# scanimage --help: not working as designed?



## tingo (May 15, 2011)

I'm running scanimage from the latest sane-backends port:

```
tingo@kg-v2$ scanimage --version
scanimage (sane-backends) 1.0.21; backend version 1.0.21
```
and running on 8.1-stable (not that I think the FreeBSD version matters)

```
tingo@kg-v2$ uname -a
FreeBSD kg-v2.kg4.no 8.1-STABLE FreeBSD 8.1-STABLE #3: Thu Sep 16 22:18:48 CEST 2010     root@kg-v2.kg4.no:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/GENERIC  amd64
```
Now, according to the man page for scanimage, I should be able to do 
`$ scanimage --help -d epson2`
and get a list of options that this backend supports. Here is what I get:

```
tingo@kg-v2$ scanimage --help -d epson2
Usage: scanimage [OPTION]...

Start image acquisition on a scanner device and write image data to
standard output.

Parameters are separated by a blank from single-character options (e.g.
-d epson) and by a "=" from multi-character options (e.g. --device-name=epson).
-d, --device-name=DEVICE   use a given scanner device (e.g. hp:/dev/scanner)
    --format=pnm|tiff      file format of output file
-i, --icc-profile=PROFILE  include this ICC profile into TIFF file
-L, --list-devices         show available scanner devices
-f, --formatted-device-list=FORMAT similar to -L, but the FORMAT of the output
                           can be specified: %d (device name), %v (vendor),
                           %m (model), %t (type), %i (index number), and
                           %n (newline)
-b, --batch[=FORMAT]       working in batch mode, FORMAT is `out%d.pnm' or
                           `out%d.tif' by default depending on --format
    --batch-start=#        page number to start naming files with
    --batch-count=#        how many pages to scan in batch mode
    --batch-increment=#    increase page number in filename by #
    --batch-double         increment page number by two, same as
                           --batch-increment=2
    --batch-prompt         ask for pressing a key before scanning a page
    --accept-md5-only      only accept authorization requests using md5
-p, --progress             print progress messages
-n, --dont-scan            only set options, don't actually scan
-T, --test                 test backend thoroughly
-h, --help                 display this help message and exit
-v, --verbose              give even more status messages
-B, --buffer-size=#        change input buffer size (in kB, default 32)
-V, --version              print version information
scanimage: open of device epson2 failed: Invalid argument
Type ``scanimage --help -d DEVICE'' to get list of all options for DEVICE.

List of available devices:
    snapscan:libusb:/dev/usb:/dev/ugen2.2
```

On Linux (Xubuntu 10.10) this works as designed.
I have also tried some variations:
`$ scanimage --help -d epson2:net`
`$ scanimage --help -d epson2:net:`
but neither works. However, if I try with the full path:
`$ scanimage --help -d epson2:net:10.1.161.8`
I get the expected output. Partial output:

```
Options specific to device `epson2:net:10.1.161.8':
  Scan Mode:
    --mode Lineart|Gray|Color [Lineart]
        Selects the scan mode (e.g., lineart, monochrome, or color).
    --depth 8 [inactive]
        Number of bits per sample, typical values are 1 for "line-art" and 8
        for multibit scans.
```

This problem should perhaps be corrected?


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