WCE and coredll

[rickbear]

Hi Group,

I am trying to develop an application in CF 2.0 for WCE.

In my code I am using some unmanaged code from coredll.dll.
After doing some research though, I discovered that WCE can be build
with a platform builder and changed for any device, so that the
builder decides which dlls to distribute with that unique build.
This could be a problem as my intention was to have my application
work on as many WCE as possible (any newer version, 4.2+) with CF2.0
installed.

So, my questions are: is coredll a dll which will be present on any
build of WCE?
And if so, is it possible for the platform builder to modify the
coredll so there will be different versions of coredll where functions
described at msdn for coredll are excluded? (Making it impossible to
know if e.g. FindWindow, ShowWindow etc. are present).

Some background for my question:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa448387.aspx :
"The coredll module is the basic operating system (OS) module that
provides core functionality to other modules. This module must be
present in all OS designs, but not all of its components are always
required."

- rick -

 

[superclass]

Hi Group,

I am trying to develop an application in CF 2.0 for WCE.

In my code I am using some unmanaged code from coredll.dll.
After doing some research though, I discovered that WCE can be build
with a platform builder and changed for any device, so that the
builder decides which dlls to distribute with that unique build.
This could be a problem as my intention was to have my application
work on as many WCE as possible (any newer version, 4.2+) with CF2.0
installed.

So, my questions are: is coredll a dll which will be present on any
build of WCE?
And if so, is it possible for the platform builder to modify the
coredll so there will be different versions of coredll where functions
described at msdn for coredll are excluded? (Making it impossible to
know if e.g. FindWindow, ShowWindow etc. are present).

yes, coredll.dll could be different, some entrypoints(functions) can be not
present.
This is normal for Windows CE.

 

[Chris Tacke, eMVP]

coredll.dll will always be present, but yes it can, and will, change from
device to device. It's very possible to have a device without ShowWindow in
coredll if the application is headless, though if your app has a Form, then
it's not going to be used on one of those devices anyway.


--

Chris Tacke, Embedded MVP
OpenNETCF Consulting
Giving back to the embedded community
http://community.OpenNETCF.com

 

[rickbear]

coredll.dll will always be present, but yes it can, and will, change from
device to device.  It's very possible to have a device without ShowWindow in
coredll if the application is headless, though if your app has a Form, then
it's not going to be used on one of those devices anyway.

Thanks for your answers.
The application should definitely have a display.
But does that still mean that the non-headless entrypoints could be
non-present or altered in coredll?
I read this article which shows that it's possible, but is that common
practise or would one rarely do things like that?
Article: <http://www.windowsfordevices.com/articles/AT6770286907.html>

- rick -

 

[Chris Tacke, eMVP]

It depends on the specific API. FOr example, there's no way to keep GWES
support and just remove one API like ShowWindow. It's a lump of APIs that
you get at once based on the catalog item you've pulled into yout target
workspace. So yes, coredll can change, but the changes aren't so granular
that individual calls can be removed.


--

Chris Tacke, Embedded MVP
OpenNETCF Consulting
Giving back to the embedded community
http://community.OpenNETCF.com

coredll.dll will always be present, but yes it can, and will, change from
device to device. It's very possible to have a device without ShowWindow
in
coredll if the application is headless, though if your app has a Form,
then
it's not going to be used on one of those devices anyway.

Thanks for your answers.
The application should definitely have a display.
But does that still mean that the non-headless entrypoints could be
non-present or altered in coredll?
I read this article which shows that it's possible, but is that common
practise or would one rarely do things like that?
Article: <http://www.windowsfordevices.com/articles/AT6770286907.html>

- rick -