Platform Builder Documentation: Live Chat with Writers (February 24, 2005)

Posted: February 24, 2005

Please note: Portions of this transcript have been edited for clarity

Introduction

mikefos_msft (Moderator):
Welcome to today’s chat. Our chat today is with the Platform Builder Documentation team!
We are pleased to welcome our Experts for today’s chat. I will have them introduce themselves now.

LukeBa_MS (Expert):
I work on driver documentation for Windows CE platforms.

Cathy [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi, I'm Cathy Kerr and I'm a programming writer for Windows CE platforms. I work with Connection Manager, VoIP technologies, MSMQ, UPnP, and some other technologies.

Prwilk [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi, I am Priyanka, I write networking documentation for Windows CE.

Court [MS] (Expert):
I'm Court Faw, and I work on Power Management and file system documentation.

sfairo [MSFT] (Expert):
Hi, I'm Susan and I focus on customer research and responding to your questions that you send using the send feedback links in our documentation.

RMont [MSFT] (Expert):
I'm Becky Montgomery, and I work on compilers and debugging tools, including the emulator

MandyOei [MSFT] (Expert):
I provide documentation for the Platform Builder IDE, including the tools and build system.

Rosshe - MSFT (Expert):
Hi, I'm Ross - I recently joined the Mobile and Embedded Devices documentation team as a Programming Writer in the GWES and IE areas.

mikefos_msft (Moderator):
Let’s begin the chat. We welcome you to begin submitting your questions for our Experts. If you have attended previous chats, you may be accustomed to prefacing your question with a Q:, there is no need to do that any longer. Our new chat system will automatically preface your question with a Q:.
Just a reminder that to post a question for our experts, please remember to check the 'Submit a Question' radio button.

Start of Chat

MartinEk [MS] (Expert):
Q: Is there any way to print out all of the Platform Builder Help files at once. I don't care if I use three reams of paper. I want to reference the documentation in a book-like fashion.
A: If you are using PB 3.0 or 4.x, you can print from the CHMs by right clicking on a node in the TOC and choosing print. Then choose the option for "Print the selected heading and all subtopics". If you are using PB 5.0, right click and choose Print Topic and Subtopics.

sfairo [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: My 180 day evaluation for PB 5.0 has been expired. Can I be still using the documentation? If so, how?
A: You can view the PB Help on MSDN online or you can also open the .chm from your hard drive.

MartinEk [MS] (Expert):
Q: My 180 day evaluation for PB 5.0 has been expired. Can I be still using the documentation? If so, how?
A: Yes, you should still be able to access the documentation as long as you have not unistalled PB. Try opening the documentation from the Start menu short cut called Documentation. If that's not available, create a short cut with the following target: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Help\dexplore.exe" /helpcol ms-help://MS.WindowsCE.500

LukeBa_MS (Expert):
Q: Besides the help docs in Platform Builder and on MSDN, is Microsoft (or a third party if you know of one) planning on coming out with any comprehensive books on Platform Builder? We've only found two books currently in print that cover Platform Builder.
A: There was a book on its way out from Jim Katsandres, Building Windows CE .NET Platforms, but I think the book was cancelled. You may want to let folks know about your demand for a book in the windowsce newsgroups. From time to time there is talk in those newsgroups about writing a CE book.

mikefos_msft (Moderator):
Q: Besides the help docs in Platform Builder and on MSDN, is Microsoft (or a third party if you know of one) planning on coming out with any comprehensive books on Platform Builder? We've only found two books currently in print that cover Platform Builder.
A: Additionally, I believe that there are a few of our Microsoft MVPs who are planning on releasing some books in the coming months. I don't believe that they've made anything public yet, however.

Court [MS] (Expert):
Q: I am porting an Installable File System from Windows CE .NET to 5.0. In Windows CE 5.0, there are some new FSD APIs, such as the MyFSD_LockFileEx and MyFSD_UnlockfileEx, which are undoccumented. Are there plans to better doccument the FSD API?
A: The decision was made by the developers in the 5.0 timeframe to keep these APIs internal. It's possible that we will be revisiting this in an update to the 5.0 docs scheduled (tentatively) for April.

Court [MS] (Expert):
Q: Can you update us on what specific topics you guys are working on currently that we'll be seeing in the near future?
A: In the driver documentation, in our next doc update, I am adding documentation for the PC Card socket service shared code library.

LukeBa_MS (Expert):
Q: Can you update us on what specific topics you guys are working on currently that we'll be seeing in the near future?
A: I've been working on USB function driver documentation and collecting suggestions for the next release of the driver documentation. You can check for doc updates on MSDN and/or our documentation with the next product release.

Cathy [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Can you update us on what specific topics you guys are working on currently that we'll be seeing in the near future?
A: I've been working with the Connection Manager documentation, adding more conceptual information, adding more samples, and ensuring that the samples are more relevant.

RMont [MSFT] (Expert):

Q: Can you update us on what specific topics you guys are working on currently that we'll be seeing in the near future?

RMont [MSFT] (Expert):

A: I'm working on expanding the documentation we have for some of the debugging tools, such as CeLog and its viewers, and the debugging-related API

Cathy [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Will there be any linux vs. windows embedded comparisons....or is that all marketing stuff ;-)
A: I can tell you that our primary focus on the writing team is improving the depth and accuracy of the Windows embedded documentation ... and that's lots to keep the writers busy :)

sfairo [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: When typing a topic in the HELP index, I find that it usually goes to a "summary" page with a bunch of links to various things. The links seem to hop around and very few links cover any topic in depth. It makes it hard to follow.
A: Which version of the PB Help are you using?

sfairo [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I'm using PB 4.2
A: The overview pages you're referring to should list all the related information under a certain topic. If by drilling down, you're not finding the depth of content you need it would help us to know what technology or area you specifically need more information about. Using the send feedback link in the documentation is a good way to communicate to the team that you need more depth on something in particular. Or you can tell us that here :~)

sfairo [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: My complaint is not that the info isn't there by drilling down, it's that a topic is not first covered in an overview before diving in the deep end. If I don't understand the basics of how it works, the details only serve to confuse.
A: I see your issue. I would suggest that you look in the table of contents, where it would be easier to see what higher level material on a specific topic might be available. It would include "overview" in the title, or you can assume that the higher up in the table of contents, the more high-level the content.

Cathy [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: My complaint is not that the info isn't there by drilling down, it's that a topic is not first covered in an overview before diving in the deep end. If I don't understand the basics of how it works, the details only serve to confuse.
A: Sometimes, there's a link in the "see also" section to the high-level conceptual information. Also, our production guys have been working on adding "breadcrumbs" to the top of each documentation page. You can usually follow the links at the top of the detailed docs pages to more conceptual information.

LukeBa_MS (Expert):
Q: Hello, I am using a Mainstone dev board for which I have already a BSP, but this BSP does not include Power Management. Microsoft supposed to release a BSP version with modules of Power Management,
A: Have you looked at the other BSPs that are provided and were they of help?

Court [MS] (Expert):
Q: Without written documentation for the FSD APIs, the only resource for determining proper functionality of the new CE 5.0 FSD interface is to read and interpret the FATFS code. Is this correct, or are there other resources for the FSD developer?
A: Regarding the LockFileEx and UnlockFileEx APIs, for now, yes. The decision to leave these APIs undocumented has been revisited lately, and I will likely be adding documentation for them for our next update.

MartinEk [MS] (Expert):
Q: I've seen problems with .NET Framework list some methods/properties available for Compact Framework - but actually they are not. Can you do some kind of automatic verification for those issues ?
A: We don't have anyone representing the .NET CF documentation in this chat today, but you can send their team feedback using the send comment links at the bottom of the .NET Framework topics on MSDN Online and the MSDN CD. The e-mail address is netfwsdk@microsoft.com.

mikefos_msft (Moderator):
If you’re just joining us, welcome to today’s chat. Our chat today is with the Platform Builder Documentation team!
Your questions, comments and feedback are welcome.

MandyOei [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: The migration section of moving from 4.2BSP to 5.0, does not cover all sections, the one I am looking at says...
A: CE 5.0 ignores pretty much all build-related information in CEC files. So if you want to include build specific content, you'll need to do it by inserting build actions at the project level and not the file level. I'm assuming that you've imported your project into PB (or created it) as an user-created project, by the way... there is content in the 5.0 docs about the various aspects of project conditionals that you can use. Hope this is helpful.

LukeBa_MS (Expert):
Q: I have not been able to find documentation on how to create a ROM image for my Mainstone dev kit, do you know if that exists?
A: If you have the version of Platform Builder the supports the Mainstone hardware, you can build an image pretty easily. What version of PB?

Court [MS] (Expert):
Q: Without written documentation for the FSD APIs, the only resource for determining proper functionality of the new CE 5.0 FSD interface is to read and interpret the FATFS code. Is this correct, or are there other resources for the FSD developer?
A: Also, feel free to post any questions you have on the Windows CE newsgroups. The filesys devs would be more than willing to answer some the questions you may have.

LukeBa_MS (Expert):
Q: Is there documentation available for ActiveSync? I wanted to bring up ActiveSync over a serial usb connection. I was able to get the USB to be recognized by the host computer, the CLIENT and CLIENTSERVER messages went across OK. Then nothing.
A: Documentation for the USB serial host driver will go out in the next doc release. This should help you.

LukeBa_MS (Expert):
Q: Is there anyway to get USB serial host driver documentation before the next release. I've struggled with this for 6 weeks and my project is way behind.
A: Send me a PM and I'll give you my email address and we can probably work something out.

sfairo [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Does "If something is not explicitly supported, documentation is unlikely." mean that if something is explicitly supported, there should be *some-kind-of" documentation exist?
A: We do our best to document as much of the product as possible. However, we're not always able to cover everything - but our writers are trying to keep up.

LukeBa_MS (Expert):
Q: Driver code not included in any PB5.0 BSP has been made available in WINCE50\PUBLIC\COMMON\OAK\CSP\ARM\INTEL\PXA25X\USB\FUNCTION\ .. Information on needed registry settings and dlls there driver needs would be helpful.
A: The documentation for USB function controllers has been improved much lately, I can get these docs to you along with the USB serial host docs.

mikefos_msft (Moderator):
We’ve got about 20 minutes left in today’s Platform Builder Documentation team chat! Your questions, comments and feedback are welcome.

sfairo [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: I like the fact that you have integrated all the "Favourites" through out the system in a single place. That saves lots of time... :-)
A: Glad to know this is helpful for you!

MandyOei [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: Maybe is there some tool for checking module dependencies ? Now often I must to recompile the system to find out if I added all “sub modules” required by modules that I want.
A: Not as such, since the build system is pretty complex in and of itself. However, I can tell you that in 5.0, steps have been taken to make parsing the dependencies more transparent to the user. If I remember right, in the 5.0 IDE you can right-click on a Catalog item in your OS design and look at the dependencies to get an idea of what's what.

MandyOei [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: A specific question: I've been looking for an explanation of what gets built using "Build xxx" versus "Rebuild All".
A: There's a table in the 5.0 documentation that provides an explanation... look for "Build Menu Options", I believe.

MandyOei [MSFT] (Expert):
Darek -- are you aware of the "How to Check the Dependencies of a Catalog Item" topic which is in both the 4.2 and 5.0 documentation? That might also be helpful.

mikefos_msft (Moderator):
We’ve got just a couple more minutes left in today’s Platform Builder Documentation team chat! We're currently trying to wrap up the remaining question.

MandyOei [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: MandyOei: I'm using PB 4.2 not 5.0 since I have some BSPs that are not available yet for 5.0. Is the table the same for 4.2 and 5.0?
A: Ah, that helps. No, the table isn't the same for 4.2-5.0 since the build system changed significantly between the two versions. My memory's a bit fuzzy, but Build * tries to build the selected item, where Rebuild All performs a clean build, I think.

MartinEk [MS] (Expert):
Q: Is there a "best" place to get the latest PB documentation? I have used MSDN mostly thinking that it may updated more frequently than the downloaded help files. Is this a correct assumption or do updates come all at once?
A: We update MSDN Online the same time we update the Help Update downloads on the Microsoft downloads site. We recommend that everyone update their local Help using the Help Updates.

MandyOei [MSFT] (Expert):
Q: How to manage features of your image in case if you sure that this feature will not be used (for sure !!) , but it's listed as mandatory for some some feature. I.e. how to deal with wrong dependencies ?
A: In general, if Feature A requires Feature B to work, then there are hidden dependencies... sorry I can't be more helpful, but cases can be different.

mikefos_msft (Moderator):
Thank you for joining us today for our chat with the Platform Builder Documentation team. We're officially done, but will still be responding to a couple of pending questions.
We welcome any feedback about this chat. Please forward comments, suggestions or any other feedback to edevfdbk@microsoft.com
We hope to see you again for another chat in the future!

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