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+% libuca -- A Unified Camera Access Interface
+% Matthias Vogelgesang [matthias.vogelgesang@kit.edu]
+
+libuca is a light-weight camera abstraction library, focused on scientific
+cameras used at the ANKA synchrotron.
+
+# Quickstart
+
+## Installation
+
+Before installing `libuca` itself, you should install any drivers and SDKs
+needed to access the cameras you want to access through `libuca`.
+
+## Building from source
+
+Building the library and installing from source is simple and straightforward.
+Make sure you have
+
+* CMake,
+* a C compiler,
+* GLib and GObject development libraries and
+* necessary camera SDKs
+
+installed. With Debian/Ubuntu this should be enough:
+
+    sudo apt-get install libglib2.0 cmake gcc
+
+In case you want to use the graphical user interface you also need the Gtk+
+development libraries:
+
+    sudo apt-get install libgtk+2.0-dev
+
+If you want to build the most recent version fresh from the [Git
+repository][repo], you also need Git:
+
+    sudo apt-get install git
+
+[repo]: http://ufo.kit.edu/repos/libuca.git/
+
+### Fetching the sources
+
+Untar the distribution
+
+    untar xfz libuca-x.y.z.tar.gz
+
+or clone the repository
+
+    git clone http://ufo.kit.edu/git/libuca
+
+and create a new, empty build directory inside:
+
+    cd libuca/
+    mkdir build
+
+
+### Configuring and building
+
+Now you need to create the Makefile with CMake. Go into the build directory and
+point CMake to the `libuca` top-level directory:
+
+    cd build/
+    cmake ..
+
+As long as the last line reads "Build files have been written to", the
+configuration stage is successful. In this case you can build `libuca` with
+
+    make
+
+and install with
+
+    sudo make install
+
+If an _essential_ dependency could not be found, the configuration stage will stop
+and build files will not be written. If a _non-essential_ dependency (such as a
+certain camera SDK) is not found, the configuration stage will continue but that
+particular camera support not built.
+
+If you want to customize the build process you can pass several variables to
+CMake:
+
+    cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr -DLIB_SUFFIX=64
+
+The former tells CMake to install into `/usr` instead of `/usr/local` and the
+latter that 64 should be appended to any library paths. This is necessary on
+Linux distributions that expect 64-bit libraries in `/usr[/local]/lib64`.
+
+
+### Building this manual
+
+Make sure you have [Pandoc][] installed. With Debian/Ubuntu this can be achieved
+with
+
+    sudo apt-get install pandoc
+
+Once done, go into `docs/` and type
+
+    make [all|pdf|html]
+
+[Pandoc]: http://johnmacfarlane.net/pandoc/
+
+
+## First look at the API
+
+The API for accessing cameras is straightforward. First you need to include the
+necessary header files:
+
+~~~ {.c}
+#include <glib-object.h>
+#include <uca-camera.h>
+~~~
+
+Then you need to setup the type system:
+
+~~~ {.c}
+int
+main (int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+    UcaCamera *camera;
+    GError *error = NULL; /* this _must_ be set to NULL */
+
+    g_type_init ();
+~~~
+
+Now you can instantiate new camera _objects_. Each camera is identified by a
+human-readable string, in this case we want to access any pco camera that is
+supported by [libpco][]:
+
+~~~ {.c}
+    camera = uca_camera_new ("pco", &error);
+~~~
+
+Errors are indicated with a returned value `NULL` and `error` set to a value
+other than `NULL`:
+
+~~~ {.c}
+    if (camera == NULL) {
+        g_error ("Initialization: %s", error->message);
+        return 1;
+    }
+~~~
+
+You should always remove the [reference][gobject-references] from the camera
+object when not using it in order to free all associated resources:
+
+~~~ {.c}
+    g_object_unref (camera);
+    return 0;
+}
+~~~
+
+Compile this program with
+
+    cc `pkg-config --cflags --libs libuca glib-2.0` foo.c -o foo
+
+[libpco]: http://ufo.kit.edu/repos/libpco.git/
+[gobject-references]: http://developer.gnome.org/gobject/stable/gobject-memory.html#gobject-memory-refcount
+
+### Grabbing frames
+
+To synchronously grab frames, first start the camera:
+
+~~~ {.c}
+    uca_camera_start_recording (camera, &error);
+    g_assert_no_error (error);
+~~~
+
+Now you have two options with regard to memory buffers. If you already have a
+suitable sized buffer, just pass it to `uca_camera_grab`. Otherwise pass a
+pointer pointing to `NULL` (this is different from a `NULL` pointer!). In this
+case memory will be allocated for you:
+
+~~~ {.c}
+    gpointer buffer_1 = NULL;   /* A pointer pointing to NULL */
+    gpointer buffer_2 = g_malloc0 (640 * 480 * 2);
+
+    /* Memory will be allocated. Remember to free it! */
+    uca_camera_grab (camera, &buffer_1, &error);
+
+    /* Memory buffer will be used */
+    uca_camera_grab (camera, &buffer_2, &error);
+~~~
+
+
+### Getting and setting camera parameters
+
+Because camera parameters vary tremendously between different vendors and
+products, they are realized with so-called GObject _properties_, a mechanism
+that maps string keys to typed and access restricted values. To get a value, you
+use the `g_object_get` function and provide memory where the result is stored:
+
+~~~ {.c}
+    guint roi_width;
+    gdouble exposure_time;
+
+    g_object_get (G_OBJECT(camera),
+                  "roi-width", &roi_width,
+                  "exposure-time", &exposure_time,
+                  /* The NULL marks the end! */
+                  NULL
+                  );
+
+    g_print ("Width of the region of interest: %d\n", roi_width);
+    g_print ("Exposure time: %3.5s\n", exposure_time);
+~~~
+
+In a similar way, properties are set with `g_object_set`:
+
+~~~ {.c}
+    guint roi_width = 512;
+    gdouble exposure_time = 0.001;
+
+    g_object_set (G_OBJECT(camera),
+                  "roi-width", roi_width,
+                  "exposure-time", exposure_time,
+                  NULL);
+~~~
+
+Several essential camera parameters _must_ be implemented by all cameras. To get
+a list of them consult the API reference for `UcaCamera`. For camera specific
+parameters you need to consult the corresponding API reference for
+`UfoFooCamera`.
+
+
+# Tools
+
+Several tools are available to ensure `libuca` works as expected. All of them
+are located in `build/test/` and some of them are installed with `make
+installed`.
+
+## `grab` -- grabbing frames
+
+Grab with frames with
+
+    $ ./grab camera-model
+
+store them on disk as `frame-00000.raw`, `frame-000001.raw` ... and measure the
+time to take them. The raw format is not format but a memory dump of the
+buffers, so you might want to use [ImageJ][] to view them.
+
+[ImageJ]: http://rsbweb.nih.gov/ij/
+
+## `control` -- simple graphical user interface
+
+Shows the frames and displays them on screen. Moreover, you can change the
+camera properties in a side pane.
+
+## `benchmark` -- check bandwidth
+
+Measure the memory bandwidth by taking subsequent frames and averaging the
+grabbing time:
+
+    $ ./benchmark mock
+    # --- General information ---
+    # Sensor size: 640x480
+    # ROI size: 640x480
+    # Exposure time: 0.000010s
+    # type      n_frames  n_runs    frames/s        MiB/s
+      sync      100       3         29848.98        8744.82
+      async     100       3         15739.43        4611.16
+
+# Integrating a new camera