Compass Class

Article
11/23/2015

[ This article is for Windows Phone 8 developers. If you’re developing for Windows 10, see the latest documentation. ]

Provides Windows Phone applications access to the device’s compass sensor.

Inheritance Hierarchy

System..::.Object
Microsoft.Devices.Sensors..::.SensorBase<(Of <(CompassReading>)>)
Microsoft.Devices.Sensors..::.Compass

Namespace: Microsoft.Devices.Sensors
Assembly: Microsoft.Devices.Sensors (in Microsoft.Devices.Sensors.dll)
XMLNS for XAML: Not mapped to an xmlns.

Syntax

Public NotInheritable Class Compass _
    Inherits SensorBase(Of CompassReading)

public sealed class Compass : SensorBase<CompassReading>

<Compass .../>

The Compass type exposes the following members.

Constructors

	Name	Description
	Compass	Initializes a new instance of the Compass class.

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Properties

	Name	Description
	CurrentValue	Gets an object that implements ISensorReading that contains the current value of the sensor. This object will be one of the following types, depending on which sensor is being referenced: AccelerometerReading, CompassReading, GyroscopeReading, MotionReading. (Inherited from SensorBase<(Of <(TSensorReading>)>).)
	IsDataValid	Gets the validity of the sensor’s data. (Inherited from SensorBase<(Of <(TSensorReading>)>).)
	IsSupported	Gets whether the device on which the application is running supports the compass sensor.
	TimeBetweenUpdates	Gets or sets the preferred time between CurrentValueChanged events. (Inherited from SensorBase<(Of <(TSensorReading>)>).)

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Methods

	Name	Description
	Dispose	Releases the managed and unmanaged resources used by the sensor. (Inherited from SensorBase<(Of <(TSensorReading>)>).)
	Equals(Object)	Determines whether the specified Object is equal to the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	Finalize	Allows an object to try to free resources and perform other cleanup operations before the Object is reclaimed by garbage collection. (Inherited from SensorBase<(Of <(TSensorReading>)>).)
	GetHashCode	Serves as a hash function for a particular type. (Inherited from Object.)
	GetType	Gets the Type of the current instance. (Inherited from Object.)
	MemberwiseClone	Creates a shallow copy of the current Object. (Inherited from Object.)
	Start	Starts acquisition of data from the sensor. (Inherited from SensorBase<(Of <(TSensorReading>)>).)
	Stop	Stops acquisition of data from the sensor. (Inherited from SensorBase<(Of <(TSensorReading>)>).)
	ToString	Returns a string that represents the current object. (Inherited from Object.)

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Events

	Name	Description
	Calibrate	Occurs when the operating system detects that the compass needs calibration.
	CurrentValueChanged	Occurs when new data arrives from the sensor. (Inherited from SensorBase<(Of <(TSensorReading>)>).)

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Remarks

The compass, or magnetometer, sensor can be used to determine the angle by which the device is rotated relative to the Earth’s magnetic north pole. An application can also use raw magnetometer readings to detect magnetic forces around the device.

The compass uses a different axis to compute the heading, depending on the orientation of the device. For an example of how to determine which axis is being used, see How to get data from the compass sensor for Windows Phone 8.

If you want to create an application that uses the device’s orientation in 3D space, you should use the RotationMatrix property of the Motion class.

Capabilities

If you use this API in your app, you must specify the following capabilities in the app manifest. Otherwise, your app might not work correctly or it might exit unexpectedly.

ID_CAP_SENSORS

Windows Phone 8, Windows Phone OS 7.1

For more info, see App capabilities and hardware requirements for Windows Phone 8.

Version Information

Windows Phone OS

Supported in: 8.1, 8.0, 7.1

Platforms

Windows Phone

Thread Safety

Any public static (Shared in Visual Basic) members of this type are thread safe. Any instance members are not guaranteed to be thread safe.

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