
> that can use different sources? "multi-function peripheral" or
> "all-in-one" sounds a bit too generic for me. Hm, "generic scanner"?

As a linguist ;-) I think "multi-function peripheral" isn't a bad
term.  A "generic scanner" is a _scanner_, but a "multi-function
peripheral" is (in _this_ context) a device that is not only a scanner
but also has other functions.

Also, I think that in actual usage the term "multi-function
peripheral" is typically applied to OfficeJets and similar devices
integrating scanning, printing, and faxing; although other peripherals
also have multiple functions, like, say, cameras that can also record
sound, I don't think you'd typically call them "multi-function
peripherals".

-- 
Michael Piotrowski, M.A.                                  <mxp at dynalabs.de>