When a program runs under Citrix/Terminal Services, it is of course running
on a server but 'thinks' it is running on a client workstation. The question is
- how does scanning work in this emulated environment? Under Windows Terminal
Services (WTS) / Remote Desktop (RDP), TWAIN is generally not available: The TWAIN DataSource Manager
(DSM) is typically not present at all.
Citrix, starting with Presentation Server 4.0 (PS), provides some level of
TWAIN redirection: This means that TWAIN requests by an application are
redirected through PS to the client workstation where they are routed to the
client's local TWAIN devices. We think that Citrix put significant care and
effort into their TWAIN Redirector, unfortunately it works with only some
scanners. Several customers have found scanners that work perfectly outside of
the Citrix session, but scanning hangs from an application in a Citrix
session.
We do not support scanning under Windows Terminal Services / Remote Desktop (WTS/RDP) unless you use a 3rd party TWAIN
'remoting' solution such as RemoteScan. Under Citrix, we encourage customers to
experiment if they have specific scanners: Many will work. However, if your
scanning code fails inside of Citrix but works outside, we may not be able to
resolve the problem.
Code Changes Needed in DotTwain
When scanning through Citrix it's possible that the device ID will change
between calls to open the source manager. This will cause the Device objects in
Acquisition.Devices to fail when trying to connect.
To work around this, when scanning in Citrix, you must use the Acquisition.CreateDeviceSession method. It will
create a new disposable Device object that can be used once and thrown away.
For this to work, you must provide a parent for the Acquisition object and call
Dispose on the Device when you're finished with the scan.
Attached to this article is an example project showing how to use
CreateDeviceSession; both C# and VB projects are provided.
2023-10-27 - Sample app rebuilt to target .NET Framework 4.5.2 instead of .NET Framework 3.5
Original Article:
Q10238 - HOWTO: Scan through Citrix