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Doc2Fax API

Configurable Programming Interface for your own Fax application

The Direct Fax Problem and its solution

Obviously it is quite complicated and inelegant to first print a digital document and then to have the fax device re-digitalize the printed paper again before finally sending it to the addressee.

Hardware components like Fritz Card, ISDN Card and such overcome this problem by virtually establishing a short circuit between computer and telephone line - and along with them a huge market for Fax Software arised, which drives these hardware components in order to send data through them.

Now if you as a programmer or software developer intend to offer your clients a tailor-made Fax Software, by which the end user can print his digital documents - for example think of an MS Word *.doc - without fax device, virtually directly into the telephone line, then you encounter two basic problems:

  • How is my software supposed to know when the user requests the print process, or fax process, respectively ?

  • How is my software supposed to get access to the graphical data and the text of the digital document destined to be printed, or faxed, respectively ?

The only solution:

A printer driver, which writes the graphical data and the text of the digital document destined to be printed, or faxed, respectively, into files, and notifies your software about all print processes, print events and filenames, so that your software can react to it – and all that is done by Doc2Fax printer driver.

Target Group: To whom does Doc2Fax API address ?

Occasionally prospective buyers call us asking why they would want to buy Doc2Fax API, when for example the driver of company Peernet, which in principle works the same way as the Doc2Fax driver does, is on the market for less than 100 Euro ? – Quite simple:

The mentioned price refers to one single end user licence only. The Peernet driver addresses to end users who e.g. do not mind the Peernet logo to appear on the driver’s every Property Page (where users for example set page size and resolution), and for whom it does not matter which printer name and manufacturer e.g. is displayed on the Print Dialog or during installation.

Doc2Fax API on the other hand addresses to software developers who want to offer their customers a Fax Software including a driver, which displays a printer name and manufacturer freely selectable by the software developer. So Doc2Fax API’s price refers to a developer licence with unlimited number of end user licences.

Doc2Fax API enables you to configure a printer driver as required without any entry knowledge on printer driver programming or generally on programming at all:

// Doc2Fax.ini
// copyright DriverLab 2007

[Setup]
DeviceName=Doc2Fax API
DriverName=Doc2Fax API Driver
Manufacturer=DriverLab
FaxResolution=209
OutputPath=C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\


// +++++++++++ applications to notify at certain events +++++++++++++
// if you do not need to take any action at a certain print event, for
// example StartDoc, then just leave the right hand side of the "=" empty

[NotifyApp]
StartDoc=C:\WINDOWS\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\3\NotifyApp.exe
SendPage=C:\WINDOWS\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\3\NotifyApp.exe
EndDoc=C:\WINDOWS\System32\spool\DRIVERS\W32X86\3\NotifyApp.exe


// +++++++++++ paper sizes - unit: 1/10 millimeter +++++++++++++

[Paper1]
PaperName ="A4"
ShortEdgeLength =2100
LongEdgeLength =2970
ImageableAreaShortEdgeLength =2100
ImageableAreaLongEdgeLength =2970

[Paper2]
PaperName ="A4 three quarters"
ShortEdgeLength =2100
LongEdgeLength =2227
ImageableAreaShortEdgeLength =2100
ImageableAreaLongEdgeLength =2227


Mode of operation

When user requests a digital document (for example *.doc., *.ppt, *.xls, *.html, …) to be printed, the Doc2Fax printer driver

  • puts out one black-and-white-image in bitmap format (*.bmp) containing the graphic information for each page of the document to be printed (alternatively on demand a multipage TIFF-F aka Fax Group 3)

  • puts out one txt-file containing the text information for each page of the document to be printed. This later on allows keyword search, especially in large fax documents.

  • on print events like

    • StartDoc
    • EndPage
    • EndDoc

    it starts the program or application, which you as software developer have scheduled for this case in configuration file Doc2Fax.ini. Depending on the type of print event, the driver provides useful information in the command line arguments like for example the name of the bitmap-file or txt-file it just recently put out.

    Typically e.g. in the program for event "EndPage", which receives the name of the bmp-file containing the graphic information of the page just recently put out by the driver, you as the programmer would open this bmp-file, then eventually convert the *.bmp to a *.jpg or manipulate the image in any other way and then forward it for example to the ISDN card.

References

Since 2001, Doc2Fax API printer driver has been used (amongst others) in the following software products:

Price:

A developer licence for Doc2Fax API costs 298 €.


Operating system:

Printer drivers are no programms, but extensions of the operating system. Doc2Fax API is suitable for

  • Windows 2000
  • Windows Server 2000
  • Windows XP
  • Windows Server 2003
  • Windows Vista
  • and Windows Server 2008

(Furthermore, so to speak for reasons of downwards compatibility there is a version for

  • Windows 95
  • Windows 98
  • and Windows ME,

which you can request at info@driverlab.de at a small surcharge.)

Doc2Fax API does not work under any other operating system.

 

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