It is not possible to predict the storage requirement for an incoming fax, other than to say that short, low resolution faxes with a lot of white space take up much less room than long, complex, blacker, high resolution faxes. For example, a half page, low res, A4 text may need 10-20 Kb, while the infamous PostScript golfing lady at A4 high res requires around 125 Kb, and a G3 encoding of `tiger.ps' from the GhostScript distribution would require 286 Kb; this would generate a reception error on many standalone fax devices (wonder how I know that ?), presumably because they buffer pages in RAM, and don't have 286 Kb to spare. You must ensure that your reception media has enough free space for any unattended use (a 720 Kb flp_ disk will typically hold 12-15 A4 pages), and if you are using the VIA parameter, your intermediate device has plenty of free space (RAM).
QFAX has been developed using a ZyXEL 1496E+ modem. It works on ZyXEL products with default settings in both Class 2 and Class 2.0 modes.
QFAX should work on any fax modem that is EIA Class 2 or Class 2.0 compliant. I have received the following information from Dave Woodman concerning Supra v.32bis Fax Modems.
AT+FLID="123456"
)
Due to contention for the serial hardware (on a QL), you cannot use
qfax
with another program that also uses serial input, like the
otherwise excellent SerMouse
. If you use SerMouse
, then
you must `sermoff' and preferably remove the mouse cable
from the computer.
superHermes provides a reliable serial mouse interface that works very well.
If you have a problem with this software, then contact me by email (qfax-bugs@jrhudson.demon.co.uk), BBS, fax, phone or letter. I will probably need the following information to investigate most problems:
qfax
).
You may imagine that I will know exactly what versions of hardware and software you are using; I don't. If you can't be bothered to give the information I need to investigate the problem, then it is unlikely that I will do so.
I am grateful to Graham Goodwin, Wayne Weedon, Don Walterman, John
Impellizzeri, Davide Santachiara,
Dave Woodman, Phil Borman and Jim Gilmour and many others for providing
the information that has made the development of QFAX possible.
QFAX has been influenced by some other fax programs including the
Unix NetFax
software by David M Siegel, efax
by Ed Casas,
the Atari HackFax
software by Helmut E Neumann. Without the
generosity of these programmers making their work freely distributable,
QFAX would not have been written.
If you are interested in developing freely distributable fax or QFAX compatible software and would like to use QFAX source code, please contact me with your requirements. The latest code will be made available without obligation.
If you are developing commercial (or shareware) software and would like to include QFAX code then you should contact me for licensing details.
Graham Goodwin has beta tested innumerable versions to, and often beyond, destruction; and has suggested many of the features in QFAX. Without Graham's enthusiasm for a Class 2 fax solution, this project would not have been completed.
Tony Firshman supplied FOC a "developer's upgrade" to Minerva, the Minerva manual, and a superHermes to play with.
The `qfax_font' is copyright (C) ZyXEL Communications Corporation, it is the same font as provided with their PC `ZFax' utility. I am grateful to ZyXEL Corp. for permission to include this font with the QFAX system. I am also pleased to recommend their modems, QFAX is developed and tested using a ZyXEL U1496E+ modem.
QFAX is written using c68 `C', running as a cross-compiler under Linux.
The following programs are not part of the QFAX distribution, but maybe of interest.
gs
ghostscript
, Postscript to fax (and many printers). A
'QFAX' aware version is available from the usual freeware
sources. Requires > 2Mb ram.
fax2tiff
libtiff
source code) is
available. QFAX images converted using this program may be imported
into (inter alia), the following TIFF aware programs.
ADPRO (Amiga)
MS Word (IBM PC & Mac)
Adobe Photoshop (Mac)
xv (X-Window (UNIX, VMS etc))
These are programs I have access to.
class2_txt
class2_doc
Quintessenial Voice Mail
I will be delighted to hear from QFAX users, particularly by fax, and I would like to maintain a list of modems known to work with QFAX. So, if QFAX works on your modem, why not send me a fax ?
I am intrigued by how many people might actually be using this
software. On the basis of correspondence, the number seems to be about
25. If a fax is too much trouble (too expensive), then a post card
(picture of where you live) would be nice. And if you're using Lester's
LFAX
for a Class One modem, send him a post card as well. If we
feel we're wasting our time, we might not bother again. (Ok, you know
I'm bluffing).
Thanks to Frits Hotsteenge for the postcard (so there is one QFAX user!).
Jonathan Hudson, Copse View, Priestlands Close, Woodlands, Southampton, Hants SO40 7GD. Email: jrh@jrhudson.demon.co.uk Tel/Fax : +44 (0)1703 867843 FidnoNet: 2:251/126.11