My name is Vladimir Gregor and I work for Bee Mobile company -
http://beemobile4.net. In this blog I am going to describe Bee Mobile iPack and how it helps the developers to create an attractive and modern graphical user interface on Windows Embedded Compact 7.0 or Windows CE.
In this first article I will write briefly about the operating system, development environment and finally how Bee Mobile iPack can help you to enrich the user experience for the users of your application.
Windows Embedded Compact 7.0
I am not going to write much about WEC7.0 as there are many other and better source of information on what WEC7.0 is and what it is not. Just a few facts. Windows Embedded Compact is the evolution of Windows Embedded CE. Compact is a componentized, real-time operating system used to create a wide range of small footprint enterprise and consumer devices. So WEC7.0 is based on Windows CE and it is a modular operating system. By using a Microsoft Platform builder tool, you can decide (based on the requirements of your customer) what modules are going to be present in your build of the OS.
The development environment
To develop software for WEC7.0 you will need Microsoft Visual Studio. As there are several technologies (software platforms) you can build upon, the required version of Visual Studio will differ based on the chosen platform.
Native code development in C/C++
First of all you can create applications using native code. In that case you will be using C/C++ programming languages. The application will run fast and you will have a lot of control of over the program flow. The downside is that you will have to produce a lot of code to create an interesting functionality.
.NET Compact Framework development in C#/VB
.NET Compact Framework is a software framework which includes a large software library and provides interoperability across several programming languages (although C# and Visual Basic are the most used). Applications written for .NET CF execute in a software environment called Common Language Runtime (CLR). CLR is application virtual machine which provides many services for the developer (memory management, security, exception handling, etc.).
Silverlight for Windows Embedded development in C++
Silverlight for WEC7.0 is another software framework used primarily for UI development. The drawback of this software framework is that currently the only supported programming language of this framework is C++.
Which platform should I choose?
Well, that depends on what you are trying to achieve. If you are into low level programming of drivers for example, then your only choice may be the native code development. If you are into GUI development then you may want to choose either .NET CF or Silverlight. The drawback of Silverlight development currently is (as already mentioned), that you cannot use C# or VB programming languages which are (in my opinion) much easier to learn than C++.
If you go for .NET Compact Framework, you will have to install it into your device. The latest version is 3.5 (by the time this article has been written). It's great if you can get your hardware supplier to pre-install .NET Compact Framework on the device.
Bee Mobile iPack
Bee Mobile iPack is a package of over 35 various .NET Compact Framework software components (also known as controls among .NET CF developers) which were designed to:
- help the developers to create a modern and stylish graphical user interface (GUI)
- speed up their development
- make their applications easy to use
Bee Mobile iPack can be used either with Visual Studio 2005 (if you are developing for .NET CF v. 2.0) or Visual Studio 2008 (if you are developing for .NET CF v. 3.5). During the installation of Bee Mobile iPack the installer automatically adds all controls to Visual Studio toolbox and they are ready to be used. You can see the full list of all the controls on our web site here - http://beemobile4.net/products/ipack.
Help the developers to create a modern and stylish GUI
Bee Mobile iPack controls contain features such as anti-aliasing, round corners, gradient-fill and trasparency effects. These are not possible to achieve with the standard set of controls which come with Visual Studio. These effects have now become a standard on other platforms. Thanks to them you can enrich your GUI and make it appealing for your users. You can see an image-based comparison of the standard controls and Bee Mobile controls here.
Speed up the development
All controls contain a Visual Studio Designer support. Visual Studio Designer is a powerful tool used to design the look of your application without the need to build and deploy it to your device. You simply position the components on the screen directly in Visual Studio and you can see how the application will look like when it is built and deployed. Visual Studio Designer generates the programming language code automatically for you and for every change you make to the design, it alters the code respectively. All relevant controls have been designed in such a way so that they cooperate with Visual Studio Designer. This feature helps greatly to speed up the development process which in turn reduces cost.
Easy to use applications
All Bee Mobile iPack controls were designed in such a way so that they can be comfortably used with a touch of a finger and so that no stylus is needed to operate them. This also includes scrolling of their content with a touch of a finger.
Conclusion
You can find out more information about Bee Mobile iPack on its web site. The next article will be about creating a simple application with Bee Mobile iPack.