Database Users

Coders new to WM5 "help" (advice)

Hi,
I have a fair background in various coding languages, and there are a couple of programs I want to try and build.
However, while I can usually pick up and understand a language quite easily the problem I usually find is a lack of knowledge of the objects available to make life easier and the functions which are available.
So far, I've sat around and got a setup which I think should allow me to write and compile WM5 applications and today plugins, but I have suddenly found I am missing that "thing" that made writing in other languages easier - effectively a "Cheat Sheet".
What I would appreciate from the other coders with experience in writing software for WM5 is a list of what windows or books you have open for reference when coding. Is it just MSDN, is there a specific page that you have bookmarked or do you just google for it every time?
Any further advice (like good compilers I might have missed) will also be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

I'd like to hear from others too about this..
So far, My buddies for development help have been:
1. Search in MSDN
2. Search in Google
3. Ask on xda-developers
4. Search in MSDN forums and usenet groups for pocket pc developers
5. A book (that i dont refer to too often) whose name goes smthing like "Programming for Microsoft Windows CE .net" by Douglas Boling (Its not for .net development, it covers native development mostly. Windows CE .Net refers to a version of CE)
6. I also have another book that i have not even opened till now. It is solely for .net development (which is not my forte). Its by Wrox Publishers. If I remember the name correctly, it goes smthing like "Professional Microsoft Smartphone Programming"

There is an exellent documentation on .NET & Native Code on MSDN.
Then there are samples as well, again on MSDN.
For a today plugin, there is a very good sample by levenum which u can easily find in this section of the forum.
For me its always been google & this forum, no boooooks !!!

or
www.codeguru.com
in most cases programming for pocketpc's is like programming for pc's

Thanks for the replies guys. I see what you mean, MSDN is rather good. I was beginning to think it was just WM6, but I eventually found the section on WM5 (which I am planning on coding for given my phone is WM5). Their Wiki also had some good info on it too. Don't know whether these will be my coding buddies yet though....
shantzg001 said:
I'd like to hear from others too about this..
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I'm glad someone else is interested. TBH I am surprised there is not a sticky at the top of the forum with this information in or a link to the Wiki for further details, but I could only find details of Development Tools on the wiki.
shaileshashar said:
For a today plugin, there is a very good sample by levenum which u can easily find in this section of the forum.
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Thanks for this pointer. I found two (here and here) which look promising. Don't know if there are any I missed....

Just a small tip when searching in MSDN... add ce in the search pharse. For e.g., "ce WM_TIMER" will give you the CE related sessions at the top.

I like www.pocketpcdn.com - articles and code examples for Pocket PC and Smartphones arranged by categories.
Also www.codeproject.com has been helpfull at times.

LINUX for pocket pc

Hello all. I've just started a project to build a linux version that can be install in a pocket ppc architecture. So i'm looking for coders, designers, etc...
If you are interested, answer to this post or contact me in personal message. I'll manage a website for that project. There is no needs to say that this project will be completly FREE.

Embedded Linux Forum
For those who are interested, I've opened a forum about embedded Linux.
The forum is very new and it is waiting for peoples

you mean linux for wizard?
ok, i just want to wish you luck.. i seen 1-2 projects - no conclusion, or stable relz so far...
i set instant email notification ON for that post..
g'luck..

http://linwizard.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

good luck, and I can't wait!

After a lots of researchs, i've found there is already a big amount embedded linux distributions (commercial and free). But these distribution are a little complex for newbies, so i decided to make the forum to furnish tutorials and documentation and help for peoples who are interesting in putting Linux on there pocket pc.
I need your participation to the forum !! Questions , tutorials , etc...

I added some informations in the forul but I Still need people. There is a lot of questions asked whithout answers. For example in the project list, there is a project of a LiveSD Linux which you have certainly understood is a LiveCd of linux on a SD. I need programmer, especially for memory's allocation, coders, etc. I want to lead this forum at the first place to help all people who want to build there own embedded linux. The Forum

Interested, too...
At what point do you stay with any developement? Well, i am interested in Linux on my Vario, too.
And what is planned? Full featured Phone-Application, or only a stand-alone Linux?
Regards
Thomas

Both are possible but the better thing you can do is to post your idea or your questions is the FORUM
REGARDS

tommix1968 said:
i am interested in Linux on my Vario
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Vario is HTC Wizard ? The main problem are the CPLD gpios accessed over i2c. For some reason it does not work as expected

cr2 said:
Vario is HTC Wizard ? The main problem are the CPLD gpios accessed over i2c. For some reason it does not work as expected
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That where not so good news... But WM is only a Software, too.

Hmmm... about Linux in OMAP based devices... Just browsed on TI webpage and found this:
http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wt...emplatedata/cm/general/data/wtbmiddl/sw/linux
http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbusplashcontent.tsp?templateId=6123&contentId=4750
I think it may be helpfull... or not...

mendoza said:
Hmmm... about Linux in OMAP based devices... Just browsed on TI webpage and found this:
http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wt...emplatedata/cm/general/data/wtbmiddl/sw/linux
http://focus.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbusplashcontent.tsp?templateId=6123&contentId=4750
I think it may be helpfull... or not...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
very nice discovery, i might look into that once i get another phone to play with.

Job offer ......of sorts!

Hey guys I hope you dont have any objections to this, if it is against any policies you have just let me know.
Ok the meat is, I am forming a very early stage start up.
I am UK based with (sadly!) no language skills so youll have to be English speaking.
I am seeking a developer to help me put together a prototype software suite.
I do not know this platform AT ALL, so youll have to know how to acces databases via vpn.( may need knowledge of the server side too) youll also have to understand the operations of the bluetooth stack with regards to sending print files.
And lastly you will need to be able to implement and debug a visual input sytem.
Its actually quite basic stuff, but I have no time to learn it as my bank wants to see a prototype ASAP.
Again I apologise if this is against your policy, but I need to get the ball rolling.
To clarify, as I am currently in patenting process I cant discuss much yet, but this can go two ways;
1: If you have the skills I need and spare time we agree on a price and timescale, I pay you for your work, then you walk away.
2: We discuss the project, you come on board with skills provided in return for a percentage of company.
This could be a great oppurtunity either way.
Thanks for listening.
I would prefer an email at [email protected]

What will it take?
I was disappointed to see no responses but oh hey!
SO? what am I doing wrong? what would it take to get some development skills in my pocket?
I would offer a go on the missus but shes not speaking to me right now for ignoring her.
Any advice pos' or negative would be cool.
Cheers guys.

If I were you I'd scan the Development forum and look at our community developers to see what they have done. Some of the more popular and highly respected are
A_C for S2U2 and S2V
Tene for PocketCM and PCM Keyboard
Thundershadow14 for PocketMelody and PictureFlow
DotFred for TaskManager and PPCPIMBackup
Vijay555 for (too much to name)
Slither2006 for SCLPC++
Grumps for iPhone App
I'm sure I missed out a lot of others with some real quality stuff. But I'm just naming off those who has produced software that I use most frequently and/or always see at the top of the Development forum cause the thread is so active. Sorry if I offended anyone by not naming them.
So check out the guys that I listed above and see if they have exhibit the skills that you need require for your project. Also if you need help with the design-side we also have plenty of good GUI/skinning guys.

Appreciated.
I will go check the area you suggested, so thanks for the heads up.
At the moment I am just interested in a rough and ready usable system to show the bank, but Ill definately remember your offer if they like what they see.
Again, thanks bud. And wish me luck.
PS If I wanted to learn the coding myself, do you think it would be completely improbable to do so myself in say 4 weeks?
(I am a mechanical engineering student so not completely dense but pretty busy).
And where would be a good place to start?
Thanks in advance.

You have to find a C++ book and get comfy with that. Then you'd have to look at the Windows Mobile SDK and combine the knowledge of both. Plus its trial and error because its running on different hardware.
Its a daunting task. It took me a good year fulltime to become a decent website developer. The hard part is thinking like a "programmer". Otherwise it'll look like its an alien language
Good luck with it.

Hey Mate,
I'd love to help although I've never worked in the areas you require. I'd recommend posting a slightly more detailed job requirements criteria so you may attract the right young budding enthusiast.
If you're creating software a bank will wish to use then the security side of the VPN will need to be top notch along with the methods in which the app will access data.
Unfortunately I'm more of a GUI designer and the only databases I access are the MS POOM databases for Outlook.
Good Luck!

Can I add I'd _never_ take someone seriously who's asking to reply to a hotmail.* / gmail.* / yahoo.* etc etc, address.

kirstan said:
Can I add I'd _never_ take someone seriously who's asking to reply to a hotmail.* / gmail.* / yahoo.* etc etc, address.
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Erm Ok !!! I dont know what to say to that. That is the account I use most often. I didnt claim to rep IBM! This is a personal project and Im just trying to make contacts.
Regarding an other post above, The VPN is further down the road and not needed yet. Also the software will not be USED by a bank just shown to them as a proof of concept.
At that point I would be able to go beyond an overdraft to an actual business loan and be able to contract a developer.
It is hard for me to Give much detail without an NDA as my idea is not revolutionary but the application is novel.
If I were to discuss openly I would lose the ability to patent down the line.
It is essentially A GUI that I need, and a simple underlying app which will give me the ability to enter a small description in 30 odd fields.
When each field is selected a score of -1 is applied (the field value is initially zero).
At the end of a session, ( there will be an option to open new or close a session) a score is given to each field and depending on score, one of 90 text files (3 per field) is linked to.
A print file containing these 30 text files on one page and a score from 0 to -10 for each field in a table on the other page is then produced.
The database access and VPN would come later on but in the prototype that is all thats needed.
Im sorry thats about all the exp' I can give in open. But if you feel you could help and would like to get involved I could arrange an NDA.
I am currently speaking to a couple of people but there is nothing concrete yet so if at all interested, do get in touch.
Thanks for reading (and please take me seriously whatever my Email.)

solved.
Just in case anyone was interested, I finally found help on a site called Rentacoder so if anyone else is looking for development help, try there.
Cheers.

Please help, info about using java on wm with c# & googlemaps api

Hi first I must apologize for posting here I know I should post in the questions and answers section, I have already done this twice with two similar posts but I have not received a reply I beleive because the expert programmers are less likely to look there to help people as most questions are about useing software not developing it. anyway here is what i posting before I really hope someone can help me...
Hello everyone I was wondering if anyone could answer this question for me.
I am creating a wm app and for part of it i want some information from googlemaps, the maps api is in java and i was thinking of ways to incorperate this into my app. Can i create a java program to get data from google and have my c# program run the java program and get info from it? I could write my program totally in java but i don't like the way i have to first start the vm and launch my program from that is there a way to automate this? also I need quite a lot of information from the phone so using c# will make getting this info easier.
or are there any other ways i might be able to get the info I want, I don't really know anything about applets but could they somehow be used?
oh btw the specific data i want is distance between to map locations (via googles route not direct)
many thanks i hope someone can help
I apologize again for posting in here but this app is for a final year project and I need to know if im barking up the wrong tree as soon as possible.

I might be wrong here, but to the best of my knowledge, Google Maps API is actually JavaScript API, not Java. If you found Java API, it's most likely a wrapper. And if it exists, I'm sure C# wrapper should exist as well. You might want to take a look at this. I know it's not exactly what you are looking for, but it might be helpful to some degree. Also, one other thing I can suggest, is to look at Virtual Earth API. I'm almost 100% positive, that they do have a C# implementation of the API.

Hi hobbbbit thanks so much for your reply, so googlemaps api is javascript , I have never used javascript before and saw that the api used objects methods and looked like java so i just assumed thats what it was. If there isn't a wrapper for c# do you (or anyone) know of a way of using the api to obtain one of the objects and use it in c#?
I would use virtual earth but unless I am totally wrong here I thought to use it you needed a licence which costs around $8000 which I don't want to pay for. Even with google if I wanted to release the app i think I would have to pay although I have contacted them and they say I can develop my app using the free api.
**EDIT**
Ok well I took another look at virtual earth, I really am a complete idiot. I signed up for a FREE developers account so hopefully everything I need I can get from there.
again thanks for your advice if you hadent posted I would probably still be trying different ways to hack google earth to work in my wm app.

On codeplex is a windows forms project that uses googlemaps api as wel as a few others. Im pretty sure you can get an idea of how to go about this from there

cornelha said:
On codeplex is a windows forms project that uses googlemaps api as wel as a few others. Im pretty sure you can get an idea of how to go about this from there
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Superb this was just the thing I was looking for I will be sure to study this code closely. Thanks so much for the information.

skill set required for android development!!

Hi all,
I want to start application development for android. Can anyone please let me know the requirements for this?
I know that I am asking very general question and please let me know if this is not the correct place to ask this query.
I know C/C++...what things I need to learn before starting application development for android?
Waiting for reply!!

From what I can tell:
Java.
Then hit the android developer's website and they'll teach you how to write for android platform.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

Thanks skulk, but do I need to start learning Java from scratch for that?
Can anyone please guide me in this?

vijay.gupta said:
Thanks skulk, but do I need to start learning Java from scratch for that?
Can anyone please guide me in this?
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Click to collapse
Well, it's pretty hard to learn a new programming language from the middle!
Go to the Android devs site... There are plenty of tutorials there, as well as links to Eclipse (favoured Android development platform).

sorry to be so naive...but what is the link of android dev website?

Clicky the linky.

many thanks floating man. I didn't knew that this is different forum from any android developer forum...btw can you please let me know the difference between this forum and any android dev forum?

This is a general smartphone forum, mainly catering for HTC made devices, but covering "some" others as well.

Thanks floating man. I will subscribe to any of the android dev forum and ask the same query there. But there is one doubt: whether such a basic (and naive) query be resolved there?
Do you recommend any particular android dev forum?

since you already know c/c++ you already know the basics of programming which are the same for each language i guess.
in my opinion writing basic/simple apps for android is more easy than writing the same app in c/c++.
so for basic/simple apps you could start with some general java tutorials especially about OOP and then go on to Android ...

just simply Google search terms like "android development for beginners" or "android app development tutorial" and plenty of websites come up offering handy dandy hints =]

Thanks elgubbo,
I will try that and let u know if thwre is any issue...let me kbow if anyone else has any suggestions....

For me it always helps to try to understand other code samples. Thats why I am looking for a book wich explains a few basic (and some advanced) code samples.
Sent from my fishbowl...

Java was originally created as a successor to C++ and if you know C++ the syntax of Java should look very familiar. It was designed to make OOP concepts more accessible to C++. It was also set up to make pointers and memory management a thing of the past.
Actually in a lot of ways, knowing C++ will give you an advantage over devs who only know Java. Eventually you'll be able to use Android's NDK (Native Development Kit). Although you will have to use some Java as all apps require the use of some java and the SDK on Android. But even then, you'll have a better idea of what is happening "under the hood" due to your C++ knowledge.
As for where to get started I would suggesst learning applications fundamentals:
http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/fundamentals.html
Especially the Activity lifecycle and Component lifecycles.
Do all the "Hello World!" tutorials and then you should be well on your way to becoming the next Angry Brid..... err Angry Bird dev.

Thanks alostpacket. That is a very useful link. I will read it and let u know if i have any queries. I just have a doubt, moreover, i am fearing because i have only written simple c++ programs till now. Will i be able to do it?

vijay.gupta said:
Thanks alostpacket. That is a very useful link. I will read it and let u know if i have any queries. I just have a doubt, moreover, i am fearing because i have only written simple c++ programs till now. Will i be able to do it?
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Instead of being scared by it, TRY it! Install Eclipse. Install the Android SDK. Try the tutorials. Only you can know if you can do it or not.

Thanks floating man for supporting me, however, can you please let me know the place to help me out regarding very basic queries regarding starting programming...like I want to know what eclipse is, what is SDK (I know the full form though: Software Development Kit)
Is the place...http://developer.android.com?
Actually, I have worked on C/C++ at very basic level where we write programs in IDE and save the file as either .c or .cpp
These seems to be very basic things.. that i should know..i can read if you have any link or doc..

vijay.gupta said:
Thanks floating man for supporting me, however, can you please let me know the place to help me out regarding very basic queries regarding starting programming...like I want to know what eclipse is, what is SDK (I know the full form though: Software Development Kit)
Is the place...http://developer.android.com?
Actually, I have worked on C/C++ at very basic level where we write programs in IDE and save the file as either .c or .cpp
These seems to be very basic things.. that i should know..i can read if you have any link or doc..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, That's the correct site. They have a whole section to get you started using eclipse there too.
This is a great place to start:
http://developer.android.com/sdk/installing.html