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How to: Customize an Emulator Skin

The following steps describe how to develop a custom skin for the Device Emulator, and then how to apply the skin to an emulator in Platform Builder and Visual Studio.

To develop a custom skin

  1. Create a bitmap (BMP) or Portable Network Graphics (PNG) file that shows the default appearance of the emulator skin.

  2. Create a BMP or PNG file that shows the appearance of the emulator skin with all buttons pressed.

  3. Create a BMP or PNG file that shows the area of each button filled with a single unique color.

  4. If you want the appearance of each button to change independently of the other buttons in the emulator skin, use a different color to fill the area for each button.

    Note

    For best visibility, do not to use white or black to fill this area.

  5. Create an .xml skin-definition file.

    For more information, see Device Emulator Skin XML Schema Reference.

  6. Save the three BMP or PNG files and the .xml file to a single directory.

To use the skin in a Platform Builder project

  1. On the Platform Builder Target menu, click Connectivity Options.

  2. In the Download box, select Device Emulator.

  3. To the right of the Download box, click Settings.

  4. In the Emulator Properties dialog box, click the Display tab.

  5. Select Skin, and then navigate to the location of your custom skin-definition .xml file.

To use the skin in a Visual Studio project

  1. On the Visual Studio Tools menu, click Options.

  2. Expand the Device Tools node, and then click Devices.

  3. In the Devices box, select the emulator you want to add the skin to, and then click Properties.

  4. In the <DeviceName> Emulator Properties dialog box, click Emulator Options.

  5. In the Emulator Properties dialog box, click the Display tab.

  6. Select Skin, and then navigate to the location of your custom skin-definition .xml file.

See Also

Concepts

Skins

Reference

Device Emulator Skin XML Schema Reference

Other Resources

Configuring and Using the Device Emulator