Customize Today Page

[Steve]

Ok, I have been programming in VB (classic not .NET) for many years
and am just starting with .NET. My first project is to create a
simple TCP/IP communication app for my PocketPC. What I would like to
do is create a page of buttons on the pocketpc. Each button would
send some very simple text via TCP/IP over the WIFI to my desktop.

I have no idea where to start. I have just loaded VS 2005 and have
started a SmartDevice project targeted at the PocketPC 2003 device so
far so good. But how do I (or is it even possible) place buttons on
the "Today SCreen". I would like to have my buttons on the screen
when the device is first powered on. At the very least I would like
to have a single large button on the "Today Screen" that would (when
clicked) load my page of buttons.

Can anyone tell me how this is done.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]]

You can't build a managed code Today screen applet. You could use some sort
of a C/C++ applet for that part and call your managed code application to do
the send, I guess:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms839442.aspx

This is one of the project types that I wouldn't do in managed code, though.
You'll spend so much time hacking together the inter-process communications
that you need, you won't be able to concentrate on the network stuff, which
I presume is what you're interested in. If so, forget about Today screen
items and just build an application in managed code with buttons on it or
whatever, and worry about using TcpClient or Socket or whatever network
classes you need to do the real work.

Paul T.

 

[Steve]

You can't build a managed code Today screen applet. You could use some sort
of a C/C++ applet for that part and call your managed code application to do
the send, I guess:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms839442.aspx

This is one of the project types that I wouldn't do in managed code, though.
You'll spend so much time hacking together the inter-process communications
that you need, you won't be able to concentrate on the network stuff, which
I presume is what you're interested in. If so, forget about Today screen
items and just build an application in managed code with buttons on it or
whatever, and worry about using TcpClient or Socket or whatever network
classes you need to do the real work.

Paul T.









- Show quoted text -

Thanks for the advice (and the link).

As the app I am thinking of will be used as a remote control of sorts
and will be the PDA's only purpose in life (will not run Outlook,
Word, Excel, etc.) I think I must find away to do away with the
standard "Today Screen" a create my own.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Peter Foot [MVP]]

Do a google search of this newsgroup for running your app in "kiosk" mode.
You can lock down various aspects of the device UI and buttons so that when
your app is launched you cant switch out to the shell and run other
programs. And you can have your application run automatically when the
device starts up too by placing a shortcut to your exe in \windows\startup.

Peter