brief introduction
This article describes how to build a typical Windows Mobile development environment. The corresponding Ide, SDK, and the auxiliary development tools are introduced and the common configuration is introduced, and the development prospects of the next-generation development environment in Windows Mobile are prospected. This article is suitable for developers developed for the first time to develop Windows Mobile.
Introduction to Windows Mobile Development
Windows Mobile is an important part of Microsoft's operating system product line. Compared to Windows 9x / NT / XP / 2003, Windows Mobile appears in front of the full product line in front of the public, but its development is extremely rapid, and during this development process, developers provide absolute key. driving force. Now, more and more developers (especially .NET developers) hopes to enter the field of Windows Mobile as soon as possible, and the primary problem they face, in addition to familiar with the Windows Mobile platform features, how to build suitable Development environment. Therefore, this article will start from how to build a Windows Mobile development environment, summarize the development characteristics of the Windows Mobile platform, in order to help developers quickly enter the field of Windows Mobile development.
What is needed before expanding the content of this article is that the Windows Mobile platform development mainly includes the following two aspects:
l Platform level development
l Application level development
Because the Windows Mobile platform is built on Microsoft's Windows CE series operating system (currently formal commercial version is Windows CE .NET 4.21), the Windows CE operating system has a very good modular feature, so developers, especially mobile device manufacturers It is easy to customize the operating system you need by Microsoft's Platform Builder and Embedded Visual C (hereinafter referred to as EVC). This corresponds to the platform-level development mentioned above.
However, most developers do not need to build a new, personalized system, they only need to care about how to build applications that can run on the Windows Mobile device. To this end, Microsoft customizes two main branches of the Windows CE .NET 4.x series operating system in different Windows Mobile hardware devices, in different Windows Mobile hardware devices, in different Windows Mobile hardware devices. This also constitutes the Pocket PC and SmartPhone we usually say. Windows Mobile development in the following, represents Pocket PC / SmartPhone development.
A large number of development tools provided herein, in addition to separately marked, can be downloaded at http://msdn.microsoft.com/mobility/downloads/default.aspx.
Quickly build a development environment
In order to develop Windows Mobile, we need to build a corresponding development environment. Fortunately, this environment is very simple.
Install Visual Studio .NET 2003
In order to reduce the development of Windows Mobile, improve the development efficiency of developers, Microsoft portally puts the .NET Framework to the Windows Mobile device, designed .NET Compact Framework for Windows Mobile devices and Windows CE .NET operating systems (hereinafter referred to as .NET CF ). Visual Studio .NET 2003 is the best IDE for developing .NET CF applications. The .NET CF 1.0 is integrated in the installation of Visual Studio .NET 2003, and provides the development template for Pocket PC 2002, which can be used directly to develop Pocket PC 2002 applications. You can also choose Visual Studio 2005 as a development tool, and the highest version is Beta 1 refresh. In Visual Studio 2005, the development template for Pocket PC / SMARTPHONE 2003 SE (Second Edition) is provided by default, and the Pocket PC 2003 SE is developed to 2.0 (Beta).
Install EVC (optional)
The above environment is fully capable of developing a Windows Mobile application based on .NET CF. But if you want to use the C / C language to develop Native development, or want to develop COM components and applications on a Windows Mobile device, you can choose EVC as a development tool. At present, the highest version of EVC is 4.0 SP4, make sure the latest patches are installed.
Maybe you will ask: Since there is already a Visual Studio .NET environment, why should I use EVC as a development tool? This is mainly because of the current .NET CF function is still very incomplete, there are many core features of the Windows CE .NET operating system are not sealed .NET CF, such as encryption / decryption, network underlying communication, COM mutual Operation, RAPI, etc. In order to complete the above operation, we or use the platform call (P / Invoke) to develop in a managed manner, or use EVC to directly develop Native development for the system underlayer. For COM interoperability, current .NET CF does not provide a COM interopement mechanism, which can only be developed using EVC for C / C COM development. The good news is that the powerful COM interoperability feature support will be provided in .NET CF 2.0, it will also provide Managed and Native development functions in the Visual C 2005 environment, so all development work will be fully integrated in Visual Studio 2005. In the same environment.
Install Pocket PC / SmartPhone 2003 SDK
To develop Pocket PC 2003 or SmartPhone 2003 applications, you also need to install Pocket PC 2003 SDK or Smartphone 2003 SDK. It is worth noting that both the simulator included in these two SDKs are English environments. If you want to use the simulator of the Simplified Chinese environment, please download it separately on the Microsoft website.
If you use Visual Studio 2005 to develop Windows Mobile applications, you don't need to install the appropriate SDK separately because SDK has been integrated into the Visual Studio 2005 environment.
SQL Server CE (optional)
This is the embedded database product recommended on the Pocket PC, which can achieve good data synchronization and interoperability between the SQL Server desktop version, and the latest version of the official version is 2.0. In the SQL Server 2005 Beta 2 beta, the upgrade version of SQL Server CE 2.0 is included SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition - but this version currently only supports the Pocket PC 2003 system. It is expected that SQL Server Mobile Edition can provide support for Smartphone in the next release. ActiveSync environment building
After completing the above development environment, you can develop and debug applications in Visual Studio .NET and deploy in device / emulators. However, if you need to further execute the following operations, follow this section to continue to build an ActiveSync environment. Possible execution operations include (but not limited to):
l Reproduction files to the device / simulator
l Delete files from the device / simulator
l Synchronize data with device / simulator
l Development and commissioning the application containing the RAPI (Remote API) function
l ...
Install ActiveSync
ActiveSync is a tool for managing a Windows Mobile device connection with PC. If you use a real device when you develop, it is best to install ActiveSync in advance to connect to a PC. If you are using an emulator, additional tools are required in addition to installing ActiveSync.
Install Connect Emulator with ActiveSync
If you are using the simulator software, in addition to installing ActiveSync, you must also install this tool software for Connect Emulator With ActiveSync. It will allow you to connect directly to the emulator directly via ActiveSync.
Auxiliary tool introduction
In addition to the above basic development tools, there is a large number of auxiliary tools in the Windows Mobile development community, including application frameworks, tools, controls, and more. Some of them are intended to be indispensable for Windows Mobile development due to accurate positioning, excellent production. The following is listed below, more of the Windows Mobile developer community and the Internet, waiting for you to discover.
Opennetcf.org Smart Device Framework
OpenNetcf.org Smart Device Framework (hereinafter referred to as SDF), which is active in MVP active in the Windows Mobile developer community, has just received the 2004 Best .NET development framework for Pocket Pc Magazine for a few days ago. Grand prize. Developers who are familiar with SDF will think that for this award, OpenNetcf is indeed, because SDF has almost become indispensable tools for Windows Mobile developers. They give a timely compensation for the shortcomings of .NET CF. In SDF, you can find a series of Configuration, XML Serialization, Notification, Interop Services, WSE 2.0 and other series .NET CF current version has not yet available, and such as ListBoxEx, etc. Excellent control. What is more worth mentioning is that SDF is a completely free open source project. These MVP contribute to the entire Windows Mobile developer community may not be able to measure money.
Download address: http://www.opennetcf.org.
Windows
MOBILE
Developer Power TOYS
This is another set of development assistant tools that Microsoft's Pocket PC / SMARTPHONE 2003 SDK is provided. It contains a lot of excellent tools that are very worthwhile, such as: L ActiveSync Remote Display: Zoom in the smart device image connected to the PC via the PC screen
l Cecopy: Transfer files to the connected smart device in a command line
l Hopper: User Enter Pressure Test Tool for Pocket PC 2003
l PPC Command shell: Command line tool for Pocket PC 2003
l Typeit: Auxiliary text input tool for Smartphone 2003
l ...
Mobile Application Developments Toolkit 2004
This is Microsoft's recent WINDOWS Mobile development tools and data sets, including all of the above products and tools, as well as a range of related documents, tutorials, and reference.
Conclude
Ok, introduce it to how to build a development environment of Windows Mobile. It is possible to say that with the increase in Microsoft supports and the maturity of the Windows Mobile developer community, Windows Mobile development will face more and more favorable environments. Editor: Church of the blog: musicland
