Windows Mobile Programming

L. Ramkumar PhDVision Technologies (HP Education)

• Windows Mobile is a mobile operating system developed by Microsoft that was used in smartphones and mobile devices, but is being currently phased out to specialized markets.

Basic4ppc

• Basic4ppc is a programming language designed for mobile applications development.

• With Basic4ppc you can develop programs directly on the Pocket PC / Window Mobile or on the desktop.

• Basic4ppc includes a full featured Visual Designer.

• Basic4ppc applications can be compiled to native executable (EXE files) without any additional runtimes.

• Basic4ppc supports: Windows CE 5.0, Windows CE 6.0, Windows Mobile 2003, Windows Mobile 5.0, Windows Mobile 6.0, Windows Mobile 6.1 and Windows Mobile 6.5. Basic4ppc supports both touch screen devices and non-touch screen devices (the device IDE is only supported on touch screen devices).

Basic4ppc v6.90 introduces the following new features:

• Local variables can be declared with a specific type. Declaring numeric variables significantly boosts the performance of numeric calculations.

• Subs parameters types and subs return type can also be declared.

• New types: Number and Integer. Correspond to .Net Double and Int32.

• Subs parameters can be passed by reference (ByRef). This can be used to return several values from a sub.

• Improved syntax for working with dynamic objects and dynamic controls. Instead of writing Control(ControlName, ControlType), it is now possible to write ControlType(ControlName). The desktop IDE fully supports the new syntax with autocomplete and with the usual popup menu.

• Desktop forms size and layout is more accurate now.• Scroll bar indicators. The desktop IDE now shows useful

indicators above the vertical scroll bar that helps with the code navigation.

• FileFlush keyword. Writes any cached data to the file.• SQL library was updated to SQLite 3.6.16.• More clear error messages for many common mistakes.

Modules

• Basic4ppc projects are made of one main file, with the extension "sbp" and any number of modules files, with the extension "bas".

• The main file holds the main module.• A module can include code, forms and

controls and objects.

Subs

• All program code (including global variables definitions) is written inside Subs.

• Subs declaration starts with [Public|Private] Sub SubName (Parameters) [As ReturnType] and ends with End Sub.

Variables

• Variables can be either global or sub local.• Local variables value can be used only while

their parent sub is executing.• Global variables’ values can be used

everywhere.• Global variables are variables that were

declared (or used) in Sub Globals; all other variables are local.

Sub Globals a=20End Sub

Sub App_Start b=10 CalcVarsEnd Sub

Sub CalcVars Msgbox ("a = " & a) Msgbox ("b = " & b) End Sub

Result: First msgbox will show a = 20Second msgbox will show b =

b is empty because it's local and wasn't assigned any value yet in this sub.

Array

• Sub Globals• Dim Books (20)• Dim Buffer (100) As Byte• End Sub

Structure Variables

• Structures are variables with customized fields.

• Using structures the code can be clearer and better organized.

• Structures must be declared in Sub Globals

Sub Globals Dim Type(Name, ID, Age) personEnd Sub

Sub App_Start person.Name = "John" person.ID = 1234567 person.Age = 30End Sub

Controls

• Controls in Basic4ppc are global objects, which means that each control has a unique name

Operators

• Basic4ppc supports the following operators: +,-,*,/ Basic math operators ^ Power sign mod Modulus operator & String concatenation ' Remarks (REM is not supported)• The underscore character ( _ ) is used as a line continuation

character.• Long lines could be broken to shorter lines by putting an

underscore at the end of each line (except of the last one).

Conditions

• The simple conditions can be combined into a more complex condition using the logical operators and using parenthesis.

• Conditions are "short-circuit" conditions. Which means that the expressions will only be evaluated if they can affect the result.

For example: If StrLength(TextBox1.Text) > 4 AND StrAt(TextBox1.Text,4) = "a" Then msgbox(true).

Data Types

Name Description RangeByte 8-bit unsigned integer 0 - 255Int16 16-bit signed integer -32768 - 32767Int32 32-bit signed integer -2,147,483,648 - 2,147,483,647Int64 64-bit signer integer -9e18 - 9e18Single 32-bit floating point -3.4e38 - 3.4e38Double 64-bit floating point -1.79e308 - 1.79e308Boolean 8-bit boolean value True, FalseDecimal 96-bit integer value -79e27 - 79e27Char A Unicode characterString

External Libraries and Objects

• As of version 4.00 Basic4ppc supports working with external libraries.

• The external libraries are dll files which include all kinds of new

functionality.

Code Files

• Basic4ppc supports separating the code into several files.

• A project must include one main sbp file. The other files are regular text files.

• Breaking the code into several files can be handy when building large applications, or when there is a need to write different code for the desktop and the device.

Menu Editor

• The menu editor allows you to add menu items to a form.

• Reaching the menu editor is done through the Visual Designer - Controls - Menu Editor.

Visual Designer

• The Visual Designer allows you to build your GUI with little effort.

• To open the Designer, choose Menu - Design - Create New Form (or one of the already created forms, if any).

Compiling

• Compiled files can target Windows EXE (desktop), Device EXE (Pocket PC / Windows Mobile) and Smartphone EXE (Windows Mobile Smartphones).

Smartphone Applications• The difference between a Smartphone device and a regular mobile

device is that Smartphones do not have a touch screen.• Some controls are not useful without a touch screen and therefore

are not supported (OS limitation).• The following controls are not supported:• · Button• · Calendar• · ImageButton• · ListBox• · NumUpDown• · RadioBtn• · SaveDialog

Screen Size and Resolution

• As different devices have different screen sizes and different resolutions, creating an application that runs fine on all devices is not a simple task.

• The most common screen sizes are:QVGA - 240 * 320, dpi: 96 * 96VGA - 480 * 640, dpi: 192 * 192

Unicode

• Basic4ppc supports Unicode formatted as UTF-8.

• When working with a non-ASCII file make sure to save it as UTF-8.

Database

• Database applications use the Table control.• The Table control stores data in rows (records).• If you do not want to show the table directly,

then change its Visible property to false and use the table only to access the data.

• Each row consists of several columns.• Rows are accessed by their index (starting from

0) and columns are accessed by there names.

Demo

• Trail Version Available @ www. Basic4ppc.com• MyMobiler – to show the mobile display in PC• ActiveSync – to transfer files between your pc

and windows mobile.

• Questions ?

• Thanks.