Database Info

[help] vb .net database development

hellooo,
i am looking for a good tutorial to help me get started developing a simple application which will run on a Windows CE 4.1 device and will connect via Wifi to a local sql server and return/store data.
I am a bit lost since i dont even know where to start, i.e. i need visual studio .net alone or another SDK or someting?
any pointers to a suitable tutorial will be much apreciated.

Not too sure what you need for CE4.1 but this is a good place to start
MSDN Windows Mobile
and here's one way for your DB I think
http://msdn.microsoft.com/mobility/...ry/en-us/dnppcgen/html/intro_winmobile_vb.asp
Haven't looked at the code but you can use either
1)SqlDataAdapter and SqlCommandBuilder to get the results into a DataTable
or
2)SqlDataReader

thanks kev, msdn should have enought info to get me started.
saw that tutorial on msdn but it wont do, since it connects to the sql server via web services or someting, i want to connect directly to the server and execute sql queries.

if you use an oleDBdaptor or sqladaptor it will be transparent for the
system that you are a pda and not a normal pc
wifi is transparent too it's all LAN

Just checkout the classes I mentioned they give examples: SqlDataReader SqlDataAdapter

Great Tool for remote controlling ppcs: VirtualDisp

I just installed VirtualDisp and it's a really kick-ass piece of software. So anyone who does not know it yet, give it a try! (http://world.kyuran.be/) It lets you use your computer's mouse and keyboard to control your ppc. The amazing thing is, its "client"-side only (you don't need any additional software on your mobile device!) - just activesync your device and you are ready to go. It "extends" your desktop in the way modern graphics drivers do when multiple monitors are attached. Just move your mouse out over one edge of your monitor and your cursor will appear on your mobile device's lcd.

Hi Registererer!
This post got me curios so I went and downloaded the demo version.
As I suspected, this functionality cannot be achieved without a server on the device side. They use a DLL which is a RAPI extension. They copy it silently to the device so you don't notice it. I found this out when I tried the free version on a WM5 device. It only comes with the DLL for WM 2003.
Any way, it's not that great since you can't see the PPC screen on the PC. There is a tool from Microsoft (completely free), called Remote Control (something, don't remember) and another tool from some company (not free) that shows you the PPC screen on the PC and lets you use the mouse and keyboard of the PC for input.
So this is a nice little app, but I doubt it will sell.

Levenum don't be so hard on the guy
The thing is Register that SOTI Pocket / Smartphone Controler is a kick ass app that is far more advanced than VirtualDisp... and not much more expensive.
So it needs to have something extra to catch the atention
But its a good start
Cheers,
Raul

Sorry, didn't mean to heart anyone's feelings!
It is a cute app. Perhaps if they add the functionality of using it as a virtual mouse without the PC connection (using the joystick). There was a thread here somewhere of people looking for just such an app.
By the way, have you tried it on WM5? I know from experience that just transferring a DLL won't do so they would have to install a signed cab. Does it connect as smoothly as it does on WM 2003. That is one strong point I noticed: They detect the AS connection immediately, and you don't have to wait before you can use the app.

Stupid: DC++ Windows Mobile

Hello all,
I would have a question here: is there any DC++ Hub Viewer for Windows Mobile?
I googled all the search terms I could think of and here's the result:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mobiledc (good if you got Symbian UIQ )
Maybe some would find a thing like this useful...
Anyway, ***have a nice day***.
--- PS ---
Saw that poll?

Yeah, Symbian gets tons of good software. You know, I'd love to try to run Symbian on my Dash.

Read-Me-First (?)
For those who don't know what's DC++ (2 votes, this is getting bad... ) :
--- ENCYCLOPEDIA: DC++ HUBS ---
DC++ Hubs are... well, some tech thingies. (This was the description)
The hubs are used to host users. (Well, what else could they do and make them popular?)
The users connected to hubs can:
- chat in a main chat and in personal messages (PMs)
- share files from their computer (mostly pirated )
- respect some rules
You can connect to the hubs with a DC++ Client or Viewer, like StrongDC++ or oDC (those are the most known).
Almost all the hubs require a minimum share (ex. 5GB). That means you need to have at least that share to connect to a hub.
--- ENCYCLOPEDIA: DC++ HUBS (END) ---
You want more info? Go to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Connect_(file_sharing)
Hope that helps, newbies to DC++! (I don't want any more votes at "What's DC++?" !!!)
*** Have a nice day! ***

I've never used DC on PC or other devices. However, WMTorrent is an absolutely great app if downloading is your thing.
If there's code on sourceforge for UIQ, and DC is an open protocol, you could try to knock together a client yourself. Not a quick solution, but c'est la vie
V

Thanks for the encouragement, V.
Knocking it toghether may be a solution, but if I am not mistaken, it takes the WM SDK and VB Studio (commercial )... or d'you know a free WM-development application?
And where on earth is the source code at SourceForge?!
*** Have a nice day! ***

eMbedded Visual c++ 4 is absolutely free together with WM 2003 SDK (I am too lazy for links so please search MS downloads)
Apps written with it will work on WM 5 and 6 and if you know how to play with linkage you can even get access to new APIs not supported in WM 2003 SDK.
They give you full functionality and in my opinion is still the best way of coding for WM.

levenum said:
Apps written with it will work on WM 5 and 6 and if you know how to play with linkage you can even get access to new APIs not supported in WM 2003 SDK.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a rough guide on how to do this? I did a search and it seems that people are much happy to pay for a £100+ new Visual Studio and do not borther to find ways to get a free dev env for windows mobile. I think (think) the software I'm writting now runs on WM5, but I think there are quite some API missing in WM2003-SDK. Do you think it will work if I were to throw everything *.h stuff from WM5-SDK to overwrite WM203-SDK?
Ref:
No free dev env for WM5-SDK, for eVc+ or the VS Express - http://www.pocketsoap.com/weblog/2006/07/1656.html
Q: Do you think the hobbyist and $10-per-program shareware market is important for Windows Mobile? If so, can you explain why Visual Studio 2005 Standard ($249) is required for targeting WM5? eVC++ 4 was free. The WM5 SDK cannot be installed on VS Express.
A: Jack2, there are various evaluation versions of Visual Studio 2005 available that you can try out before making a purchase decision, there is one for Visual Studio 2005 Professional edition (90 days) and one for Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite (180 days),
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://msdn.microsoft.com/chats/transcripts/mobileembedded/06_0125_msdn_ce.aspx

There are basically two ways to use missing APIs (personally I never found one I really needed except maybe "ExitWindowsEx" once).
1) Manually unpack the MSI file for the SDK you want. (Sorry, I do not remember the link for the extractor).
Then in Project->Settings->Link you can just redirect the default libraries to the folders of that SDK. What you need are the headers for the prototypes (h files) and the actual lib files.
2) If its just one or two functions you can use LoadLibrary and GetProcAddress to dynamically connect with the DLL. If I am not mistaking this is call "implicit" linking.
Note that if you use method 1 your app will not run on WM 2003. If you use method 2 it will run on 2003 but get NULL as function pointer and fail to execute the missing API so this way you can make widely compatible apps.
P.S.:
In my personal opinion, M$ gave away an IDE at first to gain a wide application base for its new platform. Now that Windows Mobile is an established and even leading mobile OS they are back to their usual policy of selling expensive, bloated and overcomplicated software.
They simply no longer need freeware developers for WM.

levenum said:
eMbedded Visual c++ 4 is absolutely free together with WM 2003 SDK (I am too lazy for links so please search MS downloads)
Apps written with it will work on WM 5 and 6 and if you know how to play with linkage you can even get access to new APIs not supported in WM 2003 SDK.
They give you full functionality and in my opinion is still the best way of coding for WM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, eVC++ would be good (if you know how to fight with it), but the installer asked me for a serial. Why am I always cursed?

PocketDC++ for Pocket PC *Awesome*
I found this cool DC++ Client for Pocket PC called "PocketDC++". It seems like it doesn't have Download support yet. It wil be awesome if Download option is added.
PocketDC++ homepage : http://mistysoft.jino-net.ru/
External download Link : http://xpojnt.iglu.cz/download/tklienti/pocketdc0.1.8.9.rar

I have a copy of DC++ Source code and a copy of VS .NET and VB as well as Dephi I even altered a version of DC++ a while ago....but yeah I think it would be great for on the go downloaders for file checking and user checking/count....excellent idea

Job writing apps for iphone or windows mobile??

I'm looking for answers to this question because I'm at a cross-road with my career path. I'm attending college to get a computer science degree with the intent on writing software programs for mobile devices. I thought I would go with Windows Mobile platform, but now I'm wondering if I should go with the iphone. I know there are a lot of developers, etc on this forum that do this kind of work and would like anyone with any opinions, comments or hard earned experience to let me know what they would do if they were me.

with iphone or ipod touch you have to own a back to make offical apps
you have to pay app store some money to be able to summit apps for review
if they are suited for app store
the apps have to be written in objectC which is an alternativ to c++ as in
a ext to old ansi c to add object support so it's more pleasing then structs with function pointers
with wm you got 2 realistic paths
using .net compact framework this is the fast way to get something to show for
but is generaly much slower then
native win32 sdk apps where you have to write everything and have less gui IDE do make it
more user friendly for you
but native win32 which is in c++ is much faster
you could get a mac and use bootcamp to install windows then windows would run as native not emulated so it would not be slow
then you could do both asuming you had the time to get into both platforms
allso the sdk of objectC and cocoa for iphones i believe is free and got an IDE too
and with winmobile you have dl the sdk for wm and if you want an IDE you have to pay for visual studio as i dont believe that the free express version of visual studio works with mobile
but i could be wrong
but i believe that the compiler itself is free so if you got the sdk for wm you can compile using an console compiler which is free

I'm not a developer but I started computer science back when I was in school (C/O 07) and I would say that if your lookin for the money iphone apps and blackberry apps are the way to go. If you check out a thread in development and hacking it's about why there isn't a facebook app for windows mobile like there is for blackberry and iphone and a user made a good point iphone apps and blackberry apps are the bread an butter right now. But there is still some possiblities with Andriod recently coming out and also Windows releasing an App store when Windows Mobile 7 is released.
The good thing though is that with developing apps like for Apple you can pretty much do that as a side project and help you generate extra money and be like this guy http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/11/18/iphone.game.developer/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
So it's still a possiblity you could still branch out. I would say to develop for both. Look at the company Beejive. They developed a great messanger app for the blackberry and then for the iphone and now for windows mobile is still in the beta and probably soon one for andriod. But final words I would say don't limit yourself. If you really like and want to program and you think you have a good app that would be useful on all platforms then go for it.
Sorry to talk your head off.

Rudegar said:
with iphone or ipod touch you have to own a back to make offical apps
you have to pay app store some money to be able to summit apps for review
if they are suited for app store
the apps have to be written in objectC which is an alternativ to c++ as in
a ext to old ansi c to add object support so it's more pleasing then structs with function pointers
with wm you got 2 realistic paths
using .net compact framework this is the fast way to get something to show for
but is generaly much slower then
native win32 sdk apps where you have to write everything and have less gui IDE do make it
more user friendly for you
but native win32 which is in c++ is much faster
you could get a mac and use bootcamp to install windows then windows would run as native not emulated so it would not be slow
then you could do both asuming you had the time to get into both platforms
allso the sdk of objectC and cocoa for iphones i believe is free and got an IDE too
and with winmobile you have dl the sdk for wm and if you want an IDE you have to pay for visual studio as i dont believe that the free express version of visual studio works with mobile
but i could be wrong
but i believe that the compiler itself is free so if you got the sdk for wm you can compile using an console compiler which is free
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point

Developing a Portal application in C#

I am wanting to develop a portal application in C# for Windows Mobile 6.0. I have installed the .net Compact Framework 3.5 on my device and have the necessary tools on the PC to develop for Windows Mobile. I am using Visual Studio 2005 to develop this application.
I am not a programmer, I have little experience with .net technologies but have for past assignments used VB.net to create small applications for assignments at uni.
I am now in my third and final year at uni and I decided to take on a project that is titled Human Computer Interaction of Mobile Devices. As part of my project I am required to produce an application, though designing various menu systems in itself will be quite a job, not to mention the documentation of it all.
The application I want to create now, is not necessarily part of my project, though it may influence me later on and should go some way to helping me. I have had the intentions of creating an application in Flash up to now.
Anyway, this application, its what I would call a portal. It has 4 tabs, Websites, Television, Radio and Programs. The Programs tab page has been designed much like the iPhone interface with either same or somewhat similar buttons. These buttons do not do anything at the moment.
I started the other week in designing an application in vb.net and run the debug exe as standalone on PC and linking to application that are on the PC will actually run when clicking on the picturebox as that is what I am using rather than buttons.
I put a Try Catch in and the error message comes up on the Mobile. If I take the Try Catch away then FileExceptionNotFound error message comes up and forces the program to close.
In C#, I have created much the same application, it does nothing whatsoever at the moment other than allowing me to flick from one tab to another. I am wanting to link pictureboxes in the programs tab to programs stored on the phone such as \Windows\Opera9.exe and \Windows\tmail.exe and so on.
I would like Radio Stations and Television channels to load up in a program specified in code if a default one does not start so I realise that I would need to call the link of the radio station (same with television channels) and then tell it to load up in specified program.
The other thing I am not sure about it how I would tell the phone to connect to the internet.
I didn't really want to be asking for help on here with this, as its probably not too difficult to create something like this, seeing as what some people (geniuses) on here have been able to develop. If nobody is able to help, then maybe pointing me in the right direction of some good reliable resources would be an idea. I have done much searching on Google etc for help with this and MSDN but my programming skills have never been up to much if I'm honest.
Any help would be much appreciated.

A few things then
For Visual Studio download and isntall the Windows Mobile SDK's (Version 6, standard and Pro).
Then when you create a new Mobile Device application you have everything you need. There should be a Toolbar in Visual Studio that allows you to select where your device will be run in Debug Mode (either the Emulator or on your device). This is the easiest way to debug your apps; also using MyMoblier will help.
Starting an App in C# is as easy as System.Diagnostics.Process.Start() method.
Connecting to the net is a little harder, I have written my own based on what I found using google. Basically it centers around 3 API calls:
Code:
[DllImport("CellCore.dll")]
static extern int ConnMgrEstablishConnectionSync(ConnMgrConnectionInfo connectionInfo, ref IntPtr connectionHandle, uint dwTimeout, ref ConnMgrStatus dwStatus);
[DllImport("CellCore.dll")]
static extern int ConnMgrMapURL(string url, ref Guid networkGuid, int passZero);
[DllImport("CellCore.dll")]
static extern int ConnMgrReleaseConnection(IntPtr connectionHandle, int cache);
Hope this helps
EDIT:
Also moved to Q&A to avoid upsetting them
Ta
Dave

Thanks for the advice. I have already downloaded Windows Mobile 6 SDK but I for some reason don't seem to be able to access the ROMS from WM6 inside of Visual Studio. I might be able work that issue out though. I will see how I get on with it and post back if I have any further problems.

Connecting to the internet.
I have found that the .net object WebRequest will open the connection if is not already open.
Stream ResponseStream = WebRequest.Create("yourURLgoesinhere").GetResponse().GetResponseStream() will return a stream to read to get the object.
If there is an active WiFi connection the phone will use it, or it will use an active GPRS connection, or fire up the default GPRS connection as a last resort.
The bottom line is - let the machine do all the hard work.