Bluetooth LE device access example needed from non-UWP program

Question

Bluetooth LE device access example needed from non-UWP program

NormS 11

I am attempting to access data from a Bluetooth LE device from a non-UWP program. (C++ old-fashioned Windows Desktop app.)

This should be a very simple task, and would be if the apparently-being-deprecated? Win32 API supported it.

I have observed it does not: that is, here:

https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/sdk-api/blob/docs/sdk-api-src/content/bluetoothapis/nf-bluetoothapis-bluetoothfindfirstdevice.md

it says:

"The BluetoothFindFirstDevice function does not find Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) devices. To access Bluetooth LE devices, use the Windows Runtime Bluetooth Low Energy APIs. The Windows Runtime APIs for Bluetooth work in both UWP and classic desktop apps."

(Never mind that the link to the Windows Runtime Bluetooth Low Energy APIs is bad. I've been getting a lot of that in my navigation through MS documentation, but that's not my problem!)

My problem is the MS documentation refers to the MS examples ( https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/samples/microsoft/windows-universal-samples/bluetoothle/ ) which are all UWP examples (one in C++, one in C#).

I have spent several days trying to adapt those examples to work in a classic desktop app (and also a console app, to try for maximum simplicity), but it always fails. (All kinds of things go wrong. In one case, the compiler doesn't understand my reference to "get_weak()", and I am not able to figure out a replacement.)

Thus, since MS claims that you can access Bluetooth LE from classic desktop apps, it would be helpful for you add to the examples say a simple non-UWP console app (say in C++), and perform the same tasks as the two UWP examples.

(I have looked around for other examples which are open source on the web, and found only a UWP program.)

Further, I suspect others non-expert in the new "Windows Runtime", which is apparently superseding the good old and decently documented Win32 API are having the same problem. Thus, I've observed some science people in the brainwave-analysis world seem to have software which accesses Bluetooth LE only through the "BLE112 dongle". (For which the maker of the chip on that dongle I believe provides their own library to access bluethooth LE, keeping them away from Windows Runtime for the task.)

Thanks.

YujianYao-MSFT 4,296 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-03-10T06:45:39.057+00:00

Hi @NormS ,

Could you please provide the necessary code related to the error if it is convenient?
NormS 11 Reputation points

2022-03-10T14:42:09.493+00:00

Thanks for the offer to help fix my failed code.

Unfortunately, though I made several attempts to build up something resembling the C++ UWP Bluetooth LE examples from Microsoft (with a DeviceWatcher class, etc.) starting from the non-UWP C++/WinRT templates from Visual Studio 2022, I looked and apparently deleted those attempts.

I still need to access my bluetooth LE devices, but in lieu of the example I was seeking, decided to handle it for now with the BLED112 dongle, so I ordered a few yesterday. (For others with the same problem as mine, who may wish a workaround with the BLED112 dongle, you can verify that this particular dongle can be accessed programatically from a Silicon Labs API with its own library from the Silicon Labs response to the question here: https://community.silabs.com/s/question/0D51M00007xeIzWSAU/bluetooth-dongle-bled-112-software-required-for-windows-10?language=en_US )

However, I'm not completely giving up on a non-BLED112 dongle solution. if anyone at at Microsoft or outside of Microsoft does know of an example of the type I was seeking (a non-UWP program that accesses Bluetooth LE through the only Microsoft API mechanism that can be used: WinRT) please post a link here. I would like to be able to access bluetooth LE, and perhaps other WinRT API features not in the "deprecated" Win32 API from old-fashioned non-UWP programs.

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YujianYao-MSFT 4,296 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-03-10T06:45:39.057+00:00

Hi @NormS ,

Could you please provide the necessary code related to the error if it is convenient?
NormS 11 Reputation points

2022-03-10T14:42:09.493+00:00

Thanks for the offer to help fix my failed code.

Unfortunately, though I made several attempts to build up something resembling the C++ UWP Bluetooth LE examples from Microsoft (with a DeviceWatcher class, etc.) starting from the non-UWP C++/WinRT templates from Visual Studio 2022, I looked and apparently deleted those attempts.

I still need to access my bluetooth LE devices, but in lieu of the example I was seeking, decided to handle it for now with the BLED112 dongle, so I ordered a few yesterday. (For others with the same problem as mine, who may wish a workaround with the BLED112 dongle, you can verify that this particular dongle can be accessed programatically from a Silicon Labs API with its own library from the Silicon Labs response to the question here: https://community.silabs.com/s/question/0D51M00007xeIzWSAU/bluetooth-dongle-bled-112-software-required-for-windows-10?language=en_US )

However, I'm not completely giving up on a non-BLED112 dongle solution. if anyone at at Microsoft or outside of Microsoft does know of an example of the type I was seeking (a non-UWP program that accesses Bluetooth LE through the only Microsoft API mechanism that can be used: WinRT) please post a link here. I would like to be able to access bluetooth LE, and perhaps other WinRT API features not in the "deprecated" Win32 API from old-fashioned non-UWP programs.

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Bluetooth LE device access example needed from non-UWP program

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