Related
hey guys, I'm a career developer with tons of experience in a lot of things except PocketPC. I want to play around a bit with PPC, but would like to hear about the development platforms, languages, etc. that you're using and what you like about them. I don't know anybody personally that's even remotely interested.
I'm currently using VIsualStudio2005/C# for my day job, and am pondering whether that's a good fit for PPC. A lot of documentation exists for both managed and native PPC C# code. Managed code is more like the stuff I do all day.
What I've found so far is that managed code requires runtimes to be installed (already there on WM6 i hear), there's a noticeable delay when starting a managed program, and a lot of functions are missing from the .NetCF.
I'd probably be writing business apps (database stuff, web back-end client/server, etc.) as well as hacks like today plugins, utility programs, etc.
Should I just start right out with native coding, or try and hack away with managed code. What's your opinion?
roboHaxx,
As i'm sure you're already aware of, choice of language on this environment really depends on the application you're designing.
I tend to use Visual Studio/C# for applications that I need to develop rapidly where I'm not too concerned about load times. The .NetCF libraries really helps in ensuring things get done quicker but there's a tradeoff in speed and functionality but not by too much thanks to all the new spec devices that are coming out.
If I'm developing something that doesnt need to get done faster, and I need quick loading times (like today plugins for example), I tend to stick with C (evc4).
Personally I stay away from .NET and all related stuff like it was toxic waste.
As kunz wrote it is too slow for PPC (at least for now) and if you want to use the .NET CF 2 any user with a device prier to WM 6 (which is the majority for at least another year) will have to install 5MB worth of run time.
But there are some very nice apps made with CF already out there like Hitchhiker so it defiantly has its place.
One problem though: if you want to develop system components like today plugins, keyboards (SIP) or control panel applets you will need a component written in C / C++. All those are DLLs that the system expects to export certain functions. This can not be done with managed code, and as far as I know not at all in C#.
One final recommendation: look up all threads started by Vijay555.
He wrote a pretty good summary of programing tools and options for WM devices somewhere on this forum.
Thanks for the replies. I'm think I'm starting to get a grip on this platform.
Sounds like the same principles as programming on a PC. For business apps (like in my day job), the managed, quick-to-market environments like C#, .net and CF2 prevail. But for performance, versatility and access to everything, C is the way to go. C++ if you must.
by the way, I thnk you can create DLLs in any Visual Studio language. I do it all the time with C# and VB. Now whether these DLLs can export the functions that are needed in PPC, I don't know the answer to that.
kunz, you said
If I'm developing something that doesnt need to get done faster, and I need quick loading times (like today plugins for example), I tend to stick with C (evc4).
pardon the dumb question but, what is evc4? A compiler I presume. That was going to be my next question. Which compilers do you like?
eVC is eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 its a free C++ IDE for Windows Mobile from Microsoft.
It is almost identical to VS 6 (if you are familiar with it).
It won't except WM 5 or 6 SDKs, but any program create on it (with WM 2003 SDKs) will run on any Smartphone or Pocket PC starting with WM 2003 through WM 6.
For older versions you will need eVC 3.
The following pages should provide some useful information:
http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/default.aspx/MobileDeveloper.HomePage
http://www.pocketpcdn.com/tools/index.html
Enjoy!
Hi,
I am programmer but I'm new in mobile development too.
I have an ideal to write a program that can speak the caller number instead of ringtone. The problem is that I don't know how to get the receiving call events.
Can we solve this situation with .net compact framework?
Anyone have documents to share?
Thanks
NOTES:
The projects if developed will become a generic code baseline for each and every developer seeking codes.
This means projects in this thread is just to give everyone a basic working conceptual code which can be used anywhere in similar projects.
Just think people has great ideas to work on, but they dont have baseline code from where to start as most of them might be learning.
So this thread should help them out giving a working base code..
Any1 interested in building couple of OpenSource Projects for PPC? Ill post concepts.
Lets built next generations of applications together as open source which people can use to learn things as well.
The reason open source is so that everyone can contribute code for a project, and work together to built the best.
Anyone Interested???
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Project 1: File Indexer for PPC [FIndexer]
Not Sure if it exists or already available.
Added:
01 Feb 2008
Description:
To index each and every file on PPC with custom options on indexing.
Purpose:
In todays world where 1gb,2gb,4gb cards are available, we store tons of file on our PPC like ebooks, songs, music, videos.
Many times it is not possible to search using a search utility as it may consume battery and we need to wait till file is being search.
This is the place where this FIndexer comes in to picture, where we index our file either manualy or scheduled.
And then searching a file will just take 1 second to return the results.
Language:
C++ is best language for this kind of project because of speed.
Database:
Not sure, but either SQL or Access DB.
Type:
Open Source
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Project 2: File System for PPC [PFS (Pocket File System)]
Not Sure if it exists or already available.
Added:
01 Feb 2008
Description:
Idea came from Microsoft new file system WinFS.
Correct me if i am wrong, this File system is a file table itself where it keeps track of each and every files in details in Real Time.
Purpose:
In todays world where 1gb,2gb,4gb cards are available, we store tons of file on our PPC like ebooks, songs, music, videos.
Many times it is not possible to search using a search utility as it may consume battery and we need to wait till file is being search.
This is the place where this PFS comes in to picture.
Why use any indexing software also?, let this File system handle it in real time.
Language:
C++ is best language for this kind of project because of speed.
Database:
Not sure, but either SQL or Access DB.
Type:
Open Source
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Project 3: Tic Tac Toe (x & 0) Game (BlueTooth Enabled)
Not Sure if it exists or already available.
Added:
01 Feb 2008
Description:
This is a game which we always played for fun in good old days and still we play.
We might have wasted good amount of papers to play this game. Classic X & 0
Purpose:
We hardly see any bluetooth enabled games for PPC. Thats the purpose to built a very basic game with 2 players mode on bluetooth.
This may be a good code for all the developers round here who wants to start with some bluetooth code.
Language:
C++ is best language for this kind of project because of speed.
Database:
Not sure, but either SQL or Access DB or XML
Type:
Open Source
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Project 4: Multipurpose Single Line Marquee Scrolling Today Screen Plugin [Like Stock Tickers]
Not Sure if it exists or already available.
Added:
01 Feb 2008
Description:
A today plugin which scrolls like a stock ticker in 1 or 2 lines, and provides useful configurable information like battery info, world time, live money rates, notifications, one liner quotes, jokes, appointments, bluetooth status, and much more, in 1 or 2 scrolling lines.
Purpose:
Many might have noticed too many of today plugin gives a scroll bar to your today screen which dont look good.
This is where this plugin comes in to picture.
This should be completely customizable right from scrolling speed to colors to information to flashing colors speed, bold and much more.
Language:
C++ is best language for this kind of project because of speed.
Database:
Not sure, but either SQL or Access DB.
Type:
Open Source
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Project 5: Application Specific Backup Tool (Can be a great tool)
Not Sure if it exists or already available.
Added:
04 Feb 2008
Description:
There are several backup tools which takes backup of PPC as a whole and can be restored easily, but:
How many times you feel that you had installed tones of applications and had taken a backup of those, and now when you get a new PDA, you feel like you dont want to again install all the applications installed previously due to certain reasons. By restoring the backup you end up again with all unrequired applications again.
This tool will help you to eliminate those problems by taking backup of each and every application configurations seperately with version informations. Yes now you can backup configurations of your games, your theme managers, your music player configurations and everything and have choice to restore them back again seperately as required.
Yes people who develope tools with configurations involved may have to coporate to tell us where they save the data of their application so we coders can add a plugin code to backup that particular application.
You can say that this tool has a builtin database information of most of the application to backup the configs.
Purpose:
Description above says it all
Language:
C++ is best language for this kind of project because of speed.
Database:
Not sure, but either SQL or Access DB or XML
Type:
Open Source
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Project 6: Application data which synchronizes with Web Services.
Not Sure if it exists or already available.
Added:
07 Feb 2008
Description:
Again this is an application which most coders are going to like who are learning mobile codings. This application mainly shows how to communicate with mobile device application with web service to keep data in sync. Data can be either contacts, games scores, or any text based details.
Yes a today screen plugin would be nice to show some information on sync or other details.
Purpose:
To provide generic code to each coder seeking this kind of communication.
Language:
C++ is best language for this kind of project because of speed.
And either .Net or Java for Web Services.
Database:
Not sure, but either SQL or Access DB or XML
Type:
Open Source
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All Projects should be easily skinnable by anyone.
People willing to part of this project, than please post your details as follows:
Name:
Skills:
Comments:
Once we have a team than we will go ahead and create documents like
RUD (Requirement Understandings Document)
SRS (Software Requirement Specifications)
What do you guys say??
Wanna work together as one, and built a new world for everyone?
Wait for everyone's view, either good or bad.
I am not sure how good above to projects are, but this thread mainly wants every coder, designer, tester to work together and built something.
List of Contributers (Coders, Designer, Tester, Others)
This place will list all the Contributers (Coders, Designer, Tester, Others)
Screen Design for each Projects goes here
Screen designed by contributers goes in this post.
NOTE:All screens designed will be copyright of the designer and should not be distributed or used without a permission.
Attached a Screen for an idea for Project 4
Notice the first Plugin in Yellow border.
Created by me.
List of Features and Request for Features and Suggestions
List of Features and Request for Features and suggestions goes in this post whomsoever wants. Then the team can make it happen.
Builts / Releases
Builts / Releases Goes in this section.
Technical Disscutions
Important Technical Disscutions will be posted and collected in this post.
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zbop has done something similar to what you are looking for in number 4. You place info in reg. keys and then update that info via Mortscript (or however you want) and then it gets scrolled on a today screen line. Check out http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=141375 post #269 for the latest version.
more than 600 views but just 1 reply!
I wonder how does open source developers meets and work together
I decided to give this initiative a fighting chance so I am going to 'sticky' this thread for one week.
If there are no takers I will 'unsticky' it.
Unfortunately, I do not currently have time to take part in this project my self as I am learning to program for Linux and OpenMoko specifically.
greenhacks said:
more than 600 views but just 1 reply!
I wonder how does open source developers meets and work together
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They don't, they start by making something, small, runnable, interresting, then share it, with the source.
This is more than i could expect from this forum. Thanks a lot.
This is a try to bring many great people in this forum and to develop something great for the forum.
Projects mentioned in this thread is just for start.
People can give their own new ideas so all work together and make something great for all the forum users.
i have no other intentions to start this thread other then bringing all together.
Starting this thread i thought i will also put my skills to help new guys.
Thanks again, and i hope this works out.
Here's a project idea that came up in the herald forums - use your touchscreen as a psudo-wacom tablet while tethered. Yes it would only be on/off and wouldn't sense pressure differences, but would still make for a cool project.
Heared of Android?
I guess you have heared about android,an all open-source linux based platform.And about the total of 10M bounty by Google as an award for the top 50 applications tha will be developed for the platform.So I'm guessing any developers with the skills to do such projects will have their hands full.
After all it sould be reasonably easyer to programm for an all opensource platform than for WM,a closed source platform.
Just my 2 cents.
nstamoul said:
I guess you have heared about android,an all open-source linux based platform.And about the total of 10M bounty by Google as an award for the top 50 applications tha will be developed for the platform.So I'm guessing any developers with the skills to do such projects will have their hands full.
After all it sould be reasonably easyer to programm for an all opensource platform than for WM,a closed source platform.
Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Count the number of applications developed in this forum by everyone for so called 'closed source platform of wm6'
I do agree with your thoughts and dont say you are wrong, but hey thats a whole different ball game.
Always remember
When a company runs out of concepts, then company organises a competition with great prices. At the end company gets thousands of new concepts. winner gets the price, company gets new product.
same thing happens in open source world as well as close sourced.
If all think in this direction then i can bet, xda will run out of members.
not trying to defend, but this is something which simply cannot be debated or this is not a right place.
tene said:
They don't, they start by making something, small, runnable, interresting, then share it, with the source.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then lets make something small, runnable, interresting, and share with the whole world!
It was very dificult to find this kind of groups, thats the reason internet became so famouse, where we can find different people with great skills from different country and make things possible.
I am interested in dabbling a little in programming for my Kaiser. I have programming experience, mainly php / mysql, though I have done some C and lots of scripting in my time. My biggest project so far though was an open source google maps mod to put on your website - thousands of lines of php / js code, mysql backend and AJAX tieing it together, some graphics routines etc, so I am no drooling n00b when it comes to coding.
How easy is it to develop basic stuff in WM?
I have access to MSDN, so I can get Visual Studio (2005 for sure, maybe later versions), so I think I have access to the apps I would need. I just ordered some books to help me along, but was wondering if I would likely face a steep learning curve.
All the stuff I want to do is today screen plugins - was thinking of having a bash at writing my own quick contacts plugin - *very* basic - just a vertically scrolling list of names over a transparent PNG button with maybe photos from the address book - I want it to be able to scroll by vertical gesture within an ultimatelaunch tab - is this likely to be quite easy and quite a good "first app" to program?
I was also looking at writing a lite repacement for phoneweaver as the only feature I use is to turn on BT when it detects power but no activesync (ie auto turn on BlueTooth when I am in the car and the device is cradled) - maybe a hack to force the keyboard backlight on in the same situation.
I have bought:
Microsoft® Visual C#® 2005 Step by Step (Microsoft)
Microsoft® Mobile Development Handbook [Paperback] by A. Wigley; Daniel... (Microsoft)
Comments / suggestions?
I would also be very interested in a thread or good reference on how to start to program app for mobile gadgets. Actually i'm a Delphi coder, and i would like to implement some applications on WM platform, but when i search over internet there's plenty of information, but no usefull information with "real-life" recomendations.
depend on the platform and language one wish to use really
there is c#.net, vb.net c++.net
c++ miniMFC, c++ PureWin32 sdk
oldVB
...
here are some other posts asking pretty much the same thing from the forum
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=225405&highlight=programming
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=237932&highlight=programming
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=241670&highlight=programming
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=245426&highlight=programming
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=228043&highlight=programming
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=317913&highlight=programming
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=302548&highlight=programming
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=327164&highlight=programming
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=305926&highlight=programming
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=336251&highlight=programming
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=226412&highlight=programming
codeguru.com got examples of various windows mobile programs too today items and such
about delphi i dont know if anybody got some info i would say borlands site
Thanks rud. I was aware of various other posts, but my question was more of a "How steep is the learning curve?" rather than "How do you do it?".
There was also an element of "How do you do it?" insofar as there seem to be better or worse ways of going about various kinds of app (eg today apps with gesture support) which I am finding a bit of a minefield, but I feel that the new post was valid because I am giving an indication of my experience level and what I am trying to acheive - none of the posts you listed cover the combination of stuff I am trying to do. Reqs like pulling from outlook db and allowing gesture scrolling in a today plugin, I dunno, I may waste ages with C#, for example, only to realise it is a breeze with C++... I also note that a google search for wm programming gesture scroll today screen currently ranks this very thread #5. By tomorrow that'll be a googlewhack then.
Yes, there are various posts about how to get started, but I think maybe a sticky would be in order with a bit of info on the various paths - the vb/c++/c# options are quite bewildering - stuff like
levenum said:
Your question is mainly a matter of personal preference.
Here is my opinion on C++ vs. C#:
C++ advantages:
- Native code is faster than .NET
- Easier access to Win32 APIs
- Ability to write system components like keyboards and today plugins.
C# advantages:
- Saves on coding time
- Allows use of many .NET CF components to quickly accomplish complex tasks.
Please note that I am bias. I hate .NET and want nothing to o with it. Specially on mobile devices that do not have the processing power to spare for the .NET overhead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is really useful, maybe if it were expanded upon, info such as for this route you need visual studio, etc, etc it would make a really good sticky for the dev section.
evilc said:
I am interested in dabbling a little in programming for my Kaiser. I have programming experience, mainly php / mysql, though I have done some C and lots of scripting in my time. My biggest project so far though was an open source google maps mod to put on your website - thousands of lines of php / js code, mysql backend and AJAX tieing it together, some graphics routines etc, so I am no drooling n00b when it comes to coding.
How easy is it to develop basic stuff in WM?
I have access to MSDN, so I can get Visual Studio (2005 for sure, maybe later versions), so I think I have access to the apps I would need. I just ordered some books to help me along, but was wondering if I would likely face a steep learning curve.
All the stuff I want to do is today screen plugins - was thinking of having a bash at writing my own quick contacts plugin - *very* basic - just a vertically scrolling list of names over a transparent PNG button with maybe photos from the address book - I want it to be able to scroll by vertical gesture within an ultimatelaunch tab - is this likely to be quite easy and quite a good "first app" to program?
I was also looking at writing a lite repacement for phoneweaver as the only feature I use is to turn on BT when it detects power but no activesync (ie auto turn on BlueTooth when I am in the car and the device is cradled) - maybe a hack to force the keyboard backlight on in the same situation.
I have bought:
Microsoft® Visual C#® 2005 Step by Step (Microsoft)
Microsoft® Mobile Development Handbook [Paperback] by A. Wigley; Daniel... (Microsoft)
Comments / suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey!
Congrats on getting your hands on with Windows Mobile...
The easiest way is to download Visual Studio 2005(2008 You have it on MSDN) - and create a new application with it.
It's sooo easy if you know your object oriented programming, as long as you want to create ordinary "office" applications... But if you want to do more advanced things(like creating a today-plugin) you need to go over to c++(even though you can download a .net home-plugin-container which acts like a "loader" for your plugin written in c++) - and also, if you want to create good GUIs, I think you are better off with c++... But then again, I think you need a bit more effort in learning c++ then using c#...
Hope this helps...
Still slogging my way thru this...
I got hold of an MSDN disc, first off I installed visual studio 6 - bad move.
Had to uninstall before trying to install VS 2005, now I think it has screwed something up, every time I try and create a "Smart Device Win32" project, I get a "Project creation failed" error. I may have to re-GHOST my OS to get rid of it
So much time just finding out what apps I need and what options to choose to start a project...
I found http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/default.aspx/MobileDeveloper.HomePage which seems helpful
Thanks for responses!
Evilc, you link of msdn is excellent point, many thanks!
I have also just started programming in C++ ..i dnt have any knowledge of any type of codes..i learned every thing frm MSDN libraries ( i have many many of them caz i have VS 2006 VS 2005 and VS 2008 )..i recommend you to work with C++ because it uses less system resources and is fast..hope this helps..check out my Kitchen coded in C++ ( link in signature )
Yeah, I think C++ is definately more what I am looking for from what I have learned thus far.
Re-Ghosted OS - totally fresh XP SP2, installed Visual Studio 2005, still the same error. GRRR!
Visual C++ --> Smart Device --> Win32 Smart Device Project == "Project Creation Failed"
Other Languages --> Visual C# --> Smart Device --> Windows CE 5.0 --> Device Application == Project created OK.
Some posts I have found on the net say it is an IE7 issue, I may try uninstalling that or flashing back to an OS image with IE6 only, but this is really winding me up and taking a *lot* of my time...
I uninstalled IE7 and the problem went away. Woohoo!!
starting programming windows mobile
hello
1. see my web site.
2. see my book recommendations, especially the 'programming windows ce' by douglas boling. It has an example for many things and a today sample too. Most is based on visual c++ 3.0/4.0. Embedded Visual C 4 can be loaded free of charge at ms.
regards
josef
Nice site, thanks.
The windows mobile 6 sdk actually has a today screen sample, along with samples of most of the things I need to do.
neofix said:
It's sooo easy if you know your object oriented programming, as long as you want to create ordinary "office" applications... But if you want to do more advanced things(like creating a today-plugin) you need to go over to c++(even though you can download a .net home-plugin-container which acts like a "loader" for your plugin written in c++) - and also, if you want to create good GUIs, I think you are better off with c++... But then again, I think you need a bit more effort in learning c++ then using c#...
Hope this helps...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are we using the same language?? Cos this (C++ Win32 for Mobile Devices) is by far and above the most difficult programming language to get into that I have ever tried. Yes, worse than ASM.
Trying to code an app that prints "Hello World" has taken me over 5 hours with no success yet - most languages I have a go at it's 5 minutes.
From http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms901121.aspx :
Code:
int DrawText(
HDC hDC,
LPCTSTR lpString,
int nCount,
LPRECT lpRect,
UNIT uFormat
);
It gives a brief description of what the parameters are, but absolutely no examples and no explanation of what all the parameters do or how to initialize them, so even browsing an example is no use to me.
u can simply try
MessageBox::Show(" your message ");
ather90 said:
u can simply try
MessageBox::Show(" your message ");
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't that .NET ?
I thought the consensus was that Native Win32 or whatever it is called was the better way to go?
This is part of the problem. I cannot even work out what to put in a search engine to pull out info on the right "flavour" of C and for the pocketpc. It's *so* bewildering.
Hello evilc.
First I noticed you have some trouble with VS 2005. It probably won't be easy now, but if you ever get to format your machine again don't install it (unless you absolutely need some other features).
For C / C++ programming for WM device I strongly recommend eVC 4 as it is much lighter and responds quicker. (It's a free download as well)
Second, though you can program for WM in C# and VB .NET which are both .NET Object based languages and are probably much closer in form to PHP and Java then C, you can not write system components such as today plugins in those languages.
You need native code so C / C++ is the only way to go.
(Actually, there is a trick to combine C# and C++ DLLs to create a today plugin where C# will do the main stuff, but its pretty complicated)
What you need is to learn basic Win32 programming and using the windows API. They are almost identical for Windows Mobile and Desktop windows versions so any book on Win32 should teach you the basics.
(Personally I started with MS book on MFC and studio 6 but I would not recommend it)
Finally:
I would gladly explain the parameters of DrawText but I am not quite clear on how much familiarity you have with the Win32 mechanics, since the languages you are used to obscure them unlike C which gives you extra power but also makes you work much harder to get anything done.
Do you know how to handle messages, and how windows manages all abjects using handles? Any familiarity with GDI?
If not, it will be pretty difficult to explain.
levenum said:
Hello evilc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello! <waves>
First I noticed you have some trouble with VS 2005. It probably won't be easy now, but if you ever get to format your machine again don't install it (unless you absolutely need some other features).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tracked down the problem when I got home and installed on my desktop. When doing it on the laptop, whilst installing SP1 for studio 2005, I had hit "Not Now" to a reboot request and it had said installation failed. When I installed SP1 on my desktop and said "Yes" to the reboot request, the problem went away, so I guess it was fixed in SP1 but the installer is a bit picky.
For C / C++ programming for WM device I strongly recommend eVC 4 as it is much lighter and responds quicker. (It's a free download as well)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wish I had that advice before as I wasted a day messing around with an MSDN CD, trying to work out what to install and what not. So does the eVC 4 download include an IDE? If not, what do you use?
Second, though you can program for WM in C# and VB .NET which are both .NET Object based languages and are probably much closer in form to PHP and Java then C, you can not write system components such as today plugins in those languages.
You need native code so C / C++ is the only way to go.
(Actually, there is a trick to combine C# and C++ DLLs to create a today plugin where C# will do the main stuff, but its pretty complicated)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't have to tell me twice to avoid the bloatware ****e
What you need is to learn basic Win32 programming and using the windows API. They are almost identical for Windows Mobile and Desktop windows versions so any book on Win32 should teach you the basics.
(Personally I started with MS book on MFC and studio 6 but I would not recommend it)
Finally:
I would gladly explain the parameters of DrawText but I am not quite clear on how much familiarity you have with the Win32 mechanics, since the languages you are used to obscure them unlike C which gives you extra power but also makes you work much harder to get anything done.
Do you know how to handle messages, and how windows manages all abjects using handles? Any familiarity with GDI?
If not, it will be pretty difficult to explain.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No GDI Experience. I take it this would be the library of choice for drawing the screen of a today screen app? Stuff like the HTC Home clock or the new Face Contacts - they would likely use Native C++ and GDI? Doesnt strike me as something you would do with a form.
Also, anyone got the skinny on vertically scrolling by click-and-drag inside a today screen app? Just a case of enabling a parameter? Has to be coded manually? Best way to do it smoothly? If you have seen the Conduits Pocket Player 3.x browse list - how it "eases in" and "eases out" at the ends of the list, has inertia so you can "flick" down the list, the alphabetical bar instead of the regular scroll bar - is that all coded manually or is there an api or something that can help?
Thanks for the help!
I just noticed your apps in your sig - checked out LVM time - noticed there was source - wooohoo! I generally pick these things up by example.
All that code just for a (configurable) clock on one line - wow. Great though, a really good example of a today app - minimal enough in functions so it is easier to suss how it all slots together, but full featured enough (implimented example of an options screen - yay!) to show how to do various things.
And Gnu as well! Nice, this will be the basis of my first test project too I think - at least now I have a framework to test out what I want to do and how to go about it without having to work out how to code the basis of the application.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart sir.
I tried to build it in VS2005, but I got a
fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'todaycmn.h': No such file or directory
A quick google search showed todaycmn.h was part of the SDK, I found the file, dropped it into the headers section of the project, but no joy. I will probs just try eVC.
Oh, and having developed a today plugin, maybe you can answer this one:
As far as I can tell so far, debugging isn't very easy with a today app - something to do with the fact that the dll is not releasable? Is this an issue I will come up against? I hope its not a case of "reinstalling" the app each time you want to test... I was thinking maybe along the lines of have it as a normal app for debugging, then make it a today plugin when you want to build to use it?
I dunno, probably trying to run before I can walk, my books shoulda been here today, oh well. Sorry for all the questions...
@evilc:
Are you using standard Win32 or MFC?
You may want to try using MFC since you get the flexibility of native development but with some nice class libraries that make your life easier.
As for click and drag behavior, that is usually implemented by handling the WM_LBUTTONDOWN, WM_LBUTTONUP and WM_MOUSEMOVE.
When you get wm_lbuttondown you set a flag that says the user is dragging. You use wm_mousemove to update the stylus position as long as this flag is set, then you unset it on wm_lbuttonup.
That's the basic idea anyway. Someone made a post about gesture recognition in this forum a few weeks ago with sample code. You should see if you can find that.
Managed Today Screen plugins
See:
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms839442.aspx
for some background on the concept.
And:
http://www.christec.co.nz/blog/archives/279
Outlines what I think is a very ingenius technique for managed today screen plugins.
For those of you that want an easy way to make a today screen app in c#. Chris did all the C++ work for you.
Also I forgot to mention that the SDK samples cover all most every application type you can think of. Most of the good ones are Win32 though.
Also, keep in mind that you can use P/Invoke from your C# apps to call native APIs. So don't let people tell you you need to use C++ just because you can access more api's. I will say that you should use C++ for games, or other apps that require high speed or advanced GUI's (it is VERY hard to do interesting gui techniques with C# and interop, trust me).
And finally, I would highly recommend using the most recent version of visual studio you can get (especially if you're using vista), unless your machine can't handle a newer version. I say so because visual studio gets more and more powerful as an editor with each new iteration and I personally can't go back after I get used to the new features they introduce. And the new versions are almost necessary if you're going to do .net development.
When starting with Android development most people start so by using Eclipse, so did I. Unfortunately for me this was a quite frustrating experience no matter if I developed on Windows or Linux. I often had troubles launching projects after some changes and was forced to rebuild the whole workspace (which takes a while esp. if you included a couple library projects). So after a while I decided to switch to IDEA which is a lot more satisfying. I never had any issues with broken projects and everything just builds so much faster.
One big difference (and it seems many people have troubles with it) is IDEA's handling of library projects. Unfortunately I think this is done in a very logical way, as each "project" is handled as a model. Means you create a project ("My app"), add a module for your main app project, and add new modules for each library project you would add. For each modules you can set the dependencies and say on which modules it depends.
In the newest version (12) Jetbrains also added an Android UI designer, which was one of the features not available before.
If you are curious you can download and install IDEA from their website, or when you are using Ubuntu you can simply download it from Software center.
http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/
And here's a nice article given a quick introduction:
http://www.itwriting.com/blog/7083-intellij-idea-the-best-ide-for-programming-android.html
IDEA rocks, +1. It makes my little Arch box work like a real PC at times
i use idea too,just feel good
Sent from my Nexus 4
What about the on-the-fly analysis performed by IDEA during development? Does it detect many bugs?
Have you never used this functionality?
Nobody uses this feature of IDEA?
I've only had a brief play with it so far - updated the Android SDK and loaded 1 project from GitHub, but it compiles like lightning compared to Eclipse. Thanks for letting us know about this - it's much appreciated
So how does it handle multi-module projects? The advantage of Eclipse/Qt Creator is you can keep multiple projects open at once plus the plugin integration with Maven and Git.
I briefly tried out IntelliJ a couple months back and immediately stepped away when it failed multi-module requirement for me.
More speed than molasses Eclipse would be nice, though the Windows version runs tolerably on fast i5 and SSD.
If it supports .webp on the UI designer (unlike Eclipse), then I'll be all over it!
IntelliJ IDEA has no workspace concept like Eclipse, but its project can have multiple modules: http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/documentation/migration_faq.html .
I'm a total noob/beginner when it comes to programming - never really been into it. That said, I've recently been giving it a go using Eclipse - creating my own Android app. I've just installed IDEA and find it far better to use then Eclipse. Really loving it actually.
I never got into Eclipse. The only Eclipse project I tried using was IBM's Lotus version of OpenOffice. The thing was huge, bloated with Eclipse libraries.
Netbeans is my preferred IDE (also good for C++ and others) but it, unfortunately, falls short for Android.
Intellij worked first try. Glad to see a forum for this on XDA!
Really happy this gets some attention, I've switched from Eclipse to IDEA a while ago and I can't go back.
IDEA is just so smart and works so nice!
I think the best part of IntelliJ is that when you are programming you do it in one environment, from IntelliJ I can see Jira stories, commit svn/git and everything else I do while programming, without switching to 5 different applications
I hope more and more people will switch to IntelliJ, thanks for this thread!
Isn't anyone here bothered by the slow compile times compared to Eclipse? I'm working on a relatively large project, and each time anything is modified it seems to rebuild from scratch. Eclipse in comparision is able to launch the app with the new changes almost instantly.
I love IntelliJ when it comes to it's editor and project management, but in the end it takes about 20s to get my changes on the screen. I'm probably saving some time not having to bother with corrupted workspaces and such though.
I have been using it for more than a year now, haven't looked back at eclipse again.
One thing that bugs me about all of these options is that they don't work on Android itself. Not a big deal for me yet, but I see it becoming more important as we start to see Android devices with bigger screens and keyboards.
I know that AIDE is a decent IDE that runs on Android, but it only runs on Android and it doesn't compare with Eclipse or IntelliJ (yet).
I heard that the current version of Eclipse (4.2) enables some degree of GUI independence, and the next version (due in June) enforces that. That would be a good step forward, but still mostly a theoretical one.
If JetBrain were to undertake the rather large task of making IntelliJ work on Android, as well as existing desktop platforms, they would certainly get my $.
I wonder - is the new Gradle based build system compatible with Android itself?
I found the new-ish GAE Endpoints service to be quite interesting in that part of the build process (code generation) happens on the server as a service. This strikes me as very Googly and I wonder whether Google will provide Android build as a service sometime in the near to medium future. That would certainly help move us towards a platform independent future, though I guess AIDE has shown that it is not the build system, but the IDE, that is holding us back from developing on Android.
I've been using IntelliJ since just after I started Android development (2+ years ago). I had tried Eclipse before that, and besides the excellent feature set, always found the editor to be lacking in many ways (still no virtual space). So when starting with Android development I just hated it because I had to do it in Eclipse. No offense to the people who use and love it, I'm sure that it is a great IDE, it just does not suit me at all.
When I discovered IntellJ, I immediately felt comfortable within the IDE. This made me enjoy the coding that much more which, to me, beats out any feature that an IDE can ever have. IntelliJ has some shortcomings, but overall I find it an exceptional IDE for Android development. It can be a tad sluggish in large projects, but not to the point of annoyance. It is also insanely stable, and I have NEVER in 2 years of working with it had a single crash - just brilliant.
Also, having been using it over an extended period, I can safely say that they excellent developers at JetBrains have constantly been improving on the Android support within the IDE. Feature wise, I think that IntellJ is definitely almost on par with Eclipse, and they have done this without any official support from Google (as far as I know). If Google would take notice of IntelliJ and provide support (I'm thinking ADT) that would just make it even better - here's hoping.
I would highly recommend anyone attempting android development to give IntellJ a go - the Community Edition is free. Especially developers coming from Visual Studio
Thanks, tried it, but I prefer Eclipse.
I'm a new programmer (now learning), and it seems better for me now.
DubelBoom said:
Thanks, tried it, but I prefer Eclipse.
I'm a new programmer (now learning), and it seems better for me now.
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Click to collapse
I think this is an important point. Try all the options available, and make a choice based on what you prefer.
I'm just glad that at this point Android has at least two very capable IDEs to provide that choice.
I really cant figure out how to get IDEA to see my install of the android SDK. It looks like their setup tutorial assumes default locations for jdk and android-sdk on windows. How do you setup paths if android-sdk is somewhere else? (using a mac)
Also, second link on the first post seems to be dead right now.
truehybridx said:
I really cant figure out how to get IDEA to see my install of the android SDK. It looks like their setup tutorial assumes default locations for jdk and android-sdk on windows. How do you setup paths if android-sdk is somewhere else? (using a mac)
Also, second link on the first post seems to be dead right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check my answer here: http://stackoverflow.com/a/16485929/104891 .
I am on my second attempt at using IDEA for Android dev and I am stuck at the same point as last time, and its the only thing that Eclipse has going for it: I want to create a new Android app, min SDK 8, target SDK 17 (or whatever). This is fairly easy in Eclipse and I can go though the wizard for a new project, choose my settings, even the app icon and end up with the bare outline of my app that has the ICS style (ie an ActionBar & Holo theme)... can I hell do this is IDEA. I know that there is something I am/am not doing that is causing this but I have followed tutorials for adding support libs and even had a go at ActionBarSherlock.
I think this is where a lot of users are scared off of IDEA - I think its interface and usability is better than Eclipse, hell, the GUI editor for the layout XML files is better in IDEA than in Eclipse! (Eclipse freaked out on me several times trying to put static, non moving buttons at the bottom of the screen with a vertical scrollview above them, IDEA, sure, no problem!).
If they could sort the basics out, like getting the wizards included and even if they could allow you to add in various other frameworks (ABS, ViewPager etc) then they would have a winner.
On that matter, anyone got a tutorial on setting up a new project in IDEA the same as Eclipse with Holo theme?
Thanks
Hello, XDA!
I have created my own 2D game engine that utilizes OpenGL and sports many features to help make programming 2D games for Android as quick and simple as possible. I created this engine for use in my own projects but then I thought why no make it open-source? I think other people could benefit from this and input from other developers could help fine tune this thing so it's as good as it can be.
So I gave my engine the name "BobEngine" after my online alias and uploaded the first public release called "BobEngine 1.0 Thingama" to GitHub. That was months ago and now I've finished working on the next update: BobEngine 2.0 Shishka.
I've got a post on my website detailing what's new in update: http://www.bobbyloujo.com/2015/01/bobengine-20-shishka-update.html
BobEngine uses a similar structure to GameMaker games so if you've ever used that you may be interested in BobEngine. BobEngine uses a specialized BobView to display the content of Rooms. Rooms are collections of GameObjects which each have a graphic and attributes such as x and y positions, width, height, angle, frame, etc... Rooms and GameObjects also have step, newpress, and released events built in. The step event happens each frame, the newpress event happens when a new pointer is touched on the screen, and the released event happens when a pointer is lifted from the screen.
There are many other tools included with BobEngine and the best way to start learning how to use them is have a look at the examples that are included! In the GitHub repository you'll find an Android Studio project called "BobEngine". This project contains the "bobEngine" library module that you'll need to include in your own projects if you want to use BobEngine. Also in the BobEngine project are modules for each of the included examples. Currently there are examples that demonstrate the structure of a BobEngine game, how to use input from the touch screen, and how to manipulate the camera. I'll be creating more examples in the future to show off all the things you can do with this engine!
All the methods and data members in BobEngine are internally documented and the examples include a lot of internal documentation to help you out as well.
I'll keep updating the library with new things as I think of them. If there is anything you think should be added go ahead and post about it in this thread.
Benjamin Blaszczak
a.k.a. Bobby Lou Jo
@Bobbyloujo on Twitter
Edit: Forgot the GitHub link: https://github.com/Bobbyloujo/BobEngine
@Bobbyloujo
Thanks man will try this today and welcome 2 xda :highfive:
Thanks sir...pls give us some game template made from your lib
Great job man. It looks great.
I will try as soon as possible
Sylvain
Thanks man. Will surely try it out. good work.
Awesome, just what I've been looking for. Thanks!
nice work, and thanks for putting your time and effort into it.
Could this be used to recreate "biomenace" for android?
Thanks everyone!
@berlyshells Anything you want to see in particular? I could probably throw together a Flappy Bird clone real quick or something...
@verbuyst It certainly looks doable if you put the time and effort into it.
Bobbyloujo said:
..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im not really looking for anything in particular..probably any game source with comments (of the functions/what for is this code etc..) inside the code would be nice haha i just requesting but its you're choice sir im sorry im just a newbie
TIA
A new example has been added to the repository per @berlyshells request. This example is called Jumpy Bug and it is a Flappy Bird clone. It demonstrates what a full game programmed with BobEngine looks like.
Bobbyloujo said:
....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you very much sir..you are indeed a good hearted person..this is what i really love on xda
While working on my most recent project I made a few changes to BobEngine. The changes have been uploaded to GitHub.
Changes:
The extra functionality provided by BobActivity has been moved to a new class - BobHelper. A BobHelper can be used by any activity. When using a BobHelper, be sure to call its onResume() method from your activity's onResume() method. BobActivity still functions the same way it did before. BobHelper is useful for when you want to use some other kind of activity has your application's main activity but still want the extra functions from BobActivity. For example, if you want to use BaseGameActivity from the BaseGameUtils library for Google Play services.
SplashActivity has been totally changed because, frankly, it sucked before It is now an abstract class. Create your own activity for showing splash screens and extend SplashActivity. Implement the setup() and end() methods. In the setup() method, call addSplash(R.layout.your_splash_layout, time_in_ms) to add a splash screen to show as defined by an xml layout. You can add up to 10 layouts. Add them in the order you want them to show. The end() method is called after the last splash screen has been shown. In the end() method, start an intent for your main activity and then call finish() to close the splash screen activity.
Other small changes.
How many games have made using library? Looks cool)
Thanks..I tried AndEngine and it failed to import on my Android Studio.
Marshal3 said:
How many games have made using library? Looks cool)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uhm... about three. There's Plane Popper, Crazy Taxi Driver, and I just finished Bounce the Beach Ball. Other than that, I've made a few examples that you can find in the repository - including a Flappy Bird clone. Also, I've been working on a platformer.
basil2style said:
Thanks..I tried AndEngine and it failed to import on my Android Studio.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me know if you need any help with BobEngine!
Hello again, XDA!
I've updated BobEngine again. This update brings the following major additions:
Gamepad support! You can now get input from any standard gamepad using BobEngine. A new example has been added to the Android Studio project that shows and explains how to use this new gamepad support. The example is called controllerexample.
Multiple quads per GameObject. Up until now, a GameObject consisted of a single textured quad (well, two triangles that form a quad). Sometimes it is useful to have many quads grouped together. If you use this, note that all the quads for each GameObject must have the same graphic. This is a very niche feature that I added for a particular purpose but didn't end up using myself. If you'd like an example of what can be done with this, let me know and I'll make one.
Some other miscellaneous stuff has been changed as well. It's been so long since I posted an update that I forget everything I changed! One useful change I made was to the camera features. Rooms now have their own camera values, meaning if you change the camera in one room, then switch to another and change the camera there, then switch back to the first room the camera will be where you left it in the first room.
BobEngine can of course still be found here on GitHub: https://github.com/Bobbyloujo/BobEngine
Here's a video showing off gamepad support: https://youtu.be/vRdaaaJnqGk
As always, if you have any questions feel free to ask. Also, if you've made anything with BobEngine I would love to see it! Whether it's something big or something small I'd love to see how others have used my engine
If you haven't already, please follow me on Twitter. My handle is @Bobbyloujo and I post updates about the games and things I'm working on there pretty frequently. Right now I'm working on something pretty big!
Another new update today!
Changes:
* TextDisplay object added! TextDisplay is a GameObject that can be used to output text! Text can be centered, aligned left or right. A new example has been added to show how this new object can be used.
* A new 'visible' attribute has been added to GameObjects. Setting gameObject.visible to false will cause the object to be hidden so it isn't drawn.
* The getAngle() function in Room.java was broken. It has been fixed so now getAngle() and getAngleBetween() both work properly.
* The getRatioX() and getRatioY() functions sometimes would not work properly on some devices. This has been fixed.
* When using multiple quads per GameObject, the performance has been increased. This was done by collecting vertex data from the quads in a way that does not require the concatenation of many arrays.
As always, the repository can be found here: https://github.com/Bobbyloujo/BobEngine
It'll really help me out if you follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bobbyloujo
And like my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BobbyLouJo
If you have any questions or would like to report a bug, please leave a message in this thread or PM me on XDA, Twitter, or Facebook.
Have a great week!!
Version 3.0 Bobsled
It's been a while, but in the time since my last update I've added a lot of new things to BobEngine. Since it's such a big update, I'm giving it a new version name: v3.0 Bobsled. Here goes:
RoomCache - In BobView.java you will find a new static class called RoomCache. As the name implies, RoomCache is used for storing and retrieving instances of Rooms. The nice thing about RoomCache is that you can call getRoom(Class roomType) with any class type that inherits Room and the function will return an instance of that room type, even if you haven't manually added a Room of that type to the cache. The function getRoom(...) will search the cache for an instance of roomType and return it if one is found OR it will create a new instance of roomType using reflection and return that. You'll also notice that there is a getRoom(Class roomType, Object... args) function. If you have created a room type that takes parameters other than (BobView view) like a default Room does, you can use this method to pass the required arguments to initialize a new instance of that room type if need be. The cache holds a specified max number of Rooms. When the cache is full and a new Room is added, the oldest Room is removed. You can make your own RoomCaches, but each BobView has it's own cache with an initial size of 3. To access it from your BobView, just call getRoomCache().
Along with RoomCache, BobView has received two new goToRoom overrides: goToRoom(Class roomType) and goToRoom(Class roomType, Object... args) for switching to rooms retrieved from the RoomCache.
Input events (newpress, released) are now handled on the main thread (same thread as step event). Handling game logic on the separate input thread was causing a lot strange glitches in my games when values were being changed when I was not expecting them to be changed. Now, input will be handled on the same thread just before the step event.
For even more convenience and even quicker game development, a new constructor has been added to GameObject: GameObject(Room room). This will automatically assign an instance ID number AND add the object to the room. What typically looked like this before:
Code:
GameObject object = new GameObject(room.nextInstance(), room);
room.addObject(object);
Now looks like this:
Code:
GameObject object = new GameObject(room);
So simple! The old constructor is still there and behaves the same way for those who want it and for backwards compatibility.
Setting GameObject.visible to false will now hide all Quads belonging to that GameObject. This will not change the Quad.visible field for any Quad. Also, similarly to GameObject, Quads are now added to the GameObject when initialized.
Animations can now be played once and looped for a limited number of times. animationFinished() will return true when an animation has finished playing.
Animation class - a new class has been added to GameObject.java. This class can be used to predefine animations with a start frame, end frame, fps, and loop times.
Previously, I was using 3 coordinates for each vertex. I learned it's possible to use only 2 in OpenGL. Since the 3rd vertex is not needed, I changed the code to use only 2 vertices. I'm not sure if this actually caused any performance improvement.
Graphic.Parameters class - A new class in Graphic.java allows you to predefine Graphic parameters to use with GameObject.setGraphic(Graphic.Parameters params). Useful for when you want to switch between graphics on a GameObject often.
A new method in the Graphic class called setDimensions(int width, int height) allows you to set the height and width of the DPI level image you want to use for setGraphic(Graphic g, int x, int y...). Previously, you would have to use setPreciseGraphic(...) if you had different sized images for different DPI levels that have multiple graphics on them.
Set the color intensity of all GameObjects on a specific layer using Room.setLayerColor(int layer, float r, float g, float b, float a).
Graphics management (this is a big one):
The Room, Graphic, and GraphicsHelper classes have been updated to improve and simplify management of graphics for large games. A new GraphicsHelper.cleanUp() method makes it easy to manage graphics. You can choose points in your game to call cleanUp(). When called, Graphics that have not been used recently will be unloaded and removed from the GraphicsHelper. Graphics have a new public field called 'persistent' which when set to true will cause the graphic to remain loaded when cleanUp() is called. All non-persistent Graphics will survive through a set number of cleanUp() calls before they are removed. If a Graphic is removed but then a GameObject tries to use it again, it will automatically be re-added to the GraphicsHelper and reloaded.
You can also manually call:
Graphic.load() to load a graphic after is has been added to the GraphicsHelper.
Graphic.unload() to unload a graphic
Graphic.remove() OR GraphicsHelper.removeGraphic(Graphic g) to unload and remove a Graphic from the GraphicsHelper.
OKAY, I think that's just about everything. I actually had to look through the changes in the GitHub commit to remember all the things I've changed xD There are a few other small changes but I didn't think they were important enough to list. Now I want to ask you guys something:
Is there any interest in a full-blown tutorial series for BobEngine?
I could start with the basics, then explain more advanced features like graphics management. I could also take requests for certain tutorials. I could even cover general game development topics and how to implement them with BobEngine. Doing this would be a lot of work so before I dive in I really want to gauge the level of interest in BobEngine. So far, it's been difficult to tell how many people are interested because I haven't gotten an overwhelming amount of replies here but every once in a while I get a PM or email asking for help. So if you're using BobEngine raise your hand!
And of course: if you've made anything with BobEngine I would love to see it! I've seen a few things and it makes me happy to see you guys using getting some use out of my engine.
Thanks for your time! If you have any questions, just ask. You find any issues with BobEngine, post them here or on GitHub and will fix them. Also don't forget to let me know if you're using BobEngine!
Once again, the repo can be found here: https://github.com/Bobbyloujo/BobEngine
Thanks again,
Ben a.k.a. Bobby Lou Jo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bobbyloujo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BobbyLouJo
you are great and i should more from you
I am a new man in the electronic area, and you have developed your own staff, you set a good example for me.
Jackiefire said:
I am a new man in the electronic area, and you have developed your own staff, you set a good example for me.
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Click to collapse
Thanks! Your support means a lot.