Re: simple OCR in php

On Fri, 2007-06-29 at 22:57 +0200, M. Sokolewicz wrote: > Robert Cummings wrote: > > On Fri, 2007-06-29 at 11:32 -0500, Jay Blanchard wrote: > >> [snip] > >> I am looking for a way to incorporate some simple OCR into a php script. > >> The > >> user will bulk scan a pile of invoices. I want the php script to look at > >> each > >> invoice and read a number off the invoice. The image will then be > >> renamed, > >> and be organized into a directory and the file name will be added to a > >> database. (all of these steps are straight forward once the number is > >> read.) > >> I have no problem with a system that requires a special OCR font and/or > >> some > >> sort of registration mark to help locate the Invoice number. Can anybody > >> tell > >> me of any tools out there that can do this? > >> [/snip] > >> > >> In short PHP cannot perform OCR functions. You could insert an OCR > >> application into the process and have the OCR app pass PHP the > >> information. > > > > Why can PHP not perform OCR functions? > > > > Cheers, > > Rob. > > It's not so much impossible to perform OCR as it is unrealistic to do > so. PHP contains only the very most basic support for such things, not > to mention there are barely any (OS) libraries for PHP to do this, it's > simply not realistic to try and make one if you're "on your own". Other > languages (ie. C) have libraries, written by people specifically for > this purpose, so it seems clear to me: PHP is (currently) not the most > realistic language to try and do OCR with, instead it'd be a lot easier > (at this point) to "borrow" from another. Be this a low-level library in > C, or a full-blown package, it doesn't matter. Well I agree with that, but as you indicate, it is possible to do it in PHP, just not particularly practical :) Cheers, Rob. -- .------------------------------------------------------------. | InterJinn Application Framework - http://www.interjinn.com | :------------------------------------------------------------: | An application and templating framework for PHP. Boasting | | a powerful, scalable system for accessing system services | | such as forms, properties, sessions, and caches. InterJinn | | also provides an extremely flexible architecture for | | creating re-usable components quickly and easily. | `------------------------------------------------------------'