Hi there,
Just got an MDA Pro on T-mobile. I would like to see if I can use this instead of my laptop for various tasks and would like to do some development on it.
Does anyone know of any development tools/compilers that run directly on the unit, I think I know of one, NS/Basic but that has runtime code which I prefer not to have (unless it is .NET). My preference would be C, C++ or VB as I can develop in these, are there any IDE's & compilers for the unit?
thanks,
Mike
Check out mamaich's website.
V
Related
OK, here's one that you should all be able to help me with.
I am a programer, but have not yet begun to create programs for my XDA 2i. I REALLY don't know where to start... I bought MS C++ .NET with the possibly misguided impression that it was supposed to be rather like the Java virtual machine, and that I could simply whip up an exe on my PC then move it to the PPC and it would just work...
But now I'm SO confused. What's all this about SDKs and having different ones for different versions of Windows mobile? And then there's the compact .NET framework, and then there's ASP, but I'm fairly comfortable that that's a different issue entirely.
SO MY QUESTION IS THIS:
What is the simplest way for me to begin writing C/C++ programs to run on my XDA 2i? I'm not interested for the moment in phone or other connection aspects - let's say I'm trying to write a visual calculator. So simple logical operations and a simple GUI.
I have experience with MS visual studio C++, and I can use libraries when told which ones to use, but am otherwise uninterested in them.
I gather the absolute simplest solution might be to write some JScript, but I want to use .NET C++ since I forked out for it.
The trouble is, there's so much info out there. Please help, then maybe one day I can start contributing useful info to this site too.
Thanks everyone!
Phil Drew
questions and answers much like yours
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=21786
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=21649
download Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 from Microsoft.. if you are a member of MSDN
I'm developing a small application for my HTC Wizard, which I'm programming with Visual Studio 2003.
I need to open the shell application for M3U files, which I've tracked down to HKCR\M3UFile\Shell\Open\Command... but now I can't figure out how to either read that key to open the relevant player, or to execute the m3u file directly.
Because I'm using VS2003, I don't have access to system.win32 with the compact framework, so what techniques have others of you used to read or write to the registry?
Also, just as a side note, how do you find the current path?
Thanks,
Jon
There is no real concept of current path in CE. If you want to know the path your EXE is in, use GetModuleHandle(NULL) -- it'll return the fully-qualified path name of that process's EXE, from which you can parse out a path.
I'd advise against using the compact framework; .Net is a loser on PPCs as it just slows things down, taking up extra memory & cycles on a platform where both are in short supply. Use the real Windows APIs instead -- i.e. call RegCreateKeyEx/RegSetValueEx.
And if you choose to use Win32 API you can just call ShellExecuteEx()
and not mess with the registry.
RegQueryValueEx is what you need. Just set the appropriate type and buffer.
V
I'm always willing to learn new stuff... are there any good resources on programming for PPC without using .net?
I know there's EVC++, but I've installed it, and now I don't know what to do with it!
Regards,
Jon
JonTheNiceGuy said:
I'm always willing to learn new stuff... are there any good resources on programming for PPC without using .net?
I know there's EVC++, but I've installed it, and now I don't know what to do with it!
Regards,
Jon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can either use EVC++4, which is free but has an aged, not-so-standard C++ compiler (since it based on VC++6...but it only means a few quirks), or you can use Visual Studio 2005 which is supposed to replace EVC.
Jon, not to state the obvious, but there are many c++ tutorials for the PPC on the interweb.
What kind of experience do you have?
V
I have no prior experience with C++ - I bought the C++ For Dummies book in a charity shop a month or so ago, but it seems to refer to software that isn't available any more!
My core experience is with PHP, and recently I've been more interested in VB.NET for small apps at work, but most of what I want to do is with Windows Mobile - for which, all I have is Visual Studio 2003, and my co. won't fund me buying VS2005 as I got it for an old project that I still maintain, and anything new I need to write for work I can do with VS2005 Express...
That said, I'm not afraid of learning a new language, especially something as powerful as C++.
C++ for dummies is excellent, the best I've come across so far.
Have a read through this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?p=209136#209136
I'm currently unlearning and then relearning my c++ - one thing I've learnt coming from other languages - c++ requires discipline. It's not about shortcuts, you build up from the basics and keep going steadily. But you need to be logical, and prepared to put in the effort. So discipline - it's been a long time since I've had to think about that!
V
hey guys, I'm a career developer with tons of experience in a lot of things except PocketPC. I want to play around a bit with PPC, but would like to hear about the development platforms, languages, etc. that you're using and what you like about them. I don't know anybody personally that's even remotely interested.
I'm currently using VIsualStudio2005/C# for my day job, and am pondering whether that's a good fit for PPC. A lot of documentation exists for both managed and native PPC C# code. Managed code is more like the stuff I do all day.
What I've found so far is that managed code requires runtimes to be installed (already there on WM6 i hear), there's a noticeable delay when starting a managed program, and a lot of functions are missing from the .NetCF.
I'd probably be writing business apps (database stuff, web back-end client/server, etc.) as well as hacks like today plugins, utility programs, etc.
Should I just start right out with native coding, or try and hack away with managed code. What's your opinion?
roboHaxx,
As i'm sure you're already aware of, choice of language on this environment really depends on the application you're designing.
I tend to use Visual Studio/C# for applications that I need to develop rapidly where I'm not too concerned about load times. The .NetCF libraries really helps in ensuring things get done quicker but there's a tradeoff in speed and functionality but not by too much thanks to all the new spec devices that are coming out.
If I'm developing something that doesnt need to get done faster, and I need quick loading times (like today plugins for example), I tend to stick with C (evc4).
Personally I stay away from .NET and all related stuff like it was toxic waste.
As kunz wrote it is too slow for PPC (at least for now) and if you want to use the .NET CF 2 any user with a device prier to WM 6 (which is the majority for at least another year) will have to install 5MB worth of run time.
But there are some very nice apps made with CF already out there like Hitchhiker so it defiantly has its place.
One problem though: if you want to develop system components like today plugins, keyboards (SIP) or control panel applets you will need a component written in C / C++. All those are DLLs that the system expects to export certain functions. This can not be done with managed code, and as far as I know not at all in C#.
One final recommendation: look up all threads started by Vijay555.
He wrote a pretty good summary of programing tools and options for WM devices somewhere on this forum.
Thanks for the replies. I'm think I'm starting to get a grip on this platform.
Sounds like the same principles as programming on a PC. For business apps (like in my day job), the managed, quick-to-market environments like C#, .net and CF2 prevail. But for performance, versatility and access to everything, C is the way to go. C++ if you must.
by the way, I thnk you can create DLLs in any Visual Studio language. I do it all the time with C# and VB. Now whether these DLLs can export the functions that are needed in PPC, I don't know the answer to that.
kunz, you said
If I'm developing something that doesnt need to get done faster, and I need quick loading times (like today plugins for example), I tend to stick with C (evc4).
pardon the dumb question but, what is evc4? A compiler I presume. That was going to be my next question. Which compilers do you like?
eVC is eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 its a free C++ IDE for Windows Mobile from Microsoft.
It is almost identical to VS 6 (if you are familiar with it).
It won't except WM 5 or 6 SDKs, but any program create on it (with WM 2003 SDKs) will run on any Smartphone or Pocket PC starting with WM 2003 through WM 6.
For older versions you will need eVC 3.
The following pages should provide some useful information:
http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/default.aspx/MobileDeveloper.HomePage
http://www.pocketpcdn.com/tools/index.html
Enjoy!
Hi,
I am programmer but I'm new in mobile development too.
I have an ideal to write a program that can speak the caller number instead of ringtone. The problem is that I don't know how to get the receiving call events.
Can we solve this situation with .net compact framework?
Anyone have documents to share?
Thanks
Hi chaps,
I've just got myself an O2 XDA Orbit - great device, and now I'm looking for developing for it - just simple things at first, like a Blackjack game, or a simple Today feature with the sun and moon times on it; this sort of thing.
I've got Visual Studio .NET 2003, but I see that in order to program the latest devices, you need VS 2005 (?). So, I've downloaded Embedded Visual Studio C++ v4 with all the SDK's and I'm hoping to develop for an earlier version of Windows Mobile, and hope that it works.
So while I've got all that, I'm now stuck as to where to start! Can anyone point me to a good book, or something online which will help me through a simple CE application? How you do get the Today screen working, for example? I realise that this might be asking a lot, but a couple of pointers would be great - if you could!
Many thanks,
MrP.
I'm just starting out myself with windows mobile programming. You can find a lot of info from msdn. Here is an example Hello app.
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms912017.aspx
You can find a lot of good stuff at the code project site also.
http://www.codeproject.com/ce/
eVC has wizards that will get you going. One thing I found out about using eVC is that you won't be able to debug your programs on a WM5/6 device since the SDK's are not compatible with them. It can be a bit of a challenge to fix bugs without a debugger. I can't get the debugger to work with the emulator either for some reason.
A question for other eVC developers out there. Is it possible to use the emulator to debug programs or do you all have an old PPC2003 device that you use to do your debugging? Or have you all moved on to VS2005?
I've bought visual studio 2005 standard and it is great - it fully supports WM5/6 (with sdk) and runtime debugging - for .exe it works well but I have problems with .dll - I can't debug dll files - does anyone know how to make it?
Pleas look up threads started by vijay555.
He wrote a comprehensive article on the tools and possibilities to begin developing for these devices.
Just as a quick side note:
There is no need what so ever to pay M$ money for VS 2005 if you want to develop in C / C++.
Apps written in eVC++ 4 will work perfectly with WM 5 and 6 and if you need any missing API (not many of those) you have 2 choices:
1) Manually unpack the SDK and link to it.
2) Use implicit linking (that LoadLibrary and GetProcAdress).
levenum said:
Pleas look up threads started by vijay555.
He wrote a comprehensive article on the tools and possibilities to begin developing for these devices.
Just as a quick side note:
There is no need what so ever to pay M$ money for VS 2005 if you want to develop in C / C++.
Apps written in eVC++ 4 will work perfectly with WM 5 and 6 and if you need any missing API (not many of those) you have 2 choices:
1) Manually unpack the SDK and link to it.
2) Use implicit linking (that LoadLibrary and GetProcAdress).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry about the delay in replying...
Many thanks for the pointers.. Just a matter of starting now!
I'm looking at developing a biomonitoring application, the setup to consist of a 24 bit ADC with an Atmel AVR microcontroller sending data via Bluetooth to the mobile phone for display. I don't have a large budget so am looking for freeware or something a lot cheaper than Visual Studio to develop the application to run under WM5/6. It has to be compiled due to the amount of processing needed.
I prefer to write in C/C++ . Pascal would be a 2nd choice then anything else except Basic.
For Windows development I use Borland C++ Builder and have used Delphi. On the embedded side I use Codevision AVR C compiler.
I'd appreciate recommendations for development software. TIA.
I got this C compiler to work a while ago (managed to recompile a few of my desktop PC SDL projects to ppc):
http://sourceforge.net/projects/wince-xcompile
[EDIT]
Sorry, ceGCC is what i was using, not xcompile:
http://cegcc.sourceforge.net/
[/EDIT]
It's free, but it's for linux (if you don't have linux, that might be a good reason to give it a try ). Also, the problem is that it doesn't have an IDE of its own, and no graphical interface editor.
There's also pgcc, allowing you to compile applications directly on your pocketPC, but i wasn't able to make it compile any GUI application, only console ones (but i didn't really spend much time trying). There's a working link and a short info on how to use it here:
http://www.aximsite.com/boards/business-development/135816-pocket-c.html#post1187340 (sorry for linking to other forum, but i didn't want to post someone's tutorial as mine).
Anyway, i'd love to hear about any other free alternatives as well
you could try embedded visual c++.
it is free but you can not debug on devices powered wm5 or higher. you will need the ppc 2003 sdk and win xp prof or 2000.