Blog

  • Great Installation advice on the Smartphone Developer newsgroup

    Lars Peter recently posted this excellent post on the microsoft.public.smartphone.developer newsgroup.


    In the post Lars describes using Nullsoft Installer (NSIS) to build a desktop installation package to include multiple cab file installations. This is ideal for those scenarios when you want to deploy more than just one application cab file, for example OpenNETCF’s Smart Device Framework, Sql Ce or the .NETCF runtimes themselves.


    Lars’ post includes a sample install script, which you can pass a number of cab files for installation. You can also download the sample script from Lars’ server.


    Nice one Lars!

  • Orange SPV C500 ROM Update – Go get it!

    Spotted over at MoDaCo, Orange have released an updated ROM which fixes the GAPI issues on the device and a few other fixes:-



    • Videos can be sent via MMS

    • Flickering issue in games has now been fixed

    • Packet video full screen mode and backlight fix

    • Improved memory management of the camera and video applications

    • Improved browsing/upload speed (changed from GPRS class 8 to class 10)

    It’s a 22mb download from Orange’s website

  • Need a GUID in a hurry?

    There may be times in your application you need to generate a new unique Guid. The System.Guid class in .NETCF v1.0 doesn’t have the NewGuid method which is what you would normally use on the desktop. There are a couple of proposed alternatives, either generating one yourself by following the standards for Guids – using a few P/Invokes to Crypto API methods to get random numbers, using the GuidEx class which uses the same technique or indirectly using SqlCe to create a new identity value.


    An easier way in many cases is to use one of the COM subsystem API methods as this involves only a single P/Invoke call. The only caveat to this is that not all CE based systems have full COM support – there are three varieties Minimal COM, Full COM and DCOM support. Minimal COM doesn’t support Guid generation. However in my brief experimentation with Platform Builder it would appear that among .NETCF’s prerequisites is COM support so this should in theory be supported by any CE device on which .NETCF is supported. It is certainly supported on all Windows Mobile devices:-


    namespace InTheHand


    {


          ///


          /// Helper class for generating a globally unique identifier (GUID).


          ///


          /// <SEEALSO cref='“System.Guid”/>


          public sealed class ComGuid


          {


                private ComGuid(){}


     


                ///


                /// Initializes a new instance of the <SEE cref='“System.Guid”/> class.


                ///


                /// A new <SEE cref='“System.Guid”/> object


                public static Guid NewGuid()


                {


                      Guid val = Guid.Empty;


     


                      int hresult = 0;


     


                      hresult = CoCreateGuid(ref val);


     


                      if(hresult != 0)


                      {


                            throw new System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception(Marshal.GetLastWin32Error(), “Error creating new Guid”);


                      }


     


                      return val;


                }


     


                [DllImport(“ole32.dll”, SetLastError=true)]


                private static extern int CoCreateGuid(ref Guid pguid );


          }


    }


     

  • Create a Top-Most form

    The following code can be used to force your form to the top of the z-order. Use this functionality with care since it’s bad practice to hog the topmost position which could obscure other important functionality.


    private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)


    {


          //get handle


          this.Capture = true;


          IntPtr hwnd = OpenNETCF.Win32.Win32Window.GetCapture();


          this.Capture = false;


     


          //set foreground


          OpenNETCF.Win32.Win32Window.SetWindowPos(hwnd, Win32Window.SetWindowPosZOrder.HWND_TOPMOST, 0, 0, 0, 0, Win32Window.SetWindowPosFlags.SWP_NOMOVE | Win32Window.SetWindowPosFlags.SWP_NOSIZE | Win32Window.SetWindowPosFlags.SWP_SHOWWINDOW);


     


    }


    Note that this code cannot be placed in the form constructor, since the native form has yet to be created so a valid window handle won’t be returned. Here the code is placed into the Form_Load method.


    In .NETCF 2.0 you can set the TopMost property of your form which removes the need for any of this interop (Thanks Daniel Moth for correcting this).

  • .NETCF Chat Tomorrow

    As part of a regular series of .NETCF technical chats there will be an MVP hosted chat tomorrow (14th October) on any aspect of .NET Compact Framework and Smart Device programming. 10-11am PDT, 17-18 GMT


    Add a reminder to your calendar


    More details, and details of other technical chats, here at MSDN.

  • Bring a .NETCF Form to the foreground

    Sometimes calling BringToFront for your form is not enough to bring your app to the foreground. You can P/Invoke SetForegroundWindow which will activate your app and bring the window to the front of the Z-Order:-


    C#

    public void SetForegroundWindow()
    {
        this.Capture = true;
        IntPtr hwnd = OpenNETCF.Win32.Win32Window.GetCapture();
        this.Capture = false;
        OpenNETCF.Win32.Win32Window.SetForegroundWindow(hwnd);
    }

    or VB

    Public Sub SetForegroundWindow
        Me.Capture = True
        Dim hwnd As IntPtr = OpenNETCF.Win32.Win32Window.GetCapture()
        Me.Capture = False
        OpenNETCF.Win32.Win32Window.SetForegroundWindow(hwnd)
    End Sub

  • Fixing ComboBox bugs…

    The standard ComboBox in NETCF has a couple of “issues”, however it’s possible to workaround them with a bit of tweaking. I rolled together a number of these fixes into a ComboBoxEx class. Heres the code (C#), I hope this (with a few more missing features) will be in the next SDF build with designer support like our other controls:-


    namespace OpenNETCF.Windows.Forms


    {


          /// <summary>


          /// Extended ComboBox control.


          /// </summary>


          public class ComboBoxEx : ComboBox, IWin32Window


          {


                //windows messages


                private const int WM_SETREDRAW = 0x0b;


                private const int CB_SETCURSEL = 0x014E;


                private const int CB_DELETESTRING = 0x0144;


                private const int CB_INSERTSTRING = 0x014A;


     


                //native window handle


                private IntPtr m_handle;


     


                //databound collection


                private IBindingList thebindinglist = null;


     


                //is display updatable?


                private bool m_updatable = true;


     


                /// <summary>


                /// Gets the window handle that the control is bound to.


                /// </summary>


                public IntPtr Handle


                {


                      get


                      {


                            if(m_handle == IntPtr.Zero)


                            {


                                  this.Capture = true;


                                  m_handle = Win32Window.GetCapture();


                                  this.Capture = false;


                            }


     


                            return m_handle;


                      }


                }


     


                // Redraw code courtesy of Alex Feinman – http://blog.opennetcf.org/afeinman/PermaLink,guid,9305a1d9-e24e-4310-89e2-f80808076a37.aspx


     


                /// <summary>


                /// Maintains performance when items are added to the <see cref=”ComboBoxEx”/> one at a time.


                /// </summary>


                public void BeginUpdate()


                {


                      m_updatable = false;


     


                      Win32Window.SendMessage(this.Handle, WM_SETREDRAW, 0, 0);


                }


     


                /// <summary>


                /// Resumes painting the <see cref=”ComboBoxEx”/> control after painting is suspended by the <see cref=”BeginUpdate”/> method.


                /// </summary>


                public void EndUpdate()


                {


                      m_updatable = true;


                      Win32Window.SendMessage(this.Handle, WM_SETREDRAW, 1, 0);


                }


     


                //ComboBox doesn’t support ItemChanges in a datasource implementing IBindingList


                //The following workaround forces the list to update if an item is changed


     


                //data source has changed


                protected override void OnDataSourceChanged(EventArgs e)


                {


                      //remove event handler


                      if(thebindinglist != null)


                      {


                            thebindinglist.ListChanged-= new ListChangedEventHandler(ComboBoxEx_ListChanged);


                            //reset our handle to the bound data


                            thebindinglist = null;


                      }


     


                      //get the underlying ibindinglist (if there is one)


                      if(this.DataSource is IListSource)


                      {


                            IList thelist = ((IListSource)this.DataSource).GetList();


                            if(thelist is IBindingList)


                            {


                                  thebindinglist = (IBindingList)thelist;


                            }


                      }


                      else if(this.DataSource is IBindingList)


                      {


                            thebindinglist = (IBindingList)this.DataSource;


                      }


                     


                      if(thebindinglist != null)


                      {


                            //hook up event for data changed


                            thebindinglist.ListChanged+=new ListChangedEventHandler(ComboBoxEx_ListChanged);


                      }


                     


                      base.OnDataSourceChanged (e);


                }


     


                //called when a change occurs in the bound collection


                private void ComboBoxEx_ListChanged(object sender, ListChangedEventArgs e)


                {


                      if(m_updatable)


                      {


                            if (e.ListChangedType == ListChangedType.ItemChanged)


                            {


                                  //update the item


     


                                  //delete old item


                                  Win32Window.SendMessage(this.Handle, CB_DELETESTRING, e.NewIndex, 0);


                                  //get display text for new item


                                  string newval = this.GetItemText(this.Items[e.NewIndex]);


                                  //marshal to native memory


                                  IntPtr pString = MarshalEx.StringToHGlobalUni(newval);


                                  //send message to native control


                                  Win32Window.SendMessage(this.Handle, CB_INSERTSTRING, e.NewIndex, pString);


                                  //free native memory


                                  MarshalEx.FreeHGlobal(pString);


                            }


                      }


                }


     


                /// <summary>


                /// Get or Set the selected index in collection.


                /// </summary>


                /// <remarks>Overridden to overcome issue with setting value to -1 (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;327244)</remarks>


                public override int SelectedIndex


                {


                      get


                      {


                            return base.SelectedIndex;


                      }


                      set


                      {


                            if(value == -1)


                            {


                                  Win32Window.SendMessage(this.Handle, CB_SETCURSEL, -1, 0);


                            }


                            else


                            {


                                  base.SelectedIndex = value;


                            }


                      }


                }


     


          }


    }



     


    So whats in the above code? Well it integrates Alex Feinman’s recent tip to implement Begin/EndUpdate methods to suspend redrawing when populating the control.


    Secondly if works around a bug in the DataBinding support for ComboBox. If you make an edit to an existing item in the bound collection the combo wont normally update (It does correctly react to additions and deletions).


    Thirdly it overcomes a known issue with resetting the selected index property (by assigning -1) which normally has to be done twice to take effect – details in this KB article – Thanks to Tim Wilson for posting this KB on the newsgroup.


    As a Bonus I’ve added a Handle property so you can get at the native control handle – which in conjunction with Win32Window methods allows you to tweak other aspects of the control.


    UPDATE: Changed the databinding code to update a single item via P/Invoke rather than refreshing the list. Changed the SelectedIndex to set via P/Invoke – avoids raising the SelectedIndexChanged event.

  • Are you a UK Smartphone User or Developer?

    If so then you’ll be interested to know that MoDaCo will be hosting a Smartphone event in Birmingham on Saturday 6th November. This will have both developer and non-developer content running in parallel. Full details with venue and sign-up details here. It looks like it’ll be a very interesting event for all and on a much bigger scale than previous MoDaCo events.


    If you are a developer Monolithix over at MoDaCo would like suggestions for developer topics to be covered at the event. If you do, reply to this thread.

  • Blogging from beside the seaside!

    Thanks to an administrative blunder in a European Union statistics report, I’ve found out that I actually live nearer the seaside than I thought, it seems Wales has disappeared 🙂


     


    Eurostat yearbook 2004


    More details on the BBC News site

  • Some new OpenNETCF code

    I’ve uploaded to our online source browser some of the new code which will feature in the next Smart Device Framework release. This includes a new library for WindowsCE specific functionality, designed to match the new functionality available in the Microsoft.WindowsCE.Forms assembly in the .NET Compact Framework v2.0 which is currently in Beta with Visual Studio 2005.


    For Smartphone developers this includes the InputModeEditor which allows you to set a specific input mode for an edit control. Therefore when the control receives focus, the required input mode is automatically selected for the user – useful for numeric only fields or a field where you want to capture some form of text but know that T9 would be inappropriate.


    For Pocket PC 2003 Second Edition the SystemSettings class allows you to easily change the screen orientation with a single statement:-


    SystemSettings.ScreenOrientation = ScreenOrientation.Angle90;


    There are also some changes to existing classes – specifically the RegistryKey has had a number of useful changes:-



    • ToString now matches the behaviour on the full .NET Framework (In the current release there is a subtle difference in the format of the string returned)

    • CreateSubKey allows you to create volatile registry keys on supported Windows CE 5.0 systems.

    • GetValue now correctly returns DWORD values as an Int32 rather than UInt32, this is now consistent with the desktop and makes life a lot easier.

    • We have a full implementation of GetValueKind and the RegistryValueKind enumeration – this functionality is part of the full .NET Framework v2.0 Beta but we are making it available now for .NETCF v1.0

    All of this code is currently available in the source tree which you can browse online. Object model documentation has also been updated in the online library – which now exceeds 6000 individual pages. Expect to see all this code built into the next binary release.