5. User FAQ¶

5.1. How to get help or report an issue ?¶

There is no mailing list or forum actually, so you can either contact me or fill an issue on Github.

If you encounter an issue, please fill an issue on the Issue Tracker.

5.2. Why a Qt User Interface instead of a web application ?¶

A web application could be an option for such software.

However it is easier to make a scanner interface on a desktop application, since a web application would requires either a browser API or a server running on the machine. Another solution would be to use a framework such as Electron with a scanner API and try to share code between a web and desktop application.

In addition Qt QML code tends to be cleaner, easier to maintain, and run faster. While a web application has a more powerful style engine but at the cost of increased complexity.

Desktop applications also have the advantage of being less open, while web browser implement a development interface. It is a nice feature if you want to prevent lambda users from distributing digitised books, because it is necessary to hack the frontend to save data.

5.3. Why Python instead of C++ ?¶

Simply because it is faster to develop and maintain a Python code, at the cost of a bit slower and less portable application. However parts of the Python code could be rewritten in modern C++ without much difficulty.

5.4. Why not store digitised book in a PDF ?¶

PDF format is able to store page as image at the cost of a large file. But it has the advantage of being a portable container.

However a PDF is only a good approach when the digitisation process is completely achieved and we don’t expect to modify the content afterwards. While a page image on disk is easier and faster to update.