For those of you who are new to such developer roadmaps, it’s simply a compilation of lots of Windows Phone 8.1 developer resources represented in hyperlinks with some checkpoints that should help you getting started with the platform (Learning, Porting, Designing, Building, Testing, Publishing, and Monetizing your app)

You can download the roadmap from here.

Kindly share with your developers and community.

Please feel free to subscribe to my blog or follow me on twitter for alerts on posts.

Mohamed Yamama,
@m_yamama

[Please read the DISCLAIMER for this blog here.]

How to consume WCF service / add service reference to Windows Phone 8.1:

Scenario 1: Building Windows Phone 8.1 Silverlight

Just right click on reference and click ‘Add Service reference’ and proceed with the way you are used to.

Scenario 2: Building Windows Phone 8.1 Runtime app / Universal app

For this one, a direct way doesn’t seem to be available in the time being, a workaround exists though that I thought I should share. To sum it up, you need to add a REST endpoint to your WCF service and then make REST calls from your Windows Phone app.

Here’s a quick tutorial from scratch

2.1 Creating a Windows Phone 8.1 Runtime app and a WCF Service Application:

1. In my SUPER SIMPLE example I created a blank app (Windows Phone) called “Consume WCF from WP8.1 Sample” and added a WCF Service Application to my solution and called it “REST WCF Service”

2. In the IService1.cs file, I only kept the below Operation Contract and removed the parameters for simplicity

[ServiceContract]

public interface IService1

{

    [OperationContract]

    string GetData();

    // TODO: Add your service operations here

}

3. In the Service1.svc.cs file, update the Service1 class that implements the new interface to be as below:

public class Service1 : IService1

{

    public string GetData()

    {

        return "WCF Service";

    }

}

2.2 In Just 2 Steps, Expose a REST interface of our ‘REST WCF Service’ to be able to call it from Windows Phone 8.1 Runtime:

Step1:

Add the WebGetAttribute and WebInvokeAttribute to your OperationContract as in Line 6 the below example:

   1: [ServiceContract]

   2: public interface IService1

   3: {

   4:  

   5:     [OperationContract]

   6:     [WebGet(UriTemplate = "GetData")]

   7:     string GetData();

   8:  

   9:     // TODO: Add your service operations here

  10: }

Step2:

It’s time to put the final touch to the WCF Service. To make it RESTful, we need to update the configuration ‘web.config’ file by adding endpoint behavior as in Lines 15-21  then Update the endpoint by changing the binding to webHttpBinding and finally point to the behavior created by adding the behviorConfiguration to the endpoint node as in Lines 2-15

   1: <system.serviceModel>

   2:   <!--UPDATE the ENDPOINT by Changing the binding to webHttpBinding-->

   3:   <!--POINT to the endpointBehavior Created below by ADDing behaviorConfiguration to the endpoint node-->

   4:   <services>

   5:     <service behaviorConfiguration="MyServiceBehavior" name="REST_WCF_Service.Service1">

   6:       <endpoint address="" binding="webHttpBinding" behaviorConfiguration="web" contract="REST_WCF_Service.IService1">

   7:         <identity>

   8:           <dns value="localhost"/>

   9:         </identity>

  10:       </endpoint>

  11:       <endpoint address="max" binding="mexHttpBinding" contract="IMetadataExchange"></endpoint>

  12:     </service>

  13:   </services>

  14:   <behaviors>

  15:     <!--BEGIN ADD ENDPOINT BEHAVIOR-->

  16:     <endpointBehaviors>

  17:       <behavior name ="web">

  18:         <webHttp />

  19:       </behavior>

  20:     </endpointBehaviors>

  21:     <!--END of ADD ENDPOINT BEHAVIOR-->

  22:     <serviceBehaviors>

  23:       <behavior name="MyServiceBehavior"> <!--ADDED MyServiceBehvior-->

  24:         <!-- To avoid disclosing metadata information, set the values below to false before deployment -->

  25:         <serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="true" httpsGetEnabled="true"/>

  26:         <!-- To receive exception details in faults for debugging purposes, set the value below to true.  Set to false before deployment to avoid disclosing exception information -->

  27:         <serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="false"/>

  28:       </behavior>

  29:     </serviceBehaviors>

  30:   </behaviors>

  31:   <protocolMapping>

  32:       <add binding="basicHttpsBinding" scheme="https" />

  33:   </protocolMapping>    

  34:   <serviceHostingEnvironment aspNetCompatibilityEnabled="true" multipleSiteBindingsEnabled="true" />

  35: </system.serviceModel>

--> Your WCF Service is now RESTful (i.e. can be called from Windows Phone 8.1 Runtime app)

2.3 Call RESTful WCF Service from Browser or Windows Phone 8.1 Runtime app

You can test your service from the browser or your Windows Phone 8.1 Runtime app to see the result.

Browser:

I launched it in Internet Explorer and my URL was localhost:18362/Service1.svc. Now, I can point to my REST url by appending the method name that I specified in the UriTemplate attribute (GetData) to my .svc uri –> localhost:18362/Service1.svc/GetData

You should get the following:

Phone:

   1: private async void CallService()

   2: {

   3:     HttpClient httpClient = new System.Net.Http.HttpClient();

   4:     HttpRequestMessage request = new HttpRequestMessage(HttpMethod.Get, "localhost:18362/Service1.svc/GetData");

   5:     HttpResponseMessage response = await httpClient.SendAsync(request);

   6:     string data = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();

   7:     var dialog = new MessageDialog(data);

   8:     await dialog.ShowAsync();

   9:  

  10: }

You should get the following:

You may download the full solution from here.

I hope this was helpful.

Kindly share with your developers and community.

Please feel free to subscribe to my blog or follow me on twitter for alerts on posts.

Mohamed Yamama,   
@m_yamama

[Please read the DISCLAIMER for this blog here.]

Sharing app identity means that:

• A customer who has purchased the app in either Store will be able to download the app from the other Store without paying for it again (even if the app prices are different).
• A customer who has bought a durable in-app purchase for the app on Windows will be able to use the same purchase without paying for it again on Windows Phone (and vice versa).
• The app can roam data across Windows and Windows Phone.
• The same WNS configuration settings for push notifications will apply (so that the app's notifications can appear on all devices).
• An icon will be displayed with your app's listing in the Windows Store and Windows Phone Store to let customers know that if they get your app in the Windows Store, they can also download it on compatible Windows Phones (and vice versa).

Fore more info, click here.

Case:

In my example here, I have an app entitled MEA Start Screen on Windows Phone and another one on Windows Store. Before the latest Store update, you could only reserve an app name on Windows Store so I need to associate my Windows Phone app (unreserved app name) to the Windows Store app (reserved app name)

Here’s how you can do it:

1. Go to https://dev.windowsphone.com/en-us, Sign in and select the app you want to link to Windows Store and click Update app

2. Go to App info, and click the drop down box to explore the available reserved app names Published in Windows Store, then select the app that you’d like to associate your phone app with.

3. Once you select it, you will get the below message in orange explaining the changes that will occur as a result of the app association. After reviewing the message, click Associate app button

4. This is the result you will get, the Package Identity Name and Windows publisher name

5. Scroll down. Click Save, then in the next page Press Review and Submit and you are done : ).

6. Check in a few hours, and you should find on the store a small icon   

Windows Phone Store	Windows Store

I hope this was helpful.

Kindly share with your developers and community.

Please feel free to subscribe to my blog or follow me on twitter for alerts on posts.

Mohamed Yamama,   
@m_yamama

[Please read the DISCLAIMER for this blog here.]

->Windows Phone 8.1 Code Samples code.msdn.microsoft.com/wpapps/site/search?f%5B0%5D.Type=Technology&f%5B0%5D.Value=Windows%20Phone%208.1

->Jumpstart sessions are great sessions that help get devs on the right track to get started developing for Windows Phone 8.1

If you already registered to Jump Start sessions by Andy Wigley and Matthias Shapiro,  you will be able to download these slides, if not no problem, You can Download JumpStart Slides from here.

->Thanks to Sherif El-Mahdi, MEA DPE Intern, for consolidating the below list of //Build/ Windows Phone Sessions if you missed any of them:

The New Windows Phone Application Model
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-509

Windows Runtime for Windows Phone Developers
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-550

Developing Apps using the Common XAML UI Framework
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-507

What about XAML UI and Controls?
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-516

Using Visual Studio to Build XAML Converged Apps
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/3-591

From 4 to 40 inches: Developing Windows Applications across Multiple Form Factors
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/3-541

Animations in Windows Phone XAML Apps
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/3-554

Navigation Model for Windows XAML Applications
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-537

Live Tiles Enhancements
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-523

Contracts and Pickers: Building Apps that Work Together on Windows
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-520

Dealing with Data: Storage, Roaming, and Backup on Windows and Windows Phone
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-522

User Data Management in Windows Phone
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-566

Modern Camera and Imaging Apps in Windows and Windows Phone
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-525

Integrating Your App into the Windows Phone Speech Experience
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-530

Building Geo-Aware Apps with Maps and Geofencing
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-526

Multitasking and Triggered Background Tasks for Windows Phone Apps
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-518

Mobile Push Notifications to Any Client with Azure Notification Hubs
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-616

Notification Platform Development on Windows
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-521

What’s New with Windows Phone Silverlight Apps!
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-517

Quality and Performance for XAML Apps
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/3-545

Windows Phone and Windows: Store and Dev Center
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-512

Tips and Tricks in Visual Studio 2013
https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2014/2-582

Kindly share with your developers and community.

Please feel free to subscribe to my blog or follow me on twitter for alerts on posts.

Mohamed Yamama,   
@m_yamama

[Please read the DISCLAIMER for this blog here.]

I compiled lots of Windows Phone 8 Developer resources in 1 Slide that should help you get started with the platform (Learning, Porting, Designing, Building, Testing, Publishing, and Monetizing your app)

So the Developer Roadmap is simply a compilation of hyperlinks to some developer resources with some checkpoints that should put you on Windows Phone 8 Development track.

You can download the roadmap from here.

Kindly share with your developers and community.

Please feel free to subscribe to my blog or follow me on twitter for alerts on posts.

Mohamed Yamama,
@m_yamama

[Please read the DISCLAIMER for this blog here.]

PL/SQL Developer is an IDE that is specifically targeted at the development of stored program units for Oracle Databases, we  want to provide a native Source Control experience from within this tool to support the team adapting Team Foundation Server Source Control first and them embracing the whole Application Lifecycle practices and features.

Looking into what options the tools support to integrate version control, MSSCCI always jump to my head whenever the discussion is around integrate legacy tools.

Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2013 MSSCCI Provider enables integrated use of Team Foundation Version Control with products that do not support Team Explorer integration.

Hereunder a step by step guide on how to integrate the Oracle PL/SQL Developer with Team Foundation Server Source Control:

1. Download and Install Version Control Interface plug-in (Oracle PL/SQL Developer plug-in) from here www.allroundautomations.com/download/vcs124.zip
2. Download and Install Microsoft Visual Studio Team Explorer 2013 from here www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39314
3. Download and Install Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2013 MSSCCI Provider 32-bit from here visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/06c8e056-7f77-4a5c-9b8b-49318c143df8
4. Open Oracle PL/SQL Developer Tool you should have a new menu for version control called VCS
5. Click on VCS –> Open Project.
6. Provide the following parameters in the dialog
1. System: choose the source control provider in our case Microsoft Team Foundation Server MSSCCI Provider
2. Project: click on the folder icon to connect to Team Foundation Server and then pick the project you’d like to source control the objects to.
3. User: By default TFS connection will add the workspace owner once you picked the project from TFS projects list.
4. Local Path: By default TFS connection will add the workspace folder mapping.
5. Aux Path: By default TFS connection will add the project URL on TFS.

Once done, you’ll get the Version Control options available for use and anytime you need to open Team Explorer you can do that from the same tool through “Run Team Foundation…” menu item for stuff like work items and collaboration.

In closing:

• You can natively have version control options from PL/SQL Developer tool using MSSCCI provider.
• For collaboration and other team activities that Team Foundation Server provide for the developers (away from any platform dependency) you can use Team Foundation Server Explorer to manage that.

The sessions will be delivered via a Lync meeting and for each session, you can join via the URL provided below.

Event Details

Speaker: Mohamed Yamama – Technical Evangelist –Windows Phone

Language: English (Questions in Arabic are accepted during the session).

URL: Lync Meeting (find the link below)- Join Lync Meeting , you may download Lync client from here.

Date: Wednesdays

Time: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM (GMT+2)

Description

-------------------------------------------------------

> Join Lync Meeting 

Kindly share with your developers and community.

Please feel free to subscribe to the feed on the sidebar or follow me on twitter for alerts on posts.

Mohamed Yamama,
@m_yamama

[Please read the DISCLAIMER for this blog here.]

Digging deeper into the subject, I believe that the definition of Quality is highly subjective. Giving a great User Experience is a key player in boosting your app quality levels.

I developed the below tool Windows Phone Quality Checklist that you can use as a reference and a guide whenever you are developing your Windows Phone app that could boost the UX of the app and eventually help get more downloads and higher star rating.

The tool is a simple excel sheet that contains 3 sections:

1. Required Features
2. Should Have features
3. Good to Have features

Here’s how you can use it:

1. Enter your App Name under App column,
2. Skip the next 4 columns
3. Give a value of 1 in the cell if you used the corresponding Feature as state in the column name
4. You need to get a minimum of 5 required features. 2 Should Have features, and 1 Good to Have feature. If you find your app needs more features, that are not included, don’t hesitate to make your own Checklist and add them .
5. Once you fill the cells with the numbers, you will get a final score as shown in the below snap shot. And Golden star will show up in Star/Top App column indicating that your app is a Quality app.

Just a note: this tool’s main use is for referral and guidance. You may use it to assess your developed apps or brainstorming the features you are planning to include in your app or build your own checklist with the help of this one.

You can download the tool from here.

Kindly share with your developers and community.

Please feel free to subscribe to the feed on the sidebar or follow me on twitter for alerts on posts.

Mohamed Yamama,
@m_yamama

[Please read the DISCLAIMER for this blog here.]

We tried to get a story line around an individual developer having to grow to a team configuration and using the service as they learn about ALM concepts.

Thursday, September 12, 2013 | 8:00AM – 9:30AM (PDT, Redmond Time)

Are you interested in the future of Visual Studio LightSwitch? Come see what we’ve been working on and ask questions in this live public meeting. Joe Binder and the rest of the LightSwitch Team will be here to discuss the LightSwitch roadmap and discuss the product direction. We’ll start with a demonstration of the new features in Visual Studio 2013 and then we’ll open the floor to questions. 

If you have burning questions or topics you'd like to discuss, it would be a great help if you post them to this thread in advance so we can provide more complete answers.  Of course, you're more than welcome to ask live too.

Add to Calendar: bit.ly/15y2Qj5

Join Online Meeting:

https://join.microsoft.com/meet/allenli/L88J2M0Q

Join by Phone:

+14257063500    

+18883203585      

Find a local number: https://join.microsoft.com/dialin

Conference ID: 143610907

Please note that the meeting capacity is 250 participants. If you are unable to join, a recording will be available.

More details and an interesting discussion can be accessed here