EMbedded Visual Basic: Windows CE and Pocket PC Mobile Applications

Chris Tacke, Timothy Bassett

Sams Publishing, 2002 - Computers - 403 pages

Annotation One of the only technical-level resources available on the eMbedded VB toolkit from Microsoft. Will fill a distinct need; Microsoft documentation is poor, and currently there are no eMbedded Visual Basic (eVB) books available. Will document the widely misunderstood differences between eVB and regular Visual Basic. Covers critical recent developments, such as SQL Server for CE, that enable mobile applications with data access-essential for robust applications. eMbedded Visual Basic: Windows CE and Pocket PC Mobile Applications is an in-depth exploration into eVBs inherent features, and how to use them to solve likely mobile application programming tasks. The reader will be able to write applications tackling a wide array of business problems for Windows CE-powered devices, both customized and for the popular Pocket PC and Handheld PC products. The documentation for eVB is not very strong; this book will help ease the transition into the language, and provide a reference for even more experienced developers. Christopher Tacke is an Associate at Rubicon Technologies, Inc., a firm specializing in mobile application development using CE, Palm, Blackberry. His career started with VB for the Windows PC platforms and rapidly grew to include the eMbedded version of Visual Basic as well as C, C++, ATL/COM, and SQL. He has designed, written, and deployed several mobile applications. Chris is also President and co-founder of Innovative Decision Support Systems, Inc., a firm specializing in data collection and analysis solutions. Tim Bassett is a Microsoft Certified Professional with more than eight years experience as a lead programmer. He has been a lead architect on many emerging technologies projects utilizing his strong object-oriented development skills. In Tims current role, Mobile Application Group Manager, he has been responsible for a large percentage of Rubicons research and development, as well as the training of Rubicons associates.

Contents

• An Introduction: 6
• Introducing eMbedded Visual Basic: 21
• Manipulating Files: 33
• Working with Menu Controls for Pocket PC: 61
• Implementing Menu Buttons: 76
• Using the Windows CE WinSock for IR Communication: 91
• Disconnecting: 108
• Receiving Chat Text: 114
• A ProgressBar Workaround: 122
• PCChat: 128
• Summary: 134
• Accessing Contacts and Calendar Items: 137
• Storing and Retrieving Data with ActiveX Data Objects CE: 187
• Using SQL Server in a Mobile Environment: 255
• Updating SQL Server CE Recordsets: 260
• Summary: 317
• Harnessing: 320
• Harnessing the Windows CE API: 321
• A Control Reference: 363
• Index: 391

About the author

Christopher Tacke, MCSD, is an associate at Rubicon Technologies, Inc., in Reston, Virginia, as well as cofounder and president of Innovative Decision Support Systems, Inc. He has a bachelor's in geology from the University of Montana and a master's in project management from the Keller Graduate School of Management in Illinois. He has written software with uses ranging from text games on his Vic-20 to seismic data analysis to assembly-line automation, but now focuses largely on mobile computing programming, including Windows CE, Palm, and RIM. Chris lives with his wife, Erin, and their black Lab, Zoe, in Maryland.

Tim Bassett, MCSE, MCSD, MCT, MCP+Site Building, has more than eight years of experience as a lead programmer on many emerging technologies. He received a bachelor's in business administration, focused in management information systems, from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. As Mobile Application Group Manager at Rubicon Technologies, Inc., Tim was responsible for a large prercentage of Rubicon's research and development, as well as the training of Rubicon's associates. Currently Tim does independent consulting for mobile applications running on both Windows CE and Palm OS. He lives with his wife, Cori, in Washington D.C.

You can contact Chris via e-mail at [e-mail]. Tim Bassett can be contacted via [e-mail]. Be aware, though, that we get a whole lot of e-mail in a day and although we try to read and answer them all, responses may not always be quick. If you're looking for technical help on a problem, we highly recommend searching the archive of and posting to developer community Web sites, newsgroups, and listservers.

Bibliographic information

• Title: EMbedded Visual Basic: Windows CE and Pocket PC Mobile Applications; Kaleidoscope Series
• Authors: Chris Tacke, Timothy Bassett
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Sams Publishing, 2002
• ISBN: 0672322773, 9780672322778
• Length: 403 pages
• Subjects: Computers / Operating Systems / Windows Desktop; Computers / Programming / General; Computers / Programming Languages / BASIC; Computers / Programming Languages / Visual BASIC