I'm currently doing some programs myself with the free MS embedded VC++.. and I'm finding it comfortable to do a simple dialog-based programs for PPC. I think I can have most of the background code going, and I've just got the GUI .. alright.
Now the question, how do I do a copy/paste to/from clipboard? I had most of the stuff done using the included MFC Wizard. I can get and send data to/from an EditBox (TextBox, whatever you call it). However, the click-hold thing on PPC doesn't seems to work on my EditBox, and hence I'm thinking what's needed to enable a simple Copy/Paste on an EditBox.
Currently, I'm using the simple
Code:
m_editBox = _T("the message I want to show");
UpdateData(FALSE); //send it to the EditBox
Any guide from here would be appreciated. However, I'm thinking there may not be an easy way to do that, hence I've also tried adding a 'Copy' and 'Paste' button to do the job, but I've tried things like
Code:
SetClipboardData(x, x)
GetClipboardData(x)
None works.
I have also tried
Code:
COleDataObject DataObject;
and with the handle etc etc .. but I can't seems to find this COleDataObject , is that in some other environment (e.g. not PPC env)?
Help
Fast solution:
http://www.pocketpcdn.com/articles/sip.html
(this shows/hides sip on get/lost focus in edit controls and add the context menu too)
and this is a simple example how to copy datas into clipboard
if(OpenClipboard(NULL))
{
EmptyClipboard();
HLOCAL clipbuffer = LocalAlloc(0, 100);
wcscpy((WCHAR*) clipbuffer, (WCHAR*) (vtNumber.bstrVal));
SetClipboardData(CF_UNICODETEXT, clipbuffer);
CloseClipboard();
free(szMsg);
LocalFree(clipbuffer);
}
I hope this help u
bye
Thanks for your respond.. things work.. a bit
Code:
//put a test char
char *test;
test = (char*) malloc(100);
strcpy(test, "blah blah blah");
//codes you've given
if(OpenClipboard()) //OpenClipboard(NULL) gives me error
{
EmptyClipboard();
HLOCAL clipbuffer = LocalAlloc(0, 100);
wcscpy((WCHAR*) clipbuffer, (WCHAR*) test);
SetClipboardData(CF_UNICODETEXT, clipbuffer);
CloseClipboard();
//free(szMsg); //not sure what 'szMsg' is
LocalFree(clipbuffer);
}
Things somewhat works. I'm not really sure which part I've got wrong. I'm suspecting some memory allocation is giving me problems. The thing is, if I were to use 'CF_UNICODETEXT' on the 'SetClipboardData(x,x)' line, I get something to paste on other programs (PPC Notes). BUT, the thing pasted is some funny stuff (e.g. letters that cannot be rendered, hence I get the little squares). If I were to use 'CF_TEXT', I don't seems to able to send my stuff to the clipboard or it made it invalid for (PPC Notes) pasting (e.g. I'm not able to paste it in PPC Notes).
Thanks.
BTW, if you are in the mood, can you give me a Paste function as well. Thanks a bunch.
Hi hanmin.
Odd I didn't notice this thread sooner.
Any way if you still having problems with this code here is the solution:
You are working with char and strcpy so your text is in ASCII (each letter one byte).
But you are calling SetClipboardData with CF_UNICODETEXT so it expects WCHAR (UNICODE) where each letter is two bytes.
The strange letters are the result of two consecutive bytes being interpreted as a single letter (probably lends you in Chinese or Japanese region of the Unicode table)
Windows mobile doesn't usually work with ASCII so the text you get from the edit box will already be in Unicode and won't give you any trouble.
The code should look like this:
Code:
//put a test char
CString test; //since you are working with MFC save your self the trouble of memory allocation
test = L"The text I want on clipboard"; //The L makes the string Unicode
//codes you've given
if(OpenClipboard()) //OpenClipboard(NULL) gives me error
{
EmptyClipboard();
//not sure why you need to copy it again, but here goes:
HLOCAL clipbuffer = LocalAlloc(0, test.GetLength() * 2); //remember: every letter 2 bytes long!
wcscpy((WCHAR*) clipbuffer, (WCHAR*)(LPCTSTR)test); //LPCTSTR is an overloaded operator for CString
SetClipboardData(CF_UNICODETEXT, clipbuffer);
CloseClipboard();
//szMsg probably belongs to some larger application and is irrelevant
LocalFree(clipbuffer);
}
I never used the clipboard APIs my self so I can't guide you farther but this code should work.
Hope this helps.
Wooo hooo.. Thanks levenum. I'm back on business!
You code works wonderfully.. just the final code "LocalFree(clipbuffer);" seems to cause problems. Without that, it works. I'm not sure if it will cause a memory leak.. but that's not much of my concern now
Now my Paste also works, and it seems that the magic code is the "LPCTSTR", which I have NO idea what it is (I'm more of a pure C person and.. a Java person ) Thanks again.
Glad I could help.
I am working from Ubuntu right know (Linux distro in case you didn't know) so I do not have access to my off-line MSDN files, but I recommend you check out the documentation for SetClipboardData.
It is possible it releases the memory it self so when you call LocalFree the handle is no longer valid.
That could also be the reason why you need to allocate memory instead of passing it the string directly.
As for LPCTSTR it is simple and not C++ related:
#define const* WCHAR LPCTSTR
Its M$ way of saying Long Pointer to Constant STRing
T changes meaning based on what you are working with:
If you work with ASCII TCHAR is char
If you work with Unicode TCHAR is WCHAR
Basically these are just all redefinitions of variable types so you can distinguish what they are used for.
In C++ you can overload operators. For example you can have a function which changes the way ++ works with certain types of variables.
In our case CString class has a function which determines what happens when you try to cast (convert) it to a pointer to string.
Thats all the "magi" code.
Good luck with your app.
Small update:
Since I had to go in to XP anyway (to change PDAMobiz ROM which kept hanging at random and didn't let me use BT to latest PDAViet which for now seem very good) I took a quick peek at the help files.
Here is why you should not release the memory:
After SetClipboardData is called, the system owns the object identified by the hMem parameter. The application can read the data, but must not free the handle or leave it locked. If the hMem parameter identifies a memory object, the object must have been allocated using the LocalAlloc function
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
levenum, thanks. You've got me almost there. There are several stuff I need to polish up though. Attach is a pre-mature version of what I wanted to do. There are several issues (including the fact that, only the 4 characters of the password are effectively used, which can be easily fix, I think. Just need to find the bug and squash it) that I like to polish up. They are sorted in order of importance (to me):
[1] Keyboard (SIP) pop up.
For this, I digged around and got to know that the function
"SHSipPreference( HWND, SIP_UP)" is the one to used. However, it never did what it suppose to do. I have had it put inside the "OnSetfocusConfirmPasswordEdit()" of the edit box, which should be called when it is set focus. I suspect that is I haven't set the HWND correctly. I have tried "NULL" and also tried using the "CWnd* pParent" from my dialog constructor (generated code my MFC Wizard). None of them worked.
[2] Editbox focusing.
For some reason, the focus on my main-dialog is correct on the editbox of the 'message'. However, on the dialog which is to confirm the password (which I called using
Code:
CConfirmPasswordDlg confirmPasswordDlg;
int nResponse = confirmPasswordDlg.DoModal();
is focusing on the 'Ok' button. What I like it to do is to focus on the 'confirmPasswordEdit' box, and it ought to automatically pop up the keyboard (SIP).
[3]Reduced size pop up dialog
I was trying to make the 2nd confirm password dialog smaller, something like a pop up in the PPC rather than something that take up the whole screen without much contents in it. How would you go about doing that? Is it not possible in PPC? E.g, if you were to use Total Commander, and start copying files around, they do have a pop up that does take up the entire screen. I'm suspecting I shouldn't do a "confirmPasswordDlg.DoModal()", and should some what do something myself. I have tried, SetVisible(1) thing, but that doesn't work. Or it shouldn't meant to work because my 1st screen is a dialog screen?
[4]Timer?
I would like to have a function of which after a certain period of idle time, it will clear off the clipboard and close itself. How would I go about doing this? Some sort of background thread thing?
Anyone can shine a light on my issues above? On MS-embedded Visual C++ (free), with Pocket PC 2003 SDK (free)
Attached the Blender-XXTea edition
Works on PPC2005 and WM5 (should work on WM6)
Does not require .NET framework
VERY small (54K)
hanmin said:
[2] Editbox focusing.
For some reason, the focus on my main-dialog is correct on the editbox of the 'message'. However, on the dialog which is to confirm the password (which I called using
Code:
CConfirmPasswordDlg confirmPasswordDlg;
int nResponse = confirmPasswordDlg.DoModal();
is focusing on the 'Ok' button. What I like it to do is to focus on the 'confirmPasswordEdit' box, and it ought to automatically pop up the keyboard (SIP).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In your CConfirmPasswordDlg::OnInitDialog handler, call GetDlgItem(confirmPasswordEdit).SetFocus() and return FALSE. That should handle the focus and possibly the SIP popup.
3waygeek said:
In your CConfirmPasswordDlg::OnInitDialog handler, call GetDlgItem(confirmPasswordEdit).SetFocus() and return FALSE. That should handle the focus and possibly the SIP popup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HEY! The focus works! The working code is
Code:
((CWnd*) CConfirmPasswordDlg::GetDlgItem(IDC_CONFIRM_PASSWORD_EDIT))->SetFocus();
BTW, I'm wondering, whats the effect of a return TRUE/FALSE on a 'OnInitDialog()'?
Anyway, the keyboard pop up is still not working. I'm using the command
Code:
void CConfirmPasswordDlg::OnSetfocusConfirmPasswordEdit() {
SHSipPreference( (HWND)g_pParent, SIP_UP);//
}
which I suspect the 'g_pParent' is NULL. If it is NULL, would it work?
Ok, I haven't used MFC for a while and almost not at all on PPC but I will give this a shot:
1) MFC forces dialogs to be full-screen. Here is a detailed explanation on how to change that. Note that for some reason this will work only once if you use the same variable (object) to create the dialog several times.
If you use a local variable in say a button handler thats not a problem because the object is destroyed when you exit the function.
2) There is a simple SetTimer API. You can give it a window handle and then add an OnTimer message handler to that window. Or you could give it a separate function which will be called (say TimerProc). In that case you can give it NULL as window handle.
Note that CWnd objects have a member function with the same name (SetTimer) which sets the timer with that window handle (so that window will receive WM_TIMER message). If you want the raw API call ::SetTimer.
Also note that the timer will continue to send messages / call your special function every x milliseconds until you call KillTimer.
3) I am not sure what the problem with the SIP is. CWnd and derived classes like CDialog have a function called GetSafeHwnd (or GetSafeHandle, I don't remember exact name). Try passing that to SHSipPreference.
If that does not work here is an article with an alternate solution.
WOHO!! Everything works NOW!!.. MUAHAHHAHA.. wait til you see my release version
Non maximized windows works using the code suggested at the page. Although I still do not understand where the heck this '.m_bFullScreen' property came from. It is not anywhere obvious to be seen.
Code:
CNfsDlg dlg;
dlg.m_bFullScreen = FALSE;
dlg.DoModal();
Timer works using the
Code:
xx{
//your code...
CBlenderDlg::SetTimer(1, 5000, 0); //event 1, 5 seconds, something
//your code...
}
void CBlenderDlg::OnTimer(UINT nIDEvent){
//do something here for the timer
}
although somehow, the OnTimer() only works if I went to the MFC class wizard to add the WM_TIMER function. Doesn't work when I add in the OnTimer() myself. Must be something else that I've missed. Anyway.
Keyboard issue solved using
Code:
SHSipPreference( CBlenderDlg::GetSafeHwnd(), SIP_UP);
Glad its working out for you.
Couple of comments:
1) Somewhere at the top of the cpp file, if I am not mistaking there is something called a message map. It's a bunch of macros that lets MFC know what window messages it handles. An entry there is what was missing when you added the function manually.
2) m_bFullScreen is just another among many undocumented features. M$ likes to keep developers in the dark. For instance WM 2003 and up have an API called SHLoadImage which can load bmp, gif, jpg and some other formats and return HBITMAP which all the usual GDI functions use.
This API was undocumented until WM 5 came out and even then they said it only works for gif...
hanmin said:
BTW, I'm wondering, whats the effect of a return TRUE/FALSE on a 'OnInitDialog()'?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The return value indicates whether or not the standard dialog handler (which calls your OnInitDialog) should handle setting the focus. As a rule, OnInitDialog should return TRUE, unless you change the focus within the handler (or you're doing an OCX property page on big Windows).
I haven't done much WinMob/CE development -- I've been doing big Windows for 15+ years, so window message handling is pretty much second nature. I started doing Windows development back in the days when you didn't have C++ or MFC boilerplate; you had to implement your own DialogProc, crack the messages yourself, etc. It's a lot easier now.
CommandBar / MenuBar
I'm back.. with more questions
Not much of a major issue, but rather an annoying thing I've found. Probably that's what evc/mfc/m$ intended to do that.
Anyway, I'm starting my way of getting around CommandBar. I created a MFC skeleton, studied the code, and that's what I've found, after I've created a CommandBar/MenuBar on evc and putting it in
Code:
if(!m_mainMenuBar.Create(this) ||
!m_mainMenuBar.InsertMenuBar(IDR_MAINMENUBAR) ||
!m_mainMenuBar.AddAdornments() ||
!m_mainMenuBar.LoadToolBar(IDR_MAINMENUBAR))
{
TRACE0("Failed to create IDR_MAINMENUBAR\n");
return -1; // fail to create
}
where I have the variable 'CCeCommandBar m_mainMenuBar' and I have created a MenuBar on evc with the Id 'IDR_MAINMENUBAR'. The menu bar works flawlessly on my dialog based application, when I have the 1st level as a pop up. Example
MenuBar --> 'File' --> 'New', 'Save'
Where 'File' is a folder-like thing that pop-ups and show the contents (i.e. in this example, 'New', and 'Save'). However, given the SAME code to load the CommandBar/MenuBar, it will not work, if I were to put the actual command at 1st level. Example, this will not work
MenuBar -> 'New', 'Save'
where there isn't any folder-like pop-up to store the commands 'New', and 'Save'.
I know that I can have buttons for these commands, and probably works. But, what I'm trying to do is to utilize the bottom-left-right softkey in WM5/6. If I were to have the 'File'->'New','Save' structure, it works fine with WM5, showing it as a softkey. But, if I were to do just 'New','Save' it will not show up in both WM2003 emulator and WM5.
As a matter of fact, even if I have (say) File->New,Load, and I added a new command (i.e. not folder-like-pop-up), example 'Help' on the CommandBar/MenuBar, the File->New,Load will not show up too. It seems like the 1st level command (ie. without a folder-pop-up), causes some problems and stop it from loading further.
Guys, ring any bell?
two bytes more
levenum said:
Hi hanmin.
Odd I didn't notice this thread sooner.
Any way if you still having problems with this code here is the solution:
You are working with char and strcpy so your text is in ASCII (each letter one byte).
But you are calling SetClipboardData with CF_UNICODETEXT so it expects WCHAR (UNICODE) where each letter is two bytes.
The strange letters are the result of two consecutive bytes being interpreted as a single letter (probably lends you in Chinese or Japanese region of the Unicode table)
Windows mobile doesn't usually work with ASCII so the text you get from the edit box will already be in Unicode and won't give you any trouble.
The code should look like this:
Code:
//put a test char
CString test; //since you are working with MFC save your self the trouble of memory allocation
test = L"The text I want on clipboard"; //The L makes the string Unicode
//codes you've given
if(OpenClipboard()) //OpenClipboard(NULL) gives me error
{
EmptyClipboard();
//not sure why you need to copy it again, but here goes:
HLOCAL clipbuffer = LocalAlloc(0, test.GetLength() * 2); //remember: every letter 2 bytes long!
wcscpy((WCHAR*) clipbuffer, (WCHAR*)(LPCTSTR)test); //LPCTSTR is an overloaded operator for CString
SetClipboardData(CF_UNICODETEXT, clipbuffer);
CloseClipboard();
//szMsg probably belongs to some larger application and is irrelevant
LocalFree(clipbuffer);
}
I never used the clipboard APIs my self so I can't guide you farther but this code should work.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know it is a bit late! But there is a mistake the code snippet:
HLOCAL clipbuffer = LocalAlloc(0, test.GetLength() * 2); //remember: every letter 2 bytes long!
needs to be
HLOCAL clipbuffer = LocalAlloc(0, test.GetLength() * 2+2);
the terminating 0 is als 2 bytes long!
Those errors are sometimes fatal, with very less chance to find them!
ms64o
Related
hi ther i wonder if you could help me on this simple task. I'm creating a GPS application to run on the XDA2, i'm using eVC++ to do the implementation.
at the moment i'm reading the GPS signal via bluetooth over a virtual COM port, the signal coming from the GPS if a ASCII sinal and i'm duimping this into a char buffer.
However i need to convert this to UNICODE in order to display it on the Pocket PC, how's best to convert a buffer full of ASCII into Unicode so i may display it?
I tried using MultiByteToWideChar(), but it doesn't seem to work properly, maybe i haven't set it up correctly? Could someone point me in the right direction!
Below is an example of what i tried:
Code:
char buf[50]; // contains output from GPS
TCHAR Message[50]; //where i intended to put the message so i could display it
MultiByteToWideChar(CP_ACP, MB_PRECOMPOSED, buf, -1, Message, 0);
Thank in advance
I'm sure it's not the right way to go about it, but I generally wsprintf for short strings.
However, don't listen to me, I'm a mad man. Check this page out instead:
http://www.i18nguy.com/unicode/c-unicode.html
V
Thanks for that, out of curiosity, how would you use wsprintf to convert ASCII to unicode, i tried that before with no real success!
The last value passed to MultiByteToWideChar tells this function the size of the result buffer, Message in your case. You have passed zero, all that does is makes the function return the size of a TCHAR variable it needs to put the Ascii input buf into.
You need to put sizeof(Message) as the last parameter and not zero.
The other way (better way ?) of doing this is first you call the MultiByteToWideChar function with the zero parameter as you have and then you malloc the result * sizeof(TCHAR).
Thanks for the advise, after looking into the function more i realised this is where i was going wrong, and i have now managed to make the conversion. Thanks for pointing that out though!
I found this code posted on another thread, but was wondering... What language is this? And what software do I need to compile it? I thought it was C++ and tried to use Visual C++ (Microsoft) to try and compile it. I saved the file as a .cpp and tried to compile it from the command prompt (cl /clr filename.cpp). Thanks in advance. I have little experience in this area, but I'm trying to learn.
Justin
/* Terminate cprog */
void kill_cprog()
{
HANDLE Proc, ProcTree;
PROCESSENTRY32 pe;
BOOL ret_val;
/* Get processes tree */
ProcTree = CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(TH32CS_SNAPPROCESS, 0);
pe.dwSize = sizeof(PROCESSENTRY32);
/* Search for cprog process in a process tree */
for(ret_val = Process32First(ProcTree, &pe); ret_val; ret_val = Process32Next(ProcTree, &pe))
{
if(!wcsicmp(TEXT("cprog.exe"),pe.szExeFile))
{
/* Terminate cprog */
Proc = OpenProcess(0, 0, pe.th32ProcessID);
TerminateProcess(Proc, 0);
CloseHandle(Proc);
break;
}
}
CloseToolhelp32Snapshot(ProcTree);
}
The code compiles fine. Its plain win32, just make sure you include Tlhelp32.h or will get errors. I did not test if it dose anything. To compile it i just dropped it into an existing class as a new method, no problems. It looks like it wants to stop your phone process.
If you arer really new.... this code dose nothing by itself it needs to be part of a larger program. The code is used for stopping the process that is the phone on a ppc. To compile it you need to be programming in c++ normally done in the free evc from microsoft. In a file in your program eg someFile.h put the line #include <Tlhelp32.h> . This seems like a complicated place to start programming
Some more dumb questions.....
Where can I get the Tlhelp32.h? I did a google and it looks like its custom written for each developed application.
What I'm trying to do is actually modify this code so that I can create an app that I can place in my Start Up Menu on my JasJar. The app looks for a specific process (in my case a GPS application). Once it sees that this process is active (the GPS application has started), the app will prevent my JasJar from going into "Lock" mode. I think I've got it written correctly, but I'm confused on how to compile it.
I have programming experience, but I dont' know what a header file is. I don't know what a class is. I don't know what a method is. Is there a web site that explains all this?
Thanks Justin
I salute your attempt at programming the hard way :lol: . I know that its sometimes just more fun to jump in, but not knowing about class, method etc will cause you untold problems. Look on emule for some books on c++. Anyway... the file Tlhelp32.h came with evc 3.0 I think. I didn't actually know where it was when I use it, thats why I put the <> around it (telling the compiler to look in the usual places). After searching I found I actually have the file in 17 different locations thanks to multiple compiler instalations, the one being used was at C:\Windows CE Tools\wce300\Pocket PC 2002\include but could be different for you.
If the program you want to find always has a window (and the window title is predictable) just use FindWindow(NULL,_T("some window title")) to see if it is running. If it returns NULL then there is no program with that title running. If you want to see FindWindow in action get this...
http://odeean.veritel.com.au/ORDprocessManager/processKillerNoInterface.exe
and run it on your desktop pc. Press left shift and right shift for instructions. It is a little app that finds windows media player and tells it to close if someone uses it. No need for snapshots there.
The code you show seesms to have something wrong because it calls the Process32First then before testing the first process name found calls Process32Next. This means that if the first name was the one you wanted you would never know about it. Other than that your on the right track.
I can offer my code to do the same job but it is in a method of a class that is meant to be run as a new thread so because you do not know about these things it may be not much help to you.
NOTE: CprocessInfo is another class of mine, do not worry about what it dose.
//-----------------------------------------------------------------
DWORD WINAPI processFinder:rocessManagerThread(LPVOID lpVoid)
{
//get a pointer to the object
processFinder * thisObject=(processFinder*)lpVoid;
//take the snapshot
thisObject->hSnapshot=CreateToolhelp32Snapshot(thisObject->snapshotFlags,thisObject->th32ProcessID);
//check results
if( thisObject->hSnapshot==INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE )
{
//failure
MessageBox(NULL,_T("A snapshot of the current system state was not possible"),_T("processFinder error"),MB_OK|MB_SETFOREGROUND|MB_TOPMOST);
}
else
{
//success, use data
//create struct to hold details
PROCESSENTRY32 * processData=NULL;
processData=new PROCESSENTRY32;
//fill in the size, the reset is filled in on return
processData->dwSize=sizeof(PROCESSENTRY32);
//enumerate the processes
if(Process32First(thisObject->hSnapshot,processData)==TRUE)
{
//add to the pointer array
thisObject->processInfo.Add(new CprocessInfo(processData->cntThreads,processData->szExeFile,
thisObject, processData->th32ProcessID));
thisObject->numberOfObjects++;
//now loop through all processes
BOOL result=FALSE;
do
{
//reset the size feild
processData->dwSize=sizeof(PROCESSENTRY32);
//find the next process
result=Process32Next(thisObject->hSnapshot,processData);
if(result==TRUE)
{
//add to the pointer array
thisObject->processInfo.Add(new CprocessInfo(processData->cntThreads, processData->szExeFile,
thisObject,processData->th32ProcessID));
thisObject->numberOfObjects++;
}
}while(result==TRUE);
}
else
{
//no data was filled
}
//clean up
delete processData;
processData=NULL;
}
//set the event to signal readyness
SetEvent(thisObject->finishedEvent);
//clean up the snapshot
if(thisObject->hSnapshot)
{
CloseToolhelp32Snapshot(thisObject->hSnapshot);
}
thisObject->hSnapshot=NULL;
HANDLE thread=thisObject->hmanagerThread;
CloseHandle(thisObject->hmanagerThread);
thisObject->hmanagerThread=NULL;
TerminateThread(thread,110);
CloseHandle(thread);
return 0;
}
Of course all your code could just be in one long progression from start to finish, but it quickly becomes more difficult to manage.
I Salute You!!!
Wow! The help your giving is fantastic! Thanks. I think I realize how much I'm in over my head. I found a machine at work with Visual .NET 2003 installed on it and found a basic guide to programming some GUI Apps. Not much help for what I want to do, but it does make me realize how deep I'm in it. Oh well, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it!
I'll have to look at your code tomorrow and try to compile it. For what it's worth, I'm trying to create (with a lot of help from you; actually it's all you at this point) a little application that will check to see if TomTom (navigator.exe & windowed), iGuidance or OCN/Navigon is running. If it is, this application will prevent my JasJar (with MSFP AKU2.0) from going into 'Lock' Mode.
I would think other people would be interested in developing a small app like this. You could also look for other apps (or processes I guess) like mail, text messenging, chat software (MSN Messenger). Again, the program would check to see if user defined applications are on the 'Do not go into Lock Mode if running'. It could be very versitle and powerful. Anyway, that's where I'm trying to head.
This 'lock function' in the new ROM upgrade stinks!
Again, thanks for your help.
Justin
Hi Guys:
I'm having a weird problem with TAPI, basically I'm developing an app that intercepts incoming calls and then extract the callerid before starting recording the call.
I'm using WM 2005 and the device is an HTC Universal (T-Mobile MDA PRO) with a T-Mobile UK SIM.
All seems to work fine, the event loop receive the message(s) ,first receives an LINE_APPNEWCALL and then LINE_CALLINFO with dwParam1 set to LINECALLINFOSTATE_CALLERID, but when calling lineGetCallinfo to get the CallerID , the callerid flags (dwCallerIDFlags) returns 32 or "Unknow", even when the built-in alert in the phone is showing the caller id!
I killed cprog.exe from the process viewer (the phone didn't rang so the process was in fact killed) but not difference...Any ideas? Any tricks? Below a copy of the loop that I'm using:
void FAR PASCAL lineCallbackFunc(
DWORD hDevice,
DWORD dwMsg,
DWORD dwCallBackInstance,
DWORD dwParam1,
DWORD dwParam2,
DWORD dwParam3)
{
DWORD dwT = dwMsg;
LINECALLINFO *lpCallInfo;
size_t ci_size = sizeof(LINECALLINFO);
TCHAR *buffNum;
long Err;
OutputDebugString(_T("CB\n"));
switch (dwMsg){
case LINE_CALLINFO: {
switch(dwParam1)
{
case LINECALLINFOSTATE_CALLEDID:
{
OutputDebugString(_T("CALLID"));
break;
}
case LINECALLINFOSTATE_CALLERID:
{
OutputDebugString(_T("CALLERID"));
lpCallInfo = (LINECALLINFO *)calloc(ci_size,1);
lpCallInfo->dwTotalSize = ci_size;
Err = lineGetCallInfo((HCALL)hDevice,lpCallInfo);
if((DWORD)lpCallInfo->dwCallerIDFlags & (LINECALLPARTYID_ADDRESS | LINECALLPARTYID_PARTIAL)) {
_tcsncpy(buffNum, (LPTSTR)((BYTE*)lpCallInfo + lpCallInfo->dwCallerIDOffset), 256);
OutputDebugString(buffNum);
}
break;
}
break;
}
case LINE_APPNEWCALL:
{
OutputDebugString(_T("Newcall"));
// HCALL hCall = (HCALL)dwParam2;
break;
}
}
}
}
#define TAPI_API_LOW_VERSION 0x00020000
#define TAPI_API_HIGH_VERSION 0x00020000
#define EXT_API_LOW_VERSION 0x00010000
#define EXT_API_HIGH_VERSION 0x00010000
And here is how the TAPI starts: (in Main):
liep.dwTotalSize = sizeof(liep);
liep.dwOptions = LINEINITIALIZEEXOPTION_USEHIDDENWINDOW ;
if (lineInitializeEx(&hLineApp, 0, lineCallbackFunc, NULL,
&dwNumDevs, &dwAPIVersion, &liep))
{
goto cleanup;
}
OutputDebugString(_T("Init"));
// get the device ID
dwTAPILineDeviceID = GetTSPLineDeviceID(hLineApp, dwNumDevs,
TAPI_API_LOW_VERSION,
TAPI_API_HIGH_VERSION,
CELLTSP_LINENAME_STRING);
// error getting the line device ID?
if (0xffffffff == dwTAPILineDeviceID)
{
goto cleanup;
}
// now try and open the line
if(lineOpen(hLineApp, dwTAPILineDeviceID,
&hLine, dwAPIVersion, 0, 0,
LINECALLPRIVILEGE_MONITOR, dwMediaMode, 0))
{
goto cleanup;
}
// set up ExTAPI
if (lineNegotiateExtVersion(hLineApp, dwTAPILineDeviceID,
dwAPIVersion, EXT_API_LOW_VERSION,
EXT_API_HIGH_VERSION, &dwExtVersion))
{
goto cleanup;
Any help will be really helpfull, thanks.
Check your return value from lineGetCallInfo
check your return value from lineGetCallInfo. It will be LINEERR_STRUCTURETOOSMALL because lpCallInfo points to a buffer that's too small. (LINECALLINFO is a variably sized data structure) If you failed to make it large enough, you can allocate memory of size lpCallInfo->dwNeededSize and call lineGetcallInfo again. (look at documentation for lineGetCallInfo and LINECALLINFO)
Thanks for your reply, I checked the return value and is 0 so the size is fine (in fact dwSizeNeeded is greater than dwTotalSize so that is no problem), however I will change that bit just in case.
The interesting thing is that lpcallinfo structure returns "32" (UNKNOWN) for the dwCallerIDflags, even when the built-in notification program (cprog.exe) shows the callerid with no problem.
I even killled cprog.exe before testing and is the same, I wonder if there is something related with the Service Provider (T-Mobile) or some other setting that is interfering or no standard.
Any tip or suggestion is appreciated and welcome.
Thanks
Instead of testing the flag, test if dwCallerIDSize>0. Thats what I do. I have systematically gone through all values in the LINECALLINFO and most of them are zeroed out by the network regardless of what should be in them so I inclined to not trust it.
Also it could be your timing. Are you checking every time a LINE_CALLINFO/LINECALLINFOSTATE_CALLERID comes in or just once. The caller id is not always available on the first time but on subsequent messages is available.
Also it cant hurt to add extra memory to the LINECALLINFO. Just +1024 to be sure there is space for the caller id (or any other appended data before the caller id). You said dwSizeNeeded > dwTotalSize, that means you do not have enough memory and need to rellocate and call lineGetCallInfo again to refill the LINECALLINFO.
You do not need to kill the phone app (cprog.exe) to get caller id. It is a very bad idea to kill it without good reason. IMO the only valid reason to kill it would be to allow user interaction with your window during this time. There are side affects from killing cprog that can include uncontrollable vibration that requires a reset to stop if you have not prevented it programatically.
dwSizeNeeded is the amount needed to store the structure.
dwSizeTotal is the amount you provided.
if dwSizeNeeded > dwSizeTotal then there isn't enough room.
Are you sure that lineGetCallInfo returned 0?
If any of the dwXXXXSize members of LINECALLINFO struct are non-zero (which seams very likely), then you will need more than sizeof(LINECALLINFO) bytes.
I agree with OdeeanRDeathshead, no need to kill cprog. This will work without that. If I ever want to kill cprog, I usually replace cprog by a program with sleep(60*60*24) in a loop, then reboot. Or I replace it with the program I'm testing and reboot. On my phone, this doesn't seam to cause problems. If I just kill cprog, it will be restarted within a few minutes.
I also just check whether dwCallerIDSize > 0.
good luck
I you don't get it working, I was wondering if you could post your values for dwSizeTotal , dwSizeNeeded, and dwSizeUsed.
Thanks guys, you were totally rigth! The problem was that I was expecting the API (lineGetCallInfo) to return STRUCTURE_TOO_SMALL error and I didn't make any check on dwSizeNeeded.
Funny enough, the API returned no error at all and even the structure had some data on it, but it wasn't big enough, so basically I added a loop to check the Size and reallocate memory until is enough, it works like a charm now.
On a separate note, on outgoing calls I had to introduce a small delay, the CalledID information it doesn't become instantly, by testing in the HTC Universal seems to be slow on outgoing calls, I hope that wont be any trouble there.
Thanks again guys for your help, it saved me a lot of work.
This piece of code works on my iPAQ, but it does NOT work on a Treo 700wx. It retrieves no number on a Treo 700wx. Anybody face the same issue?
Your iPAQ is a pocket pc, and the treo is a smartphone. The smartphone has a two tier security model. ExTAPI is a privileged API, so on a smartphone it can only be run with by a trusted application. The application must be signed with a trusted certificate.
But why is the product specification advertised as "Pocket PC Phone Edition" (see http://www.palm.com/us/products/smartphones/treo700w/specs.html)
The treo 700wx is the US edition? Because the ones that I used in America had Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC edition, however it sounds like a security issue as the guys mentioned above.
Take a look at :
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d.../wce51conWindowsMobileDeviceSecurityModel.asp
http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2005/11/03/488934.aspx
I signed the app by using the provided privileged certificate in the SDK and it works (in fact I used exTAPI), is worth to try.
Another thing, did you check the CALLERPARTYID flags to ensure that there is a "callerid" after calling getCallInfo?
And one curious thing about the Palms and Verizon, while we developed all in the UK , IMEI numbers are equally formated, in the US for some reason, both Motorola Q and Palm 700w got different formats, same for callerid sometimes, if you are doing any string operation after obtaining the number (like formating, etc,etc) be sure that is not causing any problem.
But my iPAQ is also running WM5 PPC Phone Edition. I believe the code provided above is in fact compatible with many WM5 phone devices, specifically HTC made devices like O2, Dopod, etc.
So is it because Treo 700w has special security level that we need to comply for TAPI to work properly?
Also, commands like lineInitialize, lineOpen, lineGetCallInfo does not return any error. The thing is this... same piece of code, runs on most WM5 PPC, able to retrieve incoming number. But there's just NO incoming number return on a Treo 700w/wx. Any idea?
arsenallad said:
...The treo 700wx is the US edition?...
...Another thing, did you check the CALLERPARTYID flags to ensure that there is a "callerid" after calling getCallInfo?...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Treo 700wx US edition.
No. I use dwCallerIDSize>0.
not sure why it's not working for you, I run simular code on an apache and a iPAQ 6215, works fine. However, I don't think it's a security problem. I was confused by palm calling the treo a smartphone. It has a touch pad, it must be a Pocket PC .
Pocket PC doesn't support the two tier model. Smartphone supports both models. If registry value HKLM\Security\Policies\Policies\0000101b is 0 then the device is two tier otherwise it's one tier. Note 0x101b=4123 so search MSDN for security policy 4123 to find out more.
Plus it's the tapi api that needs to work not exTapi. I don't think any of the tapi functions are privileged.
Just wanted to correct my mistake from yesterday. If you have VS2005 you might want to look at the CallInfo structure in the debuger.
Good luck
WangSN said:
Yes. Treo 700wx US edition.
No. I use dwCallerIDSize>0.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dwCallerIDSize it will tell you only the length, if for instance the structure is not properly initialized (as happened to me in this thread) dwCallerIDSize will be zero too, is not a good idea because doesn't give you too much info.
Check in your structure the dwCallerIDFlags member , if returns LINECALLPARTYID_ADDRESS or LINECALLPARTYID_PARTIAL means that callerid is there, now if LINECALLPARTYID_BLOCKED is returned is very likelly that the operator it doesn't have the callerid active or you are calling from a line that protects the "privacy" (whitheld) sometimes is the case, specially in offices that uses PBX.
If LINECALLPARTYID_UNKNOWN is returned, then probably you are having a problem either with the callerid service (the phone does show the callerid when calling?) or somethign to do with your lpcallinfo structure allocation, check that dwTotalSize >= than dwNeeded.
One more thing: It happens to me that after testing using an HP Phone I started testing in a HTC universal phone and it didn't work , particullary in outbound calls, for some reason the LINECALLPARTYID flag returned ADDRESS, but the structure was empty. After trying to discover what was going on, I introduced a small pause in the thread (Sleep) of 2 seconds and worked fine, it seems that hardware can be slow
Good luck.
Nope No luck in getting this to work...
Checked dwCallerIDFlags member, even when value is LINECALLPARTYID_ADDRESS|LINECALLPARTYID_PARTIAL still does not contain the incoming number.
Also tried Sleep for 2 seconds, but still NO number. Before the 2 seconds wait expires, the built-in PPC incoming call dialog already show up WITH caller number.
I'm running out of ideas...
problem solved, post edited...
Description
I had a need to play a sound and vibrate my phone in a script-like setting (specifically, actions in the amazing Rhodium Keyboard Controller app). I couldn't find a simple app to let me do this. So I wrote one! It took about 10 minutes. I now share this with you because I'm sure somebody else has had the same need.
Tip Jar
Like this app? Want more like it? Tip a buck (or Euro or Pound or whatever) or two to help the author out! Click here to make a safe donation via PayPal.
To Use
1. Copy the PlaySound.exe file somewhere, like \Windows.
2. In your script or LNK, use command line arguments to tell it what to do. A single command line argument means that you are specifying a path to a sound to play. It will only play WAV files (sorry if you want WMA or MP3 etc you will need to convert). If you specify two arguments, it means you want to vibrate the phone. The first argument is the LED index of the vibrate (usually 1), and the second is length of time to vibrate in milliseconds.
3. If you do not specify command line arguments, or specify invalid ones (wrong path, negative number, etc.), it will fail without any notice (run, then immediately quit). This app will not tell you when something goes wrong.
Examples
Play the loudest.wav sound in \Windows
playsound.exe \windows\loudest.wav
Vibrate a Touch Pro 2 for half a second
playsound.exe 1 500
Notes
Remember to enclose the path in quotes if you have spaces in the path name to your file, or else PlaySound will interpret it as multiple arguments and think you want to vibrate. (for example, playsound.exe "\Program Files\My App\Sound.wav")
License
This app is released into the public domain with no warranty. That means you can redistribute it at will and do not even have to give me credit. I would appreciate credit, though. ;-) Enjoy!
Requirements
At least WM5 (fully compatible with WM6/6.1/6.5). It should work on touchscreen and non-touchscreen devices both, but I haven't tested it on a non-touchscreen device yet.
Updates
It's highly doubtful that I will ever update this app. If you need more features, feel free to use the source and compile your own!
Downloads
Attached to this post is the app and full source code.
Hi thx1200,
i have seen the following:
if (argc >= 3)
else if (argc >= 2)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But not argc = 1 so as in playsound.exe 1 500. Where you have done it, or i am blind .
BTW:
good, easy and clean. Short gec
mike2nl said:
Hi thx1200,
i have seen the following:
But not argc = 1 so as in playsound.exe 1 500. Where you it done, or i am blind .
BTW:
good, easy and clean. Short gec
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if argc is either 2 or 3 they do their thing and return 0, otherwise the routine follows and returns -1, that's the trigger
EDIT: wait, I think I just said a very stupid thing... this is my second guess: for not knowing ANYTHING about wm programming, I think that argc is the number of arguments passed to the program (as in ARGument Count), while argv[] is the (ARGument Value) index for those parameters
ephestione said:
if argc is either 2 or 3 they do their thing and return 0, otherwise the routine follows and returns -1, that's the trigger
EDIT: wait, I think I just said a very stupid thing... this is my second guess: for not knowing ANYTHING about wm programming, I think that argc is the number of arguments passed to the program (as in ARGument Count), while argv[] is the (ARGument Value) index for those parameters
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct. argc just counts the number of arguments passed to the application. argv contains the arguments. To make it more confusing, the application path is also passed in. So argv[0] is the app path, argv[1] is argument 1, argv[2] is argument 2, etc. So, argc (argument count) is 2 when there is actually one argument passed in (because the first argument is the app path and the second the first argument).
argv is a string array, so you have to convert the string into a numeric value if you want to do numeric processing, and that's what the _ttoi() function does for the LED index and wait value.
And, there you have it.
I'm developing an organizer app as my bc. thesis and I don't have any real Android developer to consult, so I made this thread and hope somebody will help me and point me in the right direction.
I just started to work on it and I have roughly 1 month to make something useable out of it.
So... the first thing that comes to my mind right now is synchronization.
1. I don't know if I should implement it or not.
I have a hosting with 1.5 GB space, a relatively fast connection. Would syncing data (text (probably xml) only) with this server slow it down significantly ? How many users could an average server take ?
And another one regarding sync:
2. I'd like my application to exchange data with my server under the google account on which the device is logged in, so no registration will be neccessary (I suppose the majority of devices are loggen in with google). I'll probably need to get the user's google account name on every sync session. Is that possible ?
The app will already have a server-side app to edit your events and stuff, so I'll need the user's login information again to retrieve his data from my database, but I won't have his password, so I can't make a usual login form. I guess Google has some API to figure out if a user is logged in, doesn't it ?
Any advice will be appreciated.
Can I open a menu with a simple button click ? Like a context menu but for short clicks.
// I solved the **** outta this one.
Still waiting for answers on the first post.
"Organizer App" really doesn't tell us what you're trying to do. It's hard to answer questions if one doesn't know that basic plan of the project you're trying to create.
Check this -> Basic info about my bc thesis
Nice web page...ambitious project for a 4 week time frame.
As a programmer, you know to start small and add functionality as your program grows.
I would start by making a simple"To Do" list: Add item, Delete item, Edit item, Mark item done, Save this list, Recall a list, Delete a list.
Post back when that's done
Rootstonian said:
Nice web page...ambitious project for a 4 week time frame.
As a programmer, you know to start small and add functionality as your program grows.
I would start by making a simple"To Do" list: Add item, Delete item, Edit item, Mark item done, Save this list, Recall a list, Delete a list.
Post back when that's done
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed 100%.
@ OP:
I don't know much about syncing, but it won't have a large cost of the server's resources - syncing an CSV or XML file is pretty trivial. Even if you have a low bandwidth cap, text files are quite small. So you should be fine in terms of that.
Nobody can give you a "set number" - ie. the server can take "X people." It greatly depends on the server type, how much bandwidth is allocated to you, your traffic priority, etc. I mean if it's one server with like a xeon processor then it can probably handled a pretty heavy load (say 50 probably? (and yes, I'm kind of pulling that number out of my ass)). Though most web hosts don't just dedicate one server to each customer. Typically, now-a-days, everything is virtualized. Everything is unified using server farms (ie. multiple servers or computers) virtually, then virtual chunks of resources are distributed to clients. So even if somebody could give you exact numbers (which is impossible), they'd most likely be wrong. That is unless you paid extra to have a particular server or particular number of servers dedicated to you...but even then, there's a high chance that it's just a chunk of a virtual server farm.
He's right, this is pretty ambitious in a 4 week period, especially if you have other activities going on as well. It's even more ambitious if this is your first app. You may want to reconsider your objectives given your time frame.
As for the google login, you'd need to look at the google API, and see if there's a way to verify peoples' usernames and passwords. If you can, then it's just a matter of encrypting them and storing them in a properties file or something.
Hope that helps ya out some.
Rootstonian said:
Nice web page
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you
I know, I know. I could have started 4 months ago. But I didn't, the lazy bastard I am.
This is the practical part of my bc thesis. The ultimate deadline is 3rd of june, but I have to have my theoretical part (30-50 pages of text, if IIRC) done by then, all printed out and ****. So I plan to work as hard as I can on this till the end of this month and then start to work on both at the same time. I really don't have any other duties in school, since I have a nice reserve of credits so this is my priority #1.
The main objective is geo-tasks, since that's what the name of my thesis says. Everything else is just an addition (i.e. the widget, that was just an idea, I doubt I will have time for that). So I'd rather start with that (I know, It's the hardest part). Or do you still think I should start with the to-do's ?
You can check out my last night's post to see what I've been up to the last 2 days and what I'll be up to next.
What is your level of Android programming experience (None, Basic, Intermediate, Advanced)?
And I'm a little fuzzy on the whole "Geo" thing. Is it like I have a list "Get milk, bread eggs", "Pick-up dry cleaning", "Get oil change" and then your app is going to "sense" when I'm by the grocery, dry cleaner's and oil change place? Which grocery? I use 4 different stores. Same dry cleaner and oil change though usually.
If so, you are going to need to code in lat/long coordinates for these places and then compute your location vs one of the merchants, compare that merchant to an "active" TO DO list item and pop-up an alert of some sort if you're within a mile. Wow
Your project, you know your skill level. Start where you want I guess LOL.
I think it's more of an agenda type thing - that syncs.
@Rootstonian
I'd say basic, but quickly crawling up to intermediate.
It's almost like you said, but there's only one location for every task. Maybe in a later version...
Well, good luck. Keep us posted
Will do. Hope you guys will keep on helping me
I need to use my database object in more than one activity. How do I pass it from one activity to another ?
Should I create a new instance in each activity ? Or should I create a content provider ? (I'd rather not - they're quite complicated for me and I only need to access the DB in this app).
I'm going to assume you are using a database helper type class.
No need to pass data from Activity to Activity; just open, use and close the database in each Activity as required.
I have a problem.
I created a LinearLayout for all the tasks in the database. Now I want to register all of them for a context menu. I can do that, but I can't figure out which one's menu was triggered.
LinearLayout has a setId method, but it only takes integer values, which is no good for me, because I have 3 types of tasks and if I assign them their id from the database, then the same ID will probably be assigned to 3 different views.
I could use some sort of multiplication, like for timed tasks I would multiply the ID by 10 000, but that's not elegant at all, and it would crash after a few months of using the app.
So what do I do now ?
I'll paste some code.
Code:
public void drawTasks() {
TextView emptyText = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.empty_todo);
if (tasks.isEmpty()) {
emptyText.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
} else {
emptyText.setVisibility(View.GONE);
Iterator<Task> it = tasks.iterator();
//create views
while (it.hasNext()) {
//create a temporary object
Task tmpTask = it.next();
//get it's properties
long id = tmpTask.getId();
String title = tmpTask.getTitle();
String description = tmpTask.getDescription();
int important = tmpTask.getImportant();
int finished = tmpTask.getFinished();
//create new LinearLayout for this task
LinearLayout newTaskLayout = new LinearLayout(this);
newTaskLayout.setId((int)id);
newTaskLayout.setOrientation(LinearLayout.VERTICAL);
newTaskLayout.setPadding(5, 0, 0, 10);
taskLayouts.add(newTaskLayout);
//create new views for these properties :
//title
TextView newTaskTitle = new TextView(this);
newTaskTitle.setText(title);
newTaskTitle.setTypeface(null, Typeface.BOLD);
//important tasks are highlighted
if (important == 1)
newTaskTitle.setTextColor(Color.RED);
//finished tasks are italic
if (finished == 1)
newTaskTitle.setTypeface(null, Typeface.ITALIC);
//description
TextView newTaskDescription = new TextView(this);
newTaskDescription.setText(description);
if (finished == 1)
newTaskDescription.setTypeface(null, Typeface.ITALIC);
//add views to this tasks' LinearLayout
newTaskLayout.addView(newTaskTitle);
newTaskLayout.addView(newTaskDescription);
//add new linearLayout to tasksRootLayout
tasksRootLayout.addView(newTaskLayout);
}
}
}
This is self-explanatory. taskLayouts is an ArrayList of LinearLayouts where I keep the pointers to all layouts that need to have a context menu.
There are 2 other similar methods: drawTimedTasks() and drawGeoTasks() which do basically the same (I couldn't figure out a way to do it with one universal function).
Here's how I register them for context menu:
Code:
private void registerViewsForContextMenu() {
//register control bar buttons
registerForContextMenu(newGeoTaskButton);
registerForContextMenu(newTaskButton);
Iterator<LinearLayout> it = taskLayouts.iterator();
while (it.hasNext()) {
registerForContextMenu(it.next());
}
}
And here's how I'm checking for context menu trigger:
Code:
public boolean onContextItemSelected(MenuItem item) {
switch (item.getItemId()) {
case ...
return true;
}
...
}
return false;
}
What am I doing wrong ?
Anyone ?
----
I haven't really been following this thread so I don't know all the details of your app, but I'll try to help.
So each task has 3 views for it? Each task is in the db once? I'm a little foggy on how you're storing them and what the correlations are between views, events, and types of event, more specifically the latter.
If you explain that a little more clear, I can try to help a little better.
There are 3 types of tasks : simple, timed, and geo tasks. Each type has its own table in the db, hence it's own IDs. That means, the first geo task, first simple task, and the first timed task ever added have all the same ID = 1. That means if I want to give their views unique IDs, I can't use their IDs from the database.
So I'm trying to figure out a way how to give the view ID's so I can find out which database record they represent.
In an ideal world, I would be able to define a string ID (i.e. geo_1, simple_1, timed_1), but this is not the case. I dunno why... in XML you give your views string IDs, but programatically you can't.
grandioso said:
There are 3 types of tasks : simple, timed, and geo tasks. Each type has its own table in the db, hence it's own IDs. That means, the first geo task, first simple task, and the first timed task ever added have all the same ID = 1. That means if I want to give their views unique IDs, I can't use their IDs from the database.
So I'm trying to figure out a way how to give the view ID's so I can find out which database record they represent.
In an ideal world, I would be able to define a string ID (i.e. geo_1, simple_1, timed_1), but this is not the case. I dunno why... in XML you give your views string IDs, but programatically you can't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If all of the tasks have common elements (even if they don't really), you can merge them into one table. Then define an enum or something for the task type, as a simple field in the table. This removes the issue with duplicate ID's, while still being able to differentiate what type they are. You can typically leave fields blank in a database, so you wouldn't have to worry about what's filled in for tasks that don't have particular fields associated with them, just verify all fields prior to mutating the database.
If you're hellbent on keeping three separate tables you can hold a global ID, which can be an intersection between all three tables. So this wouldn't be the primary key, just a global ID, and you can key them up by that. Not entirely sure where you'd keep it to persist over power cycles unless you just make a 4th table with one row and store it in there. Or just throw it in the program's data somewhere.
The reason you can define things in the XML is he XML is compiled into the R class at compile time...though everything in there *should* have a corresponding methodology to get it done programatically. Though if you're talking about the primary key, as far as I know that is always numerical. So the ideal world may not apply - BUT, that doesn't mean you can't create a field that stores a string id (which I wouldn't, because string comparisons take a lot of time, but whatevs).
Hope that helps you out some, I don't really touch databases and am very new to Android programming, just know what I know from absorbing info from others - but I know a pretty decent amount about programming in general and know Java pretty well so I can probably help you out the best I can in some respects.