Windows Embedded CE Platform Behavior

[This documentation is for preview only, and is subject to change in later releases. Blank topics are included as placeholders.]

It is important to be aware of platform-specific behavior when you develop applications for Windows CE devices that are not Pocket PCs or Smartphones, especially when you create forms.

Windows CE has no specific screen size requirement, and many devices provide substantially large displays that can easily display multiple application forms. .NET Compact Framework applications can have forms of any size and position on the display. By default, these forms can be resized and repositioned in much the same way as forms that are created by the full .NET Framework on the desktop.

Controls and Core Elements

The following table describes how controls and other elements operate and appear on Windows CE. For more information about controls, see Controls in the .NET Compact Framework.

Note

You should explicitly set the Focus method as appropriate for controls and child forms.

Control or element	Behavior
Back color for container controls	The BackColor property for a Form, Panel, and TabPage is the control system color.
Control box	If ControlBox = true, the form has a Close (X) button.
Desktop	Screen without the taskbar.
ClientSize	The ClientSize property of the form does not decrease when a menu bar is added to a form. Developers must accommodate any overlap possibilities after adding the menu bar.
Maximize button	Windows CE forms include a Maximize button.
Menu bar and toolbar (These controls are combined and can display both menu items and toolbar buttons.)	Retains a fixed position at the top of the screen. The location cannot be changed because the form owns it. The bar occupies its portion of the client area.
Menu separator on the Main menu	An exception is thrown when you attempt to add a menu separator to the Main menu.
MessageBoxIcon enumeration	Supports the Asterisk, Exclamation, Hand, None, and Question members.
Minimize button	Windows CE forms include a Minimize button.
SaveFileDialog	If you do not specify a file name extension, Windows CE does not append an extension but does return the ordinal position of the current filter.
Smart Minimize button (X)	Not applicable. The X button closes the application.
Taskbar	Bar at the bottom of the screen with the Start button and buttons for running programs.

FormBorderStyle

The following table lists behavior specific to the .NET Compact Framework for members of the FormBorderStyle enumeration.

FormBorderStyle	Behavior
Fixed3D	The window has a caption.
FixedDialog	The window changes size programmatically and has no caption.
FixedSingle	The window has a caption, can change location, and can size programmatically.
FixedToolWindow	Same as FixedSingle.
None	The window has no borders.
Sizable	Same as FixedSingle.
SizableToolWindow	Same as FixedSingle.

FormWindowState

The following table lists behavior that is specific to the .NET Compact Framework for members of the FormWindowState enumeration.

FormWindowState	Behavior
Maximized	The window size is the size of the desktop area.
Normal	The window size is the specified size. Its default size is the size of the desktop area.

See Also

Other Resources

Application Development in the .NET Compact Framework