Essential Windows(r) CE Application Programming [Paperback]

Robert Burdick (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471327476 | ISBN-13: 978-0471327479 | Publication Date: March 11, 1999

The indispensable guide to writing clean CE applications, including real-world tips, techniques, and workarounds.

Microsoft's Windows CE operating system is quickly finding its way into a wide variety of information appliances like Handheld and Palm-size PCs, television set top boxes, smart telephones, and electronic books. Robert Burdick gives you a thorough tutorial for programming the essential features of Windows CE. Using a complete sample application, each chapter provides comprehensive coverage of the programming techniques required to take advantage of a specific Windows CE feature. As Windows CE continues to evolve into the industry standard for information appliances and mobile computing platforms, Essential Windows CE Application Programming will prove to be your most valuable programming resource. Inside you will find:
* A look behind the curtain at the architecture of the Windows CE operating system.
* Programming building blocks like Windows CE controls and dialog boxes.
* In-depth insight into the desktop connectivity features of Windows CE.
* Complete coverage of Windows CE persistent storage programming.
* Custom user-interface programming.
* Lessons for programming Windows CE at the API level.
* Extensive samples of Windows CE application code.

On the CD-ROM you'll find:
* Source code for all sample programs in the book.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Essential Windows CE Application Programming stresses efficient programming in C rather than C++ and shows how to write software for today's Windows CE platform.

After a quick introduction to Windows CE and handheld devices, author Robert Burdick provides a working template for a basic application. He then explains dialog boxes, basic controls, and common controls, such as the calendar and date-time-picker controls. The menu system in Windows CE is quite specialized, and Burdick demonstrates how to use its command bars effectively, providing tool tips along the way.

Other sections cover storage in Windows CE, starting with its file system; the Windows CE database APIs, including an example that stores phone numbers; and the Win32 registry. The best material in this book, however, is the coverage of owner-draw and custom controls in Windows CE. (This expertise, once standard fare for most Windows developers, has been largely superseded by ActiveX controls.) The author shows how to customize buttons for an ATM kiosk application. He also covers the Windows CE Custom Draw Service and how to create standalone custom controls. Further sections look at using the built-in HTML viewer control, inputting text with the rich ink control, and even recording sound.

The last sections of the book turn to data synchronization APIs, used to send files between handheld devices and desktops, plus memory and power-management issues. --Richard Dragan

From the Back Cover

The indispensable guide to writing clean CE applications, including real-world tips, techniques, and workarounds.

Microsoft's Windows CE operating system is quickly finding its way into a wide variety of information appliances like Handheld and Palm-size PCs, television set top boxes, smart telephones, and electronic books. Robert Burdick gives you a thorough tutorial for programming the essential features of Windows CE. Using a complete sample application, each chapter provides comprehensive coverage of the programming techniques required to take advantage of a specific Windows CE feature. As Windows CE continues to evolve into the industry standard for information appliances and mobile computing platforms, Essential Windows CE Application Programming will prove to be your most valuable programming resource. Inside you will find:
* A look behind the curtain at the architecture of the Windows CE operating system.
* Programming building blocks like Windows CE controls and dialog boxes.
* In-depth insight into the desktop connectivity features of Windows CE.
* Complete coverage of Windows CE persistent storage programming.
* Custom user-interface programming.
* Lessons for programming Windows CE at the API level.
* Extensive samples of Windows CE application code.

On the CD-ROM you'll find:
* Source code for all sample programs in the book.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 460 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (March 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471327476
• ISBN-13: 978-0471327479
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,263,760 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as other reviews, November 24, 1999

By 

Kenneth Goers - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Windows(r) CE Application Programming (Paperback)

Most of the book is a rewording of the Douglas Boling book on the same subject. If you have that book (which is much better) this book will be mostly a rehashing of the same material. This book attempts to give information that the Boling book doesn't cover on Custom Draw (Tree Controls, etc), the HTML viewer control and Active Sync and a few other minor topics. Unfortunately, the MSDN articles on these topics are actually better then the authors coverage of them.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good companion to Boling's "Programming Windows CE", October 20, 1999

By 

Scot Reed (Doylestown, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Essential Windows(r) CE Application Programming (Paperback)

Overall a decent introduction to programming for Windows CE using Visual C++ and the Win32 API (no MFC or Visual Basic here, folks). Does a good job covering basic applications, common controls and CE databases, and is the _only_ book I've found that discusses ActiveSync programming. Most chapters contain sample code to illustrate the subject matter, and an accompanying CD-ROM contains the full sample apps. This book does not have the depth of Douglas Boling's "Programming Windows CE" -- some of it seems to be taken nearly verbatim from Microsoft's documentation -- but it does cover some subjects that Boling does not (e.g., owner-drawn and custom controls, ActiveSync, HTML viewer and Voice control).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars where is the "how-to", October 18, 2001

By 

Shen-wei Li (Issaquah, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Windows(r) CE Application Programming (Paperback)

I recently had a chance to review this book. It's very normal. I've been doing WinCE for 4 yrs, can't find anything up-to-date in this book. Any WIN32 programmer will feel the same.

Features happen to latest Windows CE 3.0 are not mentioned. No Pocket PC stuff either. You can't find useful stuff for programming Shell, Today's APIs and upside down User Interface. To be able to get updated programming information, MSDN and SDK help are your best bet.