.NET Compact Framework and Smart Device Programming
Posted December 29, 2004
Chat Date: December 9, 2004
Please note: Portions of this transcript have been edited for clarity
Introduction
mikefos_MSFT (Moderator):
Welcome to today’s chat. Our chat today about the .NET Compact Framework and Smart Device Programming.
mikefos_MSFT (Moderator):
We are pleased to welcome our Experts for today’s chat. I will have them introduce themselves now.
Ginny Caughey [MVP] (Expert):
Hi, I'm Ginny Caughey. I'm President of Carolina Software Inc., and we provide vertical market solutions to the solid waste industry that include mobile devices.
TimWilson_MVP (Expert):
Hello, I'm Tim Wilson an independent consultant and a member of the OpenNETCF advisory board.
AlexYakhnin_MVP (Expert):
Hi, I am Alex Yakhnin, Program Manager at IntelliProg, Inc. and a member of directory board at OpenNETCF.org
PeterFoot_MVP (Expert):
Hi, I'm Peter Foot a .NETCF developer and MVP based in the UK with In The Hand Ltd, I'm also a member of the OpenNETCF board.
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
I'm Alex Feinman, Media Center MVP and a mobile developer - member of OpenNETCF.org
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Hi, my name is Neil Cowburn. I'm an independent .NET consultant in the UK. Also, I am co-founder of OpenNETCF.org.
PeteVickers_mvp (Expert):
Pete Vickers, .NET CF MVP, OpenNETCF consultant and owner of GUI Innovations
Start of Chat
AlexYakhnin_MVP (Expert):
Q: I've developed a podcatching app and it has a problem: after about 15 successes of HttpWebRequest over ActiveSync, it begins to fail with "WebException: Unable to connect to server". There are related symptoms using PIE as well.
A: Do you get the same error when NOT connecting over ActiveSync?
mikefos_MSFT (Moderator):
Just a reminder that using our new chat tool, our experts will see the question if you select the Submit a Question radio button.
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Hi, I am using .NET C# to write a smartphone app that can do several things: 1. Show animated gifs 2. Play midi sounds 3. Play wma Is all this possible?
A: 1) OpenNETCF SDF has AnimateCtl, 2) MIDI is somewhat more complicated - you will need to use low-level audio API. Again, OpenNETCF SDF has AudioPlayer code that can handle PCM audio. MIDI will work in a similar manner (but different API). 3) AFAIK there is no open API to play WMAs. You will need to launch media player for that, which is not the best solution
PeterFoot_MVP (Expert):
Q: Directed to Peter, do you have any idea when OpenNETCF.Net.Bluetooth will be finished?
A: Depends what you class as finished. The basics are in place, and I just posted to my blog today a build of the code which you can use for Discovery and outgoing Sockets connections, what specific functionality is of highest priority to you?
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Directed to Alex, can it play all types of gifs?
A: Actually, it uses a concept of filmstrip and not animated GIFs - the latter are not supported
Ginny Caughey [MVP] (Expert):
Q: I am trying to wok on Application Center 2000, I need help in getting started?
A: This chat is about .Net Compact Framework. Sorry but I don't now the answer to your question.
AlexYakhnin_MVP (Expert):
Q: works fine over Bluetooth and mobile phone as well as Wifi.
A: Yeah... I've seen this behavior. ActiveSync could drop the connection...
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Directed to Alex again, so this is the same that I read from the MSDN, a filmstrip gif. So how do I convert the ordinary gif to this gif?
A: Assuming that by "ordinary" GIF you mean animated GIF, you just use any sort of editor that supports animated GIFs and flatten it
mikefos_MSFT (Moderator):
Q: Comment: First, I'd like to congratulate the Microsoft Development Team!!! I just migrated from PPC 2002 & WinCe 3.X to PPC 2003, and the improvements are very noticeable!!! Specially in performance and in the behavior of Pocket IE
A: Thanks for the kind words! Our dev teams have been working very hard to make this a better developer experience.
AlexYakhnin_MVP (Expert):
Q: I recognize that CF controls do not support transparent backgrounds (any controls 'under' the transparent region never get paint messages). Does the underlying CE platform support transparent control backgrounds? (thanks Mike)
A: No, the Windows CE platform doesn't support transparency.
PeterFoot_MVP (Expert):
Q: I am doing app in VB.NET that will do file transfer between Pocket PC and Desktop PC using IrDA, I use some IrDA classes from .NET CF, but I cannot find the same in .NET framework. Another way to do this?
A: Apparently (I haven't tried this myself) you can use the .NET Compact Framework System.Net.IrDA.dll on the desktop framework since it is retargetable and will then allow you to create a socket connection in just the same way as on the device itself.
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Q: I'm using CeAppMgr.Exe to deploy my applications in different handhelds (PPC & WinCE). In the Ini file that I built, in the "CabFiles" parameter... should I just enlist all the cab files that VS2003 builds (for all the processors)?
A: It's really up to you. If you know that you only target Pocket PCs, the ARM and ARM4 CABs will be sufficient. In fact, very few applications target *all* platforms. You can definitively save a lot of space but limiting your setup only to necessary CABs
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Animated Gif: Thanks Alex, but I need to know if it can be done on code.
A: Anything can be done in code, but it would not be easy. Why can't you prepare your gifs in advance?
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Q: I'm using CeAppMgr.Exe do deploy my application. Should I include this file in my distribution media or should I really on the final user to have it installed? (I think it comes in ActiveSync)
A: You should not. CeAppMgr installs with ActiveSync, which is required anyway.
Ginny Caughey [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Can you go over some of the main improvements in programming for the CF in Whidbey?
A: Lots of great stuff - better interop due to enhanced marshalling and support for COM, lots of new classes, better performance, and very nice tools! Did you have a specific area you're interested in?
PeterFoot_MVP (Expert):
Q: OpenNETCF.NET.Bluetooth continued: Finished is something that can find a desktop pc with a Bluetooth device and ultimately create two NetworkStreams, one on the HHC and one on the desktop machine. Then I can ditch our poor old RS232 protocol.
A: That’s dependent on completion of the Sdp code - since to expose a service you must create a valid Sdp record. I'm afraid I can't put a timescale on it since it's something I develop in my spare time, but I've been making some headway in the past couple of weeks. I'll probably have something tested and ready in January which will do two way connections
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Will the next version of the CF support the same or similar deployment option as "click once" does for WinForm applications?
A: I don't believe this is planned, but you can download and install a CAB
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Can you go over some of the main improvements in programming for the CF in Whidbey?
A: Sure. C# 2.0 is a big improvement with new language features like iterators, generics, anonymous methods, partial classes, etc. There's also a lot of new features in the IDE, like a brand new ARM-based emulator, new forms designer, code snippets etc. Specifically for CF 2.0, there's a whole lot of improvements to the BCLs and there's a new project type for creating deployment CABs which you can customize.
Mark_Arteaga [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Animated gif: Basically I am building a internal picture messaging system, which will send animated gifs from PCs to smartphones and pocket pcs. Hence the user may get gifs from the internet and send. This is why I need to know how to do it.
A: You may want to look at the GIF89a Specification. You might have to extract each frame via code but you must know what the format is. Going through the spec might help. Check out this URL https://members.aol.com/royalef/gifabout.htm and also search Google
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: I noticed several people associated with OpenNETCF are present. Are there any plans on implementing a version of the Remoting class?
A: There are no plans to implement this.
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Does lvwSomeListView.Activation = ItemActivation.OneClick work? I set it and I still have to double click on a list view.
A: Yes, it does. I've seen it work
PeterFoot_MVP (Expert):
Q: You say: "...use the .NET Compact Framework System.Net.IrDA.dll on the desktop framework since it is retargetable..." How do I do this?
A: From your desktop project select Add Reference, then browse to the .NETCF folder which is probably Or close equivalent (depending on your setup). Then you can access the classes just as you would in a device project. I'll have to try this myself later before I fully believe it though :)
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003\CompactFrameworkSDK\v1.0.5000\Windows CE
AlexYakhnin_MVP (Expert):
Q: I noticed several people associated with OpenNETCF are present. Are there any plans on implementing a version of the Remoting class?
A: Currently we don't have plans implementing that. Espesially in the light of Remoting being a "dying" technology anyway.
Ginny Caughey [MVP] (Expert):
Q: What improvements have been made in the next version of the CF for the "sometimes connected" scenario. By this I mean, handling the data movement as connectivity comes and goes, similar to BITS on the desktop?
A: The .Net CF version 2 will include a Messaging class, so you might want to consider that.
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: What are the improvements to the CF debugging experience with Whidbey?
A: Primarily, you can debug managed, unmanaged and mixed projects. You get everything you had in eVC plus everything you had in Visual Studio 2003
mikefos_MSFT (Moderator):
Q: ActiveSync problem is killer for a standalone Aggregator and podcatcher! What is the path I can get resolution to this problem. Paid support? Where's the best place to get support?
A: The first place I'd suggest is the microsoft.public.pocketpc.activesync newsgroup. If no one can help there, the next step would be a paid support incident (https://support.microsoft.com). The manufacturer of the device is typically the first point of contact for support, however. If problems still persist, please contact me - mikefos@microsoft.com - and I'll see what I. can do
Ginny Caughey [MVP] (Expert):
There are also new emulators in Whidbey that are much closer to emulating the actual device hardware.
mikefos_MSFT (Moderator):
Thank you for joining us today on our Microsoft MVP Chat: .NET Compact Framework and Smart Device Programming. Keep those questions coming!!
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Not up-to-date with CF 2.0 plans, so, any hope XPath will get there?
A: AFAIK, there are no plans to provide XPath support in CF 2.0
AlexYakhnin_MVP (Expert):
Q: transparent continued: So is it likely that to support the effect of transparency in a control, I should abandon deriving my control from the Control class and then handle mouse, keyboard, painting, etc with my 'controls' just being a graphic objects?
A: The short answer is yes. The long answer will depend on which control in particular you'd want to be transparent.
Ginny Caughey [MVP] (Expert):
Q: What are the improvements to the CF debugging experience with Whidbey?
A: New emulators in Whidbey also provide an experience closer to working on the actual device hardware.
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: The current Pocket PC 2003 emulator for .NET does not support landscape mode. Is there going to be an update that addresses this any time soon?
A: You can download the developer resources for WM2003SE for VS .NET 2003 from here: https://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6a34dc83-c3ce-4a4c-ab83-491fd5729551&DisplayLang=en
PeterFoot_MVP (Expert):
Q: One more question: Is there anyway to get the phone book numbers from the smartphone and not the sim card?
A: Yes it is possible. If your contacts are stored on the device you can use POOM, or if they are on the SIM card there are a bunch of SIM APIs which are wrapped in the OpenNETCF.Phone .Sim namespace. While this isn't available in the current v1.2 release, all the code is online so you can pick and choose what you want from it.
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Can a smartphone share an internet connection with a computer connected via activesync with wifi?
A: Yes, it can if you mean that the desktop PC has the WiFi. Google for "ActiveSync pass-through" and you'll find what you need
Ginny Caughey [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Any plans by OpenNETCF to add the missing XML pieces, especially XPath?
A: I believe that XPath will be included in version 2 of the Compact Framework. I realize that doesn't quite answer your question though. ;)
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Any plans by OpenNETCF to add the missing XML pieces, especially XPath?
A: Drop me an email at neilc@opennetcf.org with what you'd like to see and we'll look into it
mikefos_MSFT (Moderator):
Q: For ActiveSync, PIE stops retrieving images after about 7-9 successful pages as well. Both PIE problem and HttpWebRequest problem are solved by disconnecting and reconnecting USB/ActiveSync without any thing else (i.e. no program closures or resets).
A: GSmith, we'd need to follow up offline on this question. You've got my contact info if you need it.
Mark_Arteaga [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Animated gif: Thank you Alex!!! Just a wonder, has anybody done it yet?
A: Best bet is to read the spec and Google for some sample code. I was looking into adding animatedGifs and read the spec but don't have time right now to code that.
Ginny Caughey [MVP] (Expert):
Q: I'm trying to convert an application icon into a BMP for display in PIE (actually, HTMLViewer). Is "Saving a Control Image to a Bitmap File by Geoff Schwab" still the definitive answer on this? MS sure made converting an Icon to Bitmap difficult ;)
A: Compact Framework version 2 will have better support for bitmaps.
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Any plans by OpenNETCF to add the missing XML pieces, especially XPath?
A: Just to clarify, the version of CF 2.0 currently available in beta does not support XPath. Whether this will change before the release is not something we can comment on (because we don't know!)
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Is there anyway to extract a TCP/IP connection from an ActiveSync connection? For example, run a server on a desktop PC, cradle and connect an HHC through ActiveSync and then construct a connection?
A: There is nothing to "extract". ActiveSync TCP passthrough allows you to *establish* a TCP connection to any host (including the desktop peer). If you know it's IP address, you can use it with e.g. TcpClient class. If you do not know it, you can use an alias "PPP_PEER", which always point to the activesync partner
PeterFoot_MVP (Expert):
Q: Using System.Net.IrDA.dll on the desktop did not work for me. If it did, I could download through my cradle as well as Bluetooth.
A: Okay, I just built a sample myself and it failed, perhaps where I read it was referring to the .NETCF v2.0 version. I'll investigate further and blog my findings... Sorry for raising your hopes :$
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Is VS2003 meant to deploy every exe and dll related to a project every time you deploy? I only have FIR IrDA and deploying most of OpenNETCF takes a good long while, and it happens every time I run the app!
A: Can you describe precisely what happens when you deploy?
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Q: I automatically launch Internet Explorer by calling "IExplore.exe" or "IESample.exe" (depending the platform PPC or CE). I heard that there was a third name in the latest versions. By any chance do you know which is this third name?
A: You would be better off using ShellExecuteEx to launch a document or a url and letting the system to find the registered application
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Is there anyway to open a TCP connection to a smartphone from a remote host?
A: Most of the operators do not offer public IP addresses for the mobile devices. If the device has a public IP, then nothing prevents you from establishing a TCP connection to it. Otherwise it needs to be originated from the device
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Neil, Deploy continued: The main exe (UI), three of my dlls (BL, SL & Utils) and various support dlls (OpenNETCF, etc) are all copied onto the HHC every time I Deploy or Run the application. Is it not meant to only copy changed files?
A: What DLLs (and more specifically, which classes) are you using?
Mark_Arteaga [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Is there a relationship between a Framework Socket Exception and HttpRequest.Abort() ? Under what conditions do you need to call Abort() ? (Possible answers include WebException, Non Web Exception, particularhttp status code, stream eof, etc.). Rules?
A: You should always call Close() after you're done with your connection even if you call Abort()
PeteVickers_mvp (Expert):
Q: I've seen this question asked often in the newsgroup, but I've never seen a great answer. How do you detect when you have network connectivity? The standard answer is to just pinging a "known" address. Anyone have a better solution?
A: What about checking your own IP Address? 127.0.0.1 it is not connected, 191.168.55.100 it is in the cradle. Any other address SHOULD mean it is connected.
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: I've seen this question asked often in the newsgroup, but I've never seen a great answer. How do you detect when you have network connectivity? The standard answer is to just pinging a "known" address. Anyone have a better solution?
A: Also, you can check if the device is cradled by attempting to resolve PPP_PEER
mikefos_MSFT (Moderator):
Thank you for joining us today on our Microsoft MVP Chat: .NET Compact Framework and Smart Device Programming. Keep those questions coming. OpenNetCF.org's SDF is fair game too!
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: ShellExecuteEx is that the same thing as looking in registry for file extension/mimetype then finding the program name and calling CreateProcess? Can ShellExecuteEx take a mimetype instead of using file extension?
A: No, it will not take the mime type. It will however take a URI. You can look up the mime type yourself
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: TCP continued: Directed to Alex: If the smartphone is connected to a computer via activesync, with the computer's IP Address known, can it be done then? The reason that I am asking is because I tried connecting from remote host and I get a 10061 error
A: Which address are you binding to? You need to create a TcpListener and bind it to Any
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Deploy Cont: OpenNETCF, OpenNetCF.Windows.Forms, OpenNETCF.XML, OpenNETCF.Data, BTLibCs (Casio IT500 Bluetooth Libs), CameraCs (Casio IT500 Camera Libs), SerialFuncCs (Casio IT500 Serial Libs)
A: Which version of the SDF are you using? 1.0, 1.1. or 1.2?
PeterFoot_MVP (Expert):
Q: Deploy Cont: OpenNETCF, OpenNetCF.Windows.Forms, OpenNETCF.XML, OpenNETCF.Data, BTLibCs (Casio IT500 Bluetooth Libs), CameraCs (Casio IT500 Camera Libs), SerialFuncCs (Casio IT500 Serial Libs)
A: Check the CopyLocal property of these references, it should be set to False by default since the OpenNETCF ones are installed with a custom cab installer.
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Can I assume, that while in cradle, IP address will always be 191.168.55.100? It's a hardcoded value?
A: You cannot assume that. For example, if 192.168.55.100 is already assigned, ActiveSync will assign the next available IP address in the 192.168.55.x subnet
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Can I assume, that while in cradle, IP address will always be 191.168.55.100? It's a hardcoded value?
A: It is hardcoded, but you cannot assume that.
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: If we develop a shareware app with OpenNETCF and we wish to contribute a portion of the resulting income to OpenNETCF (say quarterly or annually payments) what/where is the best way?
A: Drop me an email at neilc@opennetcf.org so we can talk about this further
PeterFoot_MVP (Expert):
Q: Peter: What custom cab installer?
A: The SDF installs OpenNETCF.SDF.[platform].[cpu].cab to the device which installs the dlls and registers them in the gac, in a similar way to the .NETCF framework dlls themselves. Once installed (successfully) this shouldn't be deployed again
AlexYakhnin_MVP (Expert):
Q: I have a form that has a PictureBox control that covers most of the form. In my Paint function, I want to draw images that render in front of the PictureBox image. When I do this, I don't see the painted items, they must be behind the PictureBox image.
A: Is this Paint function of the Form or PictureBox?
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Peter: What custom cab installer?
A: If the assemblies are not registering with the GAC, they will get deployed each time you hit F5. Drop me an email and I'll outline some steps to check that all the assemblies are correctly installed into the GAC
Ginny Caughey [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Are there any location awareness features built into the next version of the CF?
A: Location Services will be part of a future Windows Mobile platform.
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Are there any location awareness features built into the next version of the CF?
A: No, there are not but you should check out the MapPoint Location Server which will allow you to get location information via a Web service
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: TCP continued: To Alex: It seems that when I do that, the there is no port opened when I tried with netstat -na. At the remote host, when I tried to connect, it cannot be done. I was using a socket:
try
{
isListening = true;
IPEndPoint serverEnd = new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Any, portNo);
listenSocket = new Socket(AddressFamily.InterNetwork, SocketType.Stream, ProtocolType.Tcp);
int threadName = Thread.CurrentThread.GetHashCode();
//log.Debug("NotifyService (Listen) thread : " + threadName + " : Before binding"); listenSocket.Bind(serverEnd); log.Debug("NotifyService (Listen) thread : " + threadName + " : After binding"); listenSocket.Listen(4); liste
A: Actually, I just realized that this won't work. The TCP passthrough works like NAT. You cannot establish a connection in the reverse direction. Sorry to mislead you earlier
AlexYakhnin_MVP (Expert):
Q: It is the form's Paint function.
A: Since PictureBox doesn't have an OnPaint event
PeterFoot_MVP (Expert):
Q: What features are in the next version of the CF that are particularly built to support a portable devices on again/ off again connectivity?
A: In the .NETCF v2.0 there will be support for the System.Messaging namespace to create message queues for partially connected devices. You can also P/Invoke (not in .NETCF 2.0) some of the platform features on specific devices such as ConnectionManager on Windows Mobile devices to receive notifications about the current connectivity status and you can do this now with the OpenNETCF.Net library
AlexYakhnin_MVP (Expert):
Q: It is the form's Paint function.
A: The PictureBox is really not flexible enough for more or less advanced or custom drawing. You'd be better off by create your own control by deriving it from Control. Take a look at this article: https://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/aa446518.aspx
mikefos_MSFT (Moderator):
We've got about 15 minutes left in today's Chat on .NET Compact Framework and Smart Device Programming. Your questions and comments are welcome!
Ginny Caughey [MVP] (Expert):
Q: What features are in the next version of the CF that are particularly built to support a portable devices on again/ off again connectivity?
A: And future Windows Mobile devices will provide a Nonfiction Broker that can raise events in your apps.
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Is there any built-in support for SMS, either in CF or OpenNetCF?
A: In the Smart Device Framework, we have the OpenNETCF.Phone.Sms class which you may find useful
PeterFoot_MVP (Expert):
Q: Notification Broker: Will we be able to create custom notifications?
A: Notifications Broker will allow you to receive events on various system property changes, I'm not aware that this will support custom events though, its a bit early to tell since the specifics have not been announced.
Ginny Caughey [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Notification Broker: Will we be able to create custom notifications?
A: I believe that you will be able to create custom notifications with the Notification Broker. But until we have those future Windows Mobile devices to work with, none of us can say for sure. ;)
PeteVickers_mvp (Expert):
Q: Is there any built-in support for SMS, either in CF or OpenNetCF?
A: also take a look at this article https://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/aa446561.aspx
TimWilson_MVP (Expert):
Q: It is the form's Paint function.
A: You can hook the PictureBox's Paint event and draw on top of the image. Although I don't see the Paint event in the list of "exposed" events through the IDE using C#. So you might need to hook it manually through the constructor.
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Is there any support for real-time communications such as with Live Communication Server in the next version of the CF?
A: There is no explicit support, but RTC client interfaces are com-based and should be accessible with a reasonable amount of work involved no, that COM interop is part of CF
AlexYakhnin_MVP (Expert):
Q: There were rumors that some support for code access security would be a part of CF2.0. It looks like those plans have been delayed. Can you provide more details on this?
A: Nothing has been announced officially yet.
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Is there any data on how many threads can be active simultaneously. Any thoughts on a BitTorrent client architecture with scads of necessary TCP connections?
A: I believe the amount of CF threads is limited by OS capabilities only
PeterFoot_MVP (Expert):
Q: Will Exception.StackTrace ever be supported?
A: I don't believe the feature will be in .NETCF v2.0, but maybe further down the line...
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Can't wait to see LCS/RTC have a managed code interface. :)
A: That's simple. Get a beta 2 of VS2005 (coming out early next year) and start coding them away :)
Ginny Caughey [MVP] (Expert):
Q: Is there any data on how many threads can be active simultaneously. Any thoughts on a BitTorrent client architecture with scads of necessary TCP connections?
A: Check for a January webcast by Maarten Struys for great info on multithreading. His last webcast did include info on maximum threads, but I don't remember the details.
PeterFoot_MVP (Expert):
Q: I want to add IR support to a game I've written in C# using NETCF. I downloaded and tried to use IR code from OpenNetCF.org, but couldn't get it working. Can you recommend books or other articles that might help?
A: There is a quick-start article on using IrDA here - https://samples.gotdotnet.com/quickstart/CompactFramework/doc/irdafiletransfer.aspx
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: Is there a way to add custom XML encodings while reading? It sure seems real difficult right now. I basically ignore NotSupportedException and continue reading, which works in SP1, but not in SP2 (SP2 doesn't seem to skip the node). Any way around this?
A: As I found out recently in a hard way, the Xml parser engine has been drastically changed in SP2. If you are sure that you see a bug, please retest with beta of SP3 and post a repro to the public newsgroup
mikefos_MSFT (Moderator):
We've got just a couple of minutes left in today's chat. Any last questions?
AlexYakhnin_MVP (Expert):
Q: CF threads: should I plan on a limit of 10, 30, 100 or should I just get off my ..... and try it?
A: You should just try to remember that this a resource limited world. The less is the better.
AlexFeinman_MVP (Expert):
Q: XML bug newsgroup? Can you point me to the recommended newsgroup?
A: Not XML newsgroup. CompactFramework newsgroup
Neil Cowburn [MVP] (Expert):
Q: This platform is great and great work on OpenNETCF as well. My podcatching RSS aggregator would not exist without it!
A: That's great to hear! Thanks :)
mikefos_MSFT (Moderator):
Thank you for joining us today on our Microsoft MVP Chat: .NET Compact Framework and Smart Device Programming.
mikefos_MSFT (Moderator):
We welcome any feedback about this chat. Please forward comments, suggestions or any other feedback to mikefos@microsoft.com <mailto:mikefos@microsoft.com>
We hope to see you again for another chat in the future!
mikefos_MSFT (Moderator):
A special thank you to the fantastic MVPs. Thanks folks!!!!!!!
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