1. Windows Forms for mobile development
Tautvydas Dagys
2009

2. Do you remember?

3. Windows Mobile Development
Tools?
Challenges?
Emulators?
Device differences?
Windows forms for mobile?

4. Windows Forms

5. Windows Forms Development
Drag and drop controls from the toolbox to the visible form in the Forms Designer
Consider different screen orientations

6. Handling Device Differences
Windows Mobile platform & tools
Win32 provides consistent APIs across devices
.NET Compact Framework provides consistent runtime
Also provides specific support for adjusting display
Docking & Anchoring, AutoScroll, and AutoScale
Native provides DeviceResolutionAware.h
Over 20 functions & macros for adjusting application display
Visual Studio 2008
Integrated orientation & form factor design-time support
Wide variety of emulators
At least one for each supported form factor

7. Handling Device Differences – Plan of Action
Supporting device differences is fundamental
Decide minimum device profile you wish to support
Touch-screen required? Phone required? Keyboard required?
Abstract application logic from device differences
Separate user interface & application logic as possible
Test across different device types early and often
Take advantage of emulators
Incorporate features from newer platforms / devices
Provide better user experience
Avoid targeting lowest common denominator
Downgrade gracefully for older or more basic devices

8. Don’t think PocketPC vs Smartphone
Windows Mobile devices are converging
Applications shouldn’t focus on Pocket PC vs Smartphone
The differences between each are becoming subtle
Many Pocket Pcs have phone support
Smartphone screen sizes are increasing
All Windows Mobile devices now have soft-keys
Both PPC & Smartphone may have full keyboard
Think in terms of touch-screen support
Does your app expect stylus-based input?
Can your app be used easily with navigation control & soft-keys?
Does your app require hand-writing support?

9. Create auto upgrade applications
Create basic nontouch-screen layout
Determine device touch-screen support on startup
Create additional controls when on touch-screen device
Don’t over do it
Focus on easier ways to perform existing features
Avoid introducing entirely new features
Be careful not to change UI too much
Should still feel like the same application

10. Battery Friendly Development
Win Mobile devices are very powerful
However, they are useless with empty batteries
Decreasing the used power means increasing the battery life
Don’t do anything unless it is absolutely necessary!
When interacting with the user, an application is free to consume as much as necessary
Reducing the “necessary” amount is what performance optimization is all about
In the background, it should consume very little memory, and ZERO battery power

11. Simple ways to increase battery life
Don’t use the processor
Disable radio’s when not needed
Absolutely don’t use the processor when the application is in the background
Don’t use polling at any time
Limit application functionality when the battery level is low
Don’t keep the backlight on

12. Standard vs Professional
Windows Mobile Standard
Device can either be on or off
When off nothing works
Windows Mobile Professional
Device can be in suspend mode (sleep)
Separate state between on and suspend, called unattended
When the device seems off it is probably asleep

13. Using Power Manager
OS Component responsible for meeting the power needs of system
Application interface
Allows communication of power needs
Allows notification of power events
Device interface
Allows drivers to request a change to their power state
Allows PM to set device power state

14. Demo

15. References http://msdn.microsoft.com/en- us/windowsmobile/default.aspx
us/rampup/dd aspx

16. Questions and answers