In The Hand

Emulating Bluetooth

PeterFoot — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:31:00 GMT

Alex Yakhnin pointed out this interesting article over on CodeProject showing how to use Bluetooth from within the Windows Mobile emulator:-

http://blogs.msdn.com/priozersk/archive/2009/04/09/bluetooth-on-the-emulator.aspx

Unfortunately it does require you to replace the stack on your host machine with FreeBT which is currently in Alpha so have a look through the Troubleshooting section for known issues first. I know lots of people have requested this for when they don't have access to a real device so it may be useful for demonstrating applications or debugging even...

.NETCF 3.5 Breaking Changes

PeterFoot — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:12:00 GMT

I came across this useful list of breaking changes in the .NETCF 3.5 runtime and thought I'd blog it here before I lose the URL:-

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/bb986636.aspx

Samsung Release Windows Mobile SDK

PeterFoot — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:14:00 GMT

Samsung's Mobile Innovator program has released an SDK for Samsung specific APIs on their Windows Mobile devices. Although this is a native code SDK all the functions I looked at were very P/Invoke friendly. For example once you've installed the device-side cab you can query the luminance sensor using:-

[

DllImport("SamsungMobileSDK_1.dll")]

private static extern int SmiLightSensorGetIlluminance(out uint illuminance);

The exact features available vary depending on the device model but the SDK contains functionality for LEDs, Camera Flash, Light Sensor, Scroll Wheel, Accelerometer etc

You can download the SDK, and some Emulator skins for Samsung devices from here:-

http://innovator.samsungmobile.com/down/cnts/category.main.list.do?platformId=2&cateId=147&cateAll=all

Microsoft Tag

PeterFoot — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:47:00 GMT

Microsoft have released a new beta product for Windows Mobile (and also iPhone) called Microsoft Tag

http://www.microsoft.com/tag

This allows scanning of 2d barcodes with the device camera which can open specific URLs etc. The client software varies slightly depending on the capabilities of your device, on my Samsung Blackjack it offers realtime scanning - you just have to position the code roughly in a rectangular frame on the screen. On a HTC Touch device it invokes the camera capture dialog which is a lot more clunky.

Go to http://gettag.mobi on your device to download the client. You can sign in to the tag.microsoft.com website using a Passport and create new tags yourself. Apparently this will support other 2d barcode types in the future for now it uses HCCB an arrangement of coloured triangles.

The attached PDF contains a generated tag to get you started.

Have fun!

Interesting email from HTC support

PeterFoot — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:57:00 GMT

I was quite surprised at an email I got from HTC Support today in regards to a specific device update:-

"Hello,

There will be no Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrade for any HTC Touch device.

Please do not reply to this email as this email address is not monitored for replies.

Best regards,

Carolin

HTC Europe"

Live Mesh for Windows Mobile

PeterFoot — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:32:00 GMT

The Windows Mobile client for Live Mesh is now available. You can download it from your device from http://m.mesh.com

I've just installed it onto my phone and have been taking a look. On the desktop the Mesh client is quite tightly integrated into the explorer shell - it adds an extra pane alongside your folder windows showing the status of your synchronised folders. On devices the same level of integration is not possible (nor is there the screen real-estate). Therefore the mobile Mesh client runs as a separate application allowing you to manage which folders are synchronised. If you select a folder it opens separately in File Explorer to show the contents, you don't get any fancy icons to show the synchronisation status. The main menu in the Mesh client provides access to the members and news of that folder - the content you would normally see in the Mesh pane. This opens in an Internet Explorer window and is actually a mobile formatted version of the mesh web application. Also from the menu you can force a manual synchronisation and change the settings for automatic synchronisation.

In summary it is quite a simple client and does a good job of extending your Mesh files onto your mobile device. One of the key features is synchronisation of photos and it will automatically setup the \My Documents\My Pictures folder to synchronise with a "Mobile Pictures" folder in your Mesh. Unfortunately this wasn't immediately useful to me as I save photos to the storage card, but it's simple enough to setup Synchronisation of any other folder from the device.

Get the name of your executing .exe

PeterFoot — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:11:00 GMT

The Compact Framework doesn't support Assembly.GetEntryAssembly to determine the launching .exe. You can instead P/Invoke the native GetModuleFileName function like so:-

byte[] buffer = new byte[MAX_PATH * 2];

int chars = GetModuleFileName(IntPtr.Zero, buffer, MAX_PATH);

if (chars > 0)

{

string assemblyPath = System.Text.Encoding.Unicode.GetString(buffer, 0, chars * 2);

}

Where MAX_PATH is defined in the Windows CE headers as 260. The P/Invoke declaration for GetModuleFileName looks like this:-

[DllImport("coredll.dll", SetLastError = true)]

private static extern int GetModuleFileName(IntPtr hModule, byte[] lpFilename, int nSize);

The function expects a HMODULE - a handle to a native module. However passing IntPtr.Zero here indicates we want the module which created the process which is our .exe. This code will always return the path of the calling .exe regardless of if it is in a utility dll, or even a GAC assembly located in the \Windows folder.

Get the name of your executing .exe

Peter Foot — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:11:00 GMT

The Compact Framework doesn't support Assembly.GetEntryAssembly to determine the launching .exe. You can instead P/Invoke the native GetModuleFileName function like so:- byte[] buffer = new byte[MAX_PATH * 2]; int chars = GetModuleFileName(IntPtr.Zero, buffer, MAX_PATH); if (chars > 0) { string assemblyPath = System.Text.Encoding.Unicode.GetString(buffer, 0, chars * 2); } Where MAX_PATH is defined in the Windows CE headers as 260. The P/Invoke declaration for GetModuleFileName looks like this...(read more)

Home and Visiting Clocks in Professional Edition

PeterFoot — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:47:00 GMT

In Professional Edition (Pocket PC) devices the Clock control panel allows you to set a home timezone and a visiting zone and lets you toggle between them. If you need to retrieve the current settings they are stored in the registry in a key called HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Clock in a binary value called "AppInfo". Here is breakdown of that data:-

00,00,00,00,31,00,00,00,55,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,80,01,00,00,be,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

The first 4 bytes contains an integer which is 1 if in the home zone, and 0 if visiting.

The next 4 bytes always seems to be 0x31

The next 4 bytes are the index into the timezone collection of the home zone (In this example 85 GMT)

The next 4 bytes are unused

The next 4 bytes indicate whether to use DST (In this example 1 true)

The next 4 bytes are always 0x180

The next 4 bytes are the index into the timezone collection of the visiting zone (in this example 190 - New Delhi)

The next 4 bytes are unused

The next 4 bytes indicate whether to use DST in visiting zone (In this example 0 false)

I suspect that the unused values may be connected to the old Cities feature which was originally in the control panel but removed with PPC2003. You may be wondering how to get the timezone information at the specified indexes - in Windows Mobile they are not all stored in the registry as on other Windows CE flavours. They are accessible through POOM - IPOutlookApp.GetTimeZoneFromIndex, or in managed code in Mobile In The Hand.

SQL Compact 3.5 SP1 RTM

Peter Foot — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:49:00 GMT

To coincide with the RTM release of SQL Server 2008 the SQL Compact Team have delivered Service Pack 1 for v3.5. This includes Entity Framework support and a native 64bit version. Steve Lasker has the details:- http://blogs.msdn.com/stevelasker/archive/2008/08/07/sql-server-compact-3-5-sp1-released.aspx Meanwhile SQL Server 2008 RTM is available already online for both MSDN and TechNet subscribers....(read more)

APPA Mundi Awarded Microsoft Certified Partner Status

PeterFoot — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:17:00 GMT

APPA Mundi has received Certified Partner status within the Microsoft Partner Program along with the Mobility Solutions competency. This achievement showcases APPA Mundi’s expertise in creating mobile solutions based on Microsoft technologies.

Read Full Press Release

One of the reasons I have been busy lately and not blogging as feverishly as in previous months is that I have been, with my three MVP colleagues, busy building up our company - APPA Mundi Ltd. We all have a long history of working with Windows Mobile and we have combined forces to offer consulting, development and training services. You can read more about us and what we do on our website.

Implement FindString for a ComboBox

PeterFoot — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:25:00 GMT

The .NETCF ComboBox control doesn't have the FindString method which is present on the desktop however this is just a wrapper for a windows message supported by the native control so it is possible to wrap it quite easily in .NETCF 2.0 and above. First you need to define the windows message constant:-

internal const int CB_FINDSTRING = 0x14c;

Then you can P/Invoke SendMessage:-

[DllImport("coredll.dll")]
internal static extern int SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, int msg, int wParam, string lParam);

With a little more work you can utilize the existing SendMessage method in Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms but taking this approach allows us to define the argument types specifically for this purpose.

To use this method pass in the handle to the ComboBox (e.g. comboBox1.Handle), the message constant, the starting index to search from (e.g. 0) and finally the string to match terminated with a null character e.g.

int index = SendMessage(comboBox1.Handle, CB_FINDSTRING, 0, "Cheese\0");

The method will return either the item index which first matches this value (0 to the number of items -1) or -1 if not found.

To use this on Smartphone you need to use an alternative message since the managed ComboBox control wraps a native listbox:-

internal const int LB_FINDSTRING = 0x018F;

Using RemoteWipe

PeterFoot — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 09:51:00 GMT

With Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU2.0 (Messaging & Security Feature Pack) a new feature was implemented called RemoteWipe. This allowed an administrator to remotely wipe a device if it may have got lost and was designed to remove all sensitive data from the device and return it to a fresh state. It was only with Windows Mobile 6 that the details of the implementation were added to the SDK documentation. Like most other administration and device management features RemoteWipe is implemented as a Configuration Service Provider, this allows it to be activated either via remote or local means. For example you could build a mechanism into your software where you wish to wipe the device, perhaps after an extended number of failed password entries etc. Whether you can call the CSP will depend on the particular security policy on the device, however if possible you can initiate a wipe locally with either DMProcessConfigXML or the managed ConfigurationManager e.g.

System.Xml.XmlDocument cd = new System.Xml.XmlDocument(); cd.LoadXml("<wap-provisioningdoc><characteristic type=\"RemoteWipe\"><parm name=\"doWipe\" value=\"1\"/></characteristic></wap-provisioningdoc>");

System.Xml.XmlDocument xd = ConfigurationManager.ProcessConfiguration(cd, true);

Of course you use this code snippet at your own risk, if it works successfully it will wipe data from your device and return to factory fresh condition!

More details about the service provider here:-

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb737595.aspx

Session Materials from Tech-Ed

PeterFoot — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:20:00 GMT

I've posted a number of links relevant to the session I gave last week on our Tech-Ed page here. This includes the sample code which is an additional selection of samples than those which appear in the 32feet.NET package itself. The session covered the latest v2.3 release of the library and development continues on the next version based on your feedback.

One of the items of feedback I got for the session was the confusion between Personal Area Networking as a concept and the Bluetooth PAN Profile (Which supports Network Access Point, Group Networking and PAN User). Windows Mobile supports a limited subset of this profile to support the Internet Sharing application which was added in Windows Mobile 5.0 AKU3 but is often documented as a new feature in Windows Mobile 6. There is no exposed API to programmatically interact with the BT PAN profile, however there is an API for Internet Sharing which can be used to start/stop a sharing connection. I'm investigating the best way to add this to a future version of the library.

Chinese Translation of Microsoft Mobile Development Handbook now available

PeterFoot — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:57:00 GMT

I just got word from David Chang that the Chinese translation of our book is now complete. You can order it from Amazon.cn here:-

http://www.amazon.cn/mn/detailApp?pageletid=newpromote&prodid=bkbk820876

New Mobile Development Team Blog

PeterFoot — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 08:50:00 GMT

Amit Chopra's Visual Studio for Devices team has grown to include Silverlight Mobile and .NETCF and the team have a new blog to cover all these areas. I'm looking forward to some great content from the team:-

http://blogs.msdn.com/mobiledev/

Mobile In The Hand 3.2 Released

PeterFoot — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:44:00 GMT

Mobile In The Hand 3.2, the latest version of our suite of .NET Compact Framework tools for Windows Mobile, is now available for download to registered users of 3.x. The main changes and enhancements in this release are:-

Support for Pocket PC 2003 through to Windows Mobile 6.1 using .NETCF 2.0 or 3.5
Events from the Messaging system - get notified when messages are created, modified, moved or deleted
Better support for HTML Email - retrieve either the raw HTML or a text only representation. Added property to determine the native message format.
Fixes to WirelessManager, MessagingApplication and other classes

Disable Windows Mobile 6.1 Threaded SMS View

PeterFoot — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:12:00 GMT

There may be an occasion where you want to restore the original chronological view for the SMS Inbox rather than the new threaded view. One example is where a system programmatically moves or inserts SMS messages into the system because these are not visible in the threaded view (even though the count of unread messages increases). There is a simple registry fix to turn off threading and restore the "classic" view. From the registry editor of your choice browse the device registry for the key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Inbox\Settings]

Under this add a new DWORD value called "SMSInboxThreadingDisabled" and set it to 1. Close the tmail.exe application or soft-reset the device and the regular message view will be used. Set this registry value back to 0 or delete it to restore the default threaded view.

Antialisasing and .NETCF

PeterFoot — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:19:00 GMT

On the newsgroup, a developer asked if it was possible to use antialiasing on a Label font. By default on Windows Mobile the text does not use antialiasing unless you turn on the global ClearType option under Settings > System > Screen > ClearType. The platform has the capability to smooth fonts, we just need an easy way to specify the quality from our code. The System.Drawing.Font class doesn't support this directly, but Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms contains a wrapper for the native LOGFONT structure in the LogFont class. There is a static method on the Font class of FromLogFont(object o) which when passed a Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms.LogFont will draw the font with the specified options. The following code shows setting three labels with default quality, antialiasing and cleartype, the following screen grab shows the result from my device screen:-

Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms.LogFont lf = new Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms.LogFont();lf.FaceName = "Tahoma";

lf.Height = 48;

lf.Quality = Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms.LogFontQuality.Default;

label1.Font = Font.FromLogFont(lf);

Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms.LogFont lf2 = new Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms.LogFont();

lf2.FaceName = "Tahoma";

lf2.Height = 48;

lf2.Quality = Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms.LogFontQuality.AntiAliased;

label2.Font = Font.FromLogFont(lf2);

Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms.LogFont lf3 = new Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms.LogFont();lf3.FaceName = "Tahoma";

lf3.Height = 48;

lf3.Quality = Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms.LogFontQuality.ClearType;

label3.Font = Font.FromLogFont(lf3);

New Windows Mobile 6.1 Screen Resolutions

PeterFoot — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:45:00 GMT

The release of Windows Mobile 6.1 brings a number of improvements for users but retains the same SDK and libraries as 6. The devices ship with .NETCF 2.0 SP2 in ROM.

This release adds additional screen resolutions to both the Professional (touchscreen) and Standard (non-touchscreen) editions. For Standard edition these are all 131 dpi and consist of 320x320 square and 400x240 and 440x240 landscape. For Professional there are 240x400 and 480x800 portrait screens. Once again these additional screen sizes emphasize the importance of making sure your app dynamically adjusts to make best use of screen space, for example using the Windows Mobile Line of Business Accelerator 2008.

The images (currently US English only although localised versions should follow) are available to download here:-

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=3D6F581E-C093-4B15-AB0C-A2CE5BFFDB47&displaylang=en

Update: The two new landscape Standard images do not have the Sliding Panel home screen which is one of the features touted in the 6.1 release. Whether this is a technical limitation or just an accidental omission I don't know... Things are slightly kooky with the new Professional images too:-

Exception Messages on .NETCF v3.5

Peter Foot — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:48:00 GMT

Martijn Hoogendoorn provides a description of how to avoid the message:- " An error message is available for this exception but cannot be displayed because these messages are optional and are not currently installed on this device. Please install ‘NETCFv35.Messages.EN.wm.cab’ for Windows Mobile 5.0 and above or ‘NETCFv35.Messages.EN.cab’ for other platforms. Restart the application to see the message. " Even if you have installed the cab file with message resources. A useful link:- http...(read more)

How To: Get System Power State Name and Flags

Peter Foot — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:29:11 GMT

A question came up on our forums and so I investigated writing a wrapper for the GetSystemPowerState API function. This allows you to retrieve the power state name, and also a bitmask of flags - Is the backlight on, is the device password protected etc. This is the result in VB.NET. We will add it to the wish list for the next version of the library . <DllImport( "coredll.dll" )> _ Public Shared Function GetSystemPowerState( ByVal pBuffer As System.Text.StringBuilder, ByVal Length...(read more)

Mobile In The Hand 3.1 Released

PeterFoot — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:46:00 GMT

In The Hand Ltd are pleased to announce the immediate availability of Mobile In The Hand Version 3.1. This is the latest version of the definitive suite of .NET Compact Framework APIs for Windows Mobile. The product provides a superset of the managed Windows Mobile APIs shipped by Microsoft covering all aspects of the device from managing the device hardware through to working with Contacts and Emails on the device. Version 3.1 has been optimised for .NET Compact Framework 2.0 and above and supports devices based on Windows Mobile 5.0 and later. This release has undergone a significant re-write to improve performance and compatibility. Documentation for the object-model is available online in our library. Full product details and purchasing information are available on the product page.

Please read our previous announcement regarding changes to the way we handle purchases and the discontinuation of Handango for sales and upgrades.

Tech-Ed 2008

PeterFoot — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:45:00 GMT

I was delighted to find out this week that my session on Personal Area Networking was selected for Tech-Ed Developers this year. The session will cover a range of networking topics including of course Bluetooth. There will be a selection of demos which will support audience participation. It looks like I'll be in good company too, the Windows Mobile track will have a wide range of topics which will enable you to build compelling applications with the latest tools and technologies. You can search the session list here.

Changes to Product Sales

PeterFoot — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 17:32:00 GMT

From today we have changed the way we sell our developer products. We will no longer be using Handango for online sales, instead you can purchase directly from us using PayPal which supports payment through either a PayPal account or all common types of Debit and Credit cards. All of our prices will now be quoted in our local currency (UK Pounds) this will mean the amount you pay through PayPal will vary based on currency exchange rates.

For our existing customers we will provide alternative means to download product updates and purchase upgrades. We heard feedback from a lot of you that Handango was no longer effective for this as it has a limited time window when you can download files. If you need to download a product which you originally purchased through Handango please contact us with your Handango order id and your username on our forums and we will get you access to the files. If you have purchased a previous version via Handango and wish to purchase the latest version at a reduced price again please contact us with your Handango order id. We will soon have an improved process for this.

We would like to thank all our existing customers, if you have any issues with a current order, need to download a version or purchase an upgrade please do not hestitate to contact us.