volonteers wanted

[Guest]

Hi,
I have a ruggidized handheld, that came with our landsurveying equipment,
running WinCe.net 4.2. The manufactor does not support writing additional
software. I want to explore if it is possible to write my own data
collecting routines. Normaly I should do this in Delphi but Delphi does not
support CF. I've tried some demo's from NSBasic, Creativity Corp, &
SywareCe, but some didn't run on my device, while others that do run don't
give me full control on form layout or input-checking.
I'm looking for some people that will write some simple code (an edit , some
buttons, dropdown, radiobox) in MS VB to check if I can get it running on the
device, this way I can check what I 'll need and what it will cost me to
write my own apllications.

Hardware specs:
The device is a "TSCe" = Trimble Survey Controller running Windows CE.net
4.2 which is an embedded OS from Trimble & TDS (Tripod Data Systems)
Intel StrongARM SA-1110, 206MHz proc 64MB low-power SDRAM
64MB non-volatile flash disk
1/4 VGA color LCD touch screen (Horizontal layout 320x240)
57 key tactile keyboard (full num & alfanum)
integrated speaker & microphone
multi output port (rs232 & usb)

Any volunteers ?
Maybe someone who wants to point my nose in the write direction?
any help appreciated,

Kind regards,

 

[Eric]

Hello Christof,

I want to explore if it is possible to write my own data
collecting routines. Normaly I should do this in Delphi but Delphi
does not support CF.

I'm also a Delphi programmer, but I've recently migrated to C# because it is more popular.

I've tried some demo's from NSBasic, Creativity Corp, &
SywareCe, but some didn't run on my device, while others that do run
don't give me full control on form layout or input-checking.

NSBasic is a great choice. This is one of the best development tools for someone who doesn't have a lot of low level experience.

I think Microsoft's free eVB compiler might also be a good choice, but this has a bigger learning curve than NSBasic.

VB.NET or C# would be great choices if you don't mind a big learning curve. These are already quite popular, and are gaining ground daily. If you are a professional software developer, then this is your best bet. You need to change with the times if you do this for a living. It's not the easiest approach, but it is the most "future proof" approach.

I'm looking for some people that will write some simple code (an edit
, some buttons, dropdown, radiobox) in MS VB to check if I can get it running
on the device, this way I can check what I 'll need and what it will cost me
to write my own apllications.

I doubt if anyone will write you some free code, especially since you'll have to write your own programs eventually anyway.

And eVB is free, so that might be your best choice - just download it and start learning it.

http://www.devbuzz.com/content/installing_emb_vis_tools_pg1.asp

Lots of tutorial info for eVB:
http://www.devbuzz.com/content/init_starting_out.asp

 

[Guest]

Hy Eric,
thanx for the info,
I'm not a professional but I have not realy a deadline. for the moment our
software runs on Psion series 3 but one day we'll heve to make the move, and
I want to be ready for it, ... learning something new is not the problem.
Since the device is an embedded one, it's difficult to choose a program
language.
NsBasic applications could not be started on the device, some files on the
device were missing ...
That's the reason why I'm asking someone to drop some components on a form
to see what will be running, this could even be a 'Hello world'.

thanx any way,
I'll take a look at the links
Bye,

 

[Eric]

Hello Christof,

I guess I misunderstood what you wanted. If you just want a simple app to tell you whether it can work or not, I can do this for you.

I made a Hello World program in C#, and I created the installation CAB files for use with various architectures. You can test them to see which one works.
http://www.ericengler.com/downloads/testce.zip

I'd probably try this one first:
test_PPC.ARM.CAB

You'll also need to deploy the Compact Framework to the device. I'm sure you can D/L this from Microsoft.

Eric

 

[Guest]

Eric,
thank you for the test-file
Tried to instal it, but as you mentioned I have to instal CF first.
Installation confirms that there's no CF on the unit. I supposed that it was
since it uses WinCe.net 4.2 !
I was warned by Trimble (vendor) that adding additional software could
result in malfunctioning for 'survey controller software'. Since we still
have a lot of surveying to do this year I can't take this risk now and will
postpone the instal of CF till XMas-time. I'll let you know if this works
Thanx a lot for the time spent on this
Kind regards,

 

[Eric]

Hello Christof,

I was warned by Trimble (vendor) that adding additional software could
result in malfunctioning for 'survey controller software'.

It's *HIGHLY* unlikely that the .NET framework would cause any other software to malfunction. Can't you try it on one device just to see whether it works? I can't be sure if it will work, but I've never heard of it causing trouble for other software.

Eric

 

[Guest]

hmm ... hope you're right,
have to check the planning, there might be a possiblity to try it
wednesday-night
I'll let you know...

 

[Guest]

Eric,
Just installed CF (display showed ..ARMV4..) so choosing your installation
file was not difficult.
Your "Hello World" runs fine, and so did my Trimble Landsurveying stuff, so
I own you a big thank ... If you're ever in Belgium give me a sign ... I'll
by you a drink in Brugge ...
Now It's clear to me what to use to write my own software, I wish I had the
Delphi option but ... Visual Studio will be the way to go.

My device has 64MB Ram and 128MB Flash disk, I've installed CF in Ram memory
now, does it make a difference installing it on the disk? (Trimble advice is
to install all additional software on the disk)

Kind Regards,

 

[Eric]

If you're ever in Belgium give me a sign ...

Sounds good. My wife and I would love to visit Belgium someday.

Now It's clear to me what to use to write my own software, I wish I
had the Delphi option but ... Visual Studio will be the way to go.

Right. Delphi is still be the best tool for building native Win32 apps,
but I don't like Borland's .NET strategy. I'm sad to see Borland
lagging behind Microsoft because they seemed to be one step ahead of
Microsoft for many years. But, of course, Microsoft hired a lot of the
best talent away from Borland...

My device has 64MB Ram and 128MB Flash disk, I've installed CF in Ram
memory now, does it make a difference installing it on the disk?
(Trimble advice is to install all additional software on the disk)

It shouldn't be a problem to install it on the flash disk. I'm still
pretty new with these PocketPC devices, but I haven't heard of any
problem doing it this way.

Eric