Re: Introducing GrabText app and financing problem
- From: Storm Dragon <stormdragon2976@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2010 11:40:24 -0400
Hi,
If there is a Windows version of a utility called cuneiform, it could
possibly serve as a open source replacement to the nonfree component of
your program. I am not sure about a Windows version, but it may be worth
checking in to because it is reported to be a very good piece of ocr
software.
Storm
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On Sat, 2010-03-27 at 11:28 -0400, Jamal Mazrui wrote:
> Addendum. If GrabText is built with a developer-licensed version of the
> Text Grab SDK, then I think Don's program, or any other (including a
> Window-Eyes or JAWS script) could run GrabText.exe as a support utility,
> e.g., extracting text to a temporary file and then using that text.
>
> Jamal
>
>
> On 3/27/2010 11:02 AM, Jamal Mazrui wrote:
> > Hi Don,
> > There is overlap, but I still think your MODI-based application has
> > distinct features. GrabText only works with visible windows, not hidden
> > ones or image files on disk. I think it could capture text from a PDF a
> > screen at a time (have not actually tried this), but it could not
> > extract all PDF text at once. It can extract text in almost any font
> > installed on the computer, but it cannot perform OCR on an image of
> > text, e.g., a captcha (whereas MODI can presumably do that to some extent).
> >
> > Feel free to use any of the code or its ideas, which might be helpful
> > given your recent list questions. There are automatic converters from C#
> > to VB .NET if you prefer VB.
> >
> > GrabText uses the Layout by Code library I developed for .NET, which
> > makes it easy to define forms that automatically size to fit controls
> > (no pixel coordinates need to be specified). Homer.NET is included with
> > the GrabText distribution, and also separately available at
> > http://EmpowermentZone.com/hnsetup.zip
> >
> > GrabText also makes use of an Inno Setup installer script that
> > automatically installs the .NET Framework 2.0 if it is not found on the
> > client computer. That file is gtsetup.iss, located in the GrabText
> > program folder.
> >
> > Let me know if you have more questions. I am glad to collaborate in
> > whatever ways are productive for us and the community.
> >
> > Jamal
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 3/27/2010 9:59 AM, Donald Marang wrote:
> >> Would this SDK ve able to convert an entire PDF image file into text?
> >> Would it convert the current page, even what is not visible? If so,
> >> could this be incorporated into your PDF2Text software? I have not used
> >> this application yet, but I should so I can read all of the Car
> >> Insurance documents I just signed.
> >>
> >> I would be willing to contribute $30 to this project. I have only
> >> downloaded your GrabText software so far, but have not had time to try
> >> it so far. It sounds superior to what I have been working on. I suppose
> >> this would allow you to build a module for my QuickOCR application for
> >> that OCR Engine. But that would probably require the new, bundled,
> >> combined application to be distributed from your site to comply with the
> >> SDK license. It would probably not make any sense to have two similarr
> >> applications distributed on your site. I may retire my application
> >> before I get to version 1.0. Well I built it to meet my needs, to pass a
> >> handy utility on to others for free, and to catch up to application
> >> development in this decade. If this financing thing works out, I will
> >> have met all three goals.
> >>
> >> Don Marang
> >>
> >> --------------------------------------------------
> >> From: "Jamal Mazrui" <empower@xxxxxxxxx>
> >> Sent: Saturday, March 27, 2010 7:36 AM
> >> To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >> Cc: "qubit" <lauraeaves@xxxxxxxxx>
> >> Subject: Re: Introducing GrabText app and financing problem
> >>
> >>> Thanks for the questions. As Tyler figured, the developer license is
> >>> for a single individual. This could be anyone since the GragText code
> >>> is open source and can be recompiled. Since I am the most familiar
> >>> with its code, I am suggesting one option of covering a license for me.
> >>>
> >>> Another option is for someone to buy the individual license, which
> >>> works on a single computer. I did that ($29) to verify that approach
> >>> works. The trial version presents a message box saying the number of
> >>> days left and giving a hardware ID for the current computer. You send
> >>> that ID number after your purchase, and the company sends back an
> >>> individually tailored user name and licence key. You can then input
> >>> that in the GrabText Options dialog. After that, the trial message box
> >>> will no longer be presented.
> >>>
> >>> It is my understanding that, with a developer license, I could compile
> >>> the code in such a way that no one needs to buy a single computer
> >>> license. If someone gains a different interpretation from the
> >>> company's web site or documentation, however, please let us know.
> >>>
> >>> Let me know if you or others have more questions.
> >>>
> >>> Jamal
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On 3/26/2010 8:31 PM, qubit wrote:
> >>>> I just wondered if the license would make it free for everyone or
> >>>> just the
> >>>> person who paid the $699.
> >>>> --le
> >>>>
> >>>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>>> From: "Tyler Littlefield"<tyler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >>>> To:<programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >>>> Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 7:29 PM
> >>>> Subject: Re: Introducing GrabText app and financing problem
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> I think he wants people to contribute so that the software will be free
> >>>> rather than requiring a license.
> >>>> Thanks,
> >>>> Tyler Littlefield
> >>>> http://tds-solutions.net
> >>>> Twitter: sorressean
> >>>>
> >>>> On Mar 26, 2010, at 6:27 PM, qubit wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>> Jamal, are you suggesting that individuals pay $699 for a developers
> >>>>> license? or are you asking people to send in contributions toward one
> >>>>> person
> >>>>> getting the developers license?
> >>>>> If one person buys the $699 license, does that make it possible for
> >>>>> multiple
> >>>>> persons to access the source? or is that restricted?
> >>>>> Sorry, just trying to iron out the terms.
> >>>>> TIA
> >>>>> --le
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>>>> From: "Jamal Mazrui"<empower@xxxxxxxxx>
> >>>>> To:<ProgrammingBlind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>;<Program-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >>>>> Sent: Friday, March 26, 2010 5:33 PM
> >>>>> Subject: Introducing GrabText app and financing problem
> >>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Now available at
> >>>>> http://EmpowermentZone.com/gtsetup.exe
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Thanks go to Donald Marang for getting me interested in the topic of
> >>>>> screen OCR. My searches did not find a satisfactory free solution
> >>>>> (Google
> >>>>> Tesseract, for example, does poorly on screen images). I did find and
> >>>>> compare several commercial OCR libraries. Typically, an individual
> >>>>> license costs in the hundreds of dollars, and a developer license in
> >>>>> the
> >>>>> thousands -- often, with royalties charged for each distributed
> >>>>> program.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I did find what seems like a worthwhile solution: Text Grab SDK by
> >>>>> Renovation Software. Based on this library, GrabText can conveniently
> >>>>> extract and gather text from almost any application windows. An
> >>>>> individual license for the COM server library is $29 and a single
> >>>>> developer license is $699. If you want to consider contributing to a
> >>>>> way
> >>>>> of making GrabText freely available, read about the financing issue
> >>>>> in the
> >>>>> initial documentation, pasted below.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Source code is in the GrabText.cs file in the GrabText program folder.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Jamal
> >>>>>
> >>>>> [Initial documentation]
> >>>>>
> >>>>> GrabText
> >>>>> Beta 0.6
> >>>>> March 26, 2010
> >>>>> Copyright 2010 by Jamal Mazrui
> >>>>> GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL)
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Description
> >>>>>
> >>>>> GrabText is a command-line utility and dialog interface for grabbing
> >>>>> text
> >>>>> from the screen. The command-line syntax is
> >>>>>
> >>>>> GrabText.exe SourceArea TargetOutput UserName LicenseKey
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The first parameter specifies the area of the screen to serve as the
> >>>>> source of text. The choices are ActiveWindow, FocusControl, CaretClip,
> >>>>> MouseClip, EveryArea, and PickWindow. Capitalization does not matter.
> >>>>> ActiveWindow is the most common choice, referring to the top-level
> >>>>> window
> >>>>> that is currently active. FocusControl refers to the control within
> >>>>> that
> >>>>> window that has focus. CaretClip or MouseClip refer to the string of
> >>>>> text
> >>>>> at the caret or mouse position, respectively. EveryArea combines the
> >>>>> previous four areas into a longer string. PickWindow presents a
> >>>>> list of
> >>>>> top-level windows from which to choose.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The second parameter specifies what to do with the text: Voice (say
> >>>>> it),
> >>>>> MessageBox (display in a standard message box), Clipboard (append to
> >>>>> the
> >>>>> clipboard), or File (append to a file). The Voice, Clipboard, and File
> >>>>> options are On by default. The default file name is
> >>>>> GrabTextOutput.txt,
> >>>>> stored in the GrabText data directory, which is located at
> >>>>> %AppData%\GrabText
> >>>>>
> >>>>> A configuration file, GrabText.ini, is also stored there. If a
> >>>>> parameter
> >>>>> is not specified on the command line, its value is retrieved from the
> >>>>> configuration file, if present.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The UserName and LicenseKey parameters are needed because GrabText
> >>>>> depends
> >>>>> on a commercial programming library called Text Grab SDK (software
> >>>>> development kit), available from the web site
> >>>>> http://renovation-software.com
> >>>>>
> >>>>> At the time of this writing, a single license costs $29. The trial
> >>>>> version, distributed with GrabText, lasts for two weeks. Rather than
> >>>>> buying an individual license, consider contributing to the cost of a
> >>>>> developer license for the author of GrabText. This costs $699. It
> >>>>> would
> >>>>> enable GrabText to be fully and freely functional for any user. Note
> >>>>> that
> >>>>> GrabText, itself, is open source, and no compensation is sought for
> >>>>> its
> >>>>> use. If anyone is able to set up a PayPal or equivalent site to be
> >>>>> transparent about any money collection effort, please say so.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The default hotkey for invoking GrabText is Alt+Control+F8. This
> >>>>> may be
> >>>>> changed by modifying properties of the GrabText shortcut on the
> >>>>> Windows
> >>>>> desktop.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> The installer, gtsetup.exe, creates a GrabText program group in the
> >>>>> Windows Start Menu, with options for launching the program,
> >>>>> uninstalling
> >>>>> it, or reading this ddocumentation. The default program folder is
> >>>>> C:\Program Files\GrabText
> >>>>>
> >>>>> GrabText needs to be invoked with a global hotkey so you can extract
> >>>>> from
> >>>>> the current application window. Once launched, the program remains in
> >>>>> memory until you explicitly terminate it. Subsequent invocations of
> >>>>> the
> >>>>> GrabText hotkey activate the current program in memory rather than
> >>>>> loading
> >>>>> additional copies.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> There is another desktop shortcut called GrabTextOptions. By
> >>>>> default, it
> >>>>> uses the same hotkey with a Shift added: Alt+Control+Shift+F8. It
> >>>>> may be
> >>>>> invoked either with its hotkey or from the desktop. This invokes a
> >>>>> dialog
> >>>>> with configuration options and utilities. The UserName and
> >>>>> LicenseKey may
> >>>>> be specified. You may change settings for the screen area or output
> >>>>> type.
> >>>>> You may inspect or clear the clipboard. You may pick an output file,
> >>>>> open
> >>>>> it, remove it, or browse the GrabText data folder. You may restore
> >>>>> default settings, or present this documentation in your web browser.
> >>>>> You
> >>>>> may quit running GrabText. All controls of the dialog have unique
> >>>>> Alt+Letter combinations -- except for the Cancel button, which is
> >>>>> activated directly with the Escape key.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I welcome feedback, which helps GrabText improve over time.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Jamal Mazrui
> >>>>> jamal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >>>>>
> >>>>> __________
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