Installing a Windows Mobile application on a Windows CE device - deployment

A client has asked us to "revive" an old Windows Mobile application that is used by their receiving department.
At some point they wrote a custom Windows Mobile 6 app for Windows CE devices (a Motorola MC55A to be specific).
They have a project in place to replace this app - but it won't happen for a bit and they want to install the custom app on some newly refurbished devices they found as an interim solution.
I found the source code for the application. It even contains an installer project that generates the CAB files.
What I do not know how to do is get the compiled app and installer onto the device.
I am using one of their legacy computers to build the app and connect to the device. The computer has Windows Mobile Center installed and when I see the device connected - I the ability to add / remove programs on the device.
Not sure if this is the route I should be going. Ideally I want to put the installer behind a web page and just have each device download the installer to install the app.
This stuff is pretty dated - I am having a hard time on the specifics of deployment.

You can put the CAB file on the device and launch it manually using the file explorer on the device to install the files.
Some industrial devices like Honeywell, Intermec, Motorola, Symbol, Zebra and others support the auto install of cab files, if the files are put in a special folder on the device. For former Intermec Honeywell devices, this folder is called \Flash File Store\CabFiles. If a cab file is placed in this folder, it will be installed on the next reboot.
You may also put a link to the CAB file on a web site and open that web site within the Internet Explorer on the device. The device will ask for the installation, when the file link is tapped. Please note that some web server like IIS by default block CAB files from being loaded! If so, you need to configure the web server to allow cab file downloading.

Many months later, but I wanted to answer this for future reference, when you DEPLOY Solution, Visual Studio (2008 was the last one supporting windows mobile apps) will ask you for a target device or emulator, here you can select the device and it will be installed, there will be no entry in add/remove programs on the device unless you install it via an installation CAB. You must create an "Smart Device Cab Project" and configure it for your solution.

Related

Is there a internet permission command to be added in the Windows Folder of the Flutter Application for internet usage?

I am developing a simple flutter application for my manufacturing facility, where we want to input the stock ids of the raw materials which were used to develop the product. I made a simple Flutter Application with Windows and macOS and Android & IOS enabled while initiating the project in Android Studio. I am using Mysql1 dependency from pub dev to avoid writing large amounts of backend and use other frameworks.
Furthermore, I also added internet permission for the app in the Androids folder. However, when I was trying to do it on the windows app, the MySQL query would not go through. The MySql server is hosted on Digital Ocean. I entered the exact details,
But works on the android phone and not on windows applications. Do we need to add any same permission line in the Windows Folder?
I installed the application on my physical, it is perfectly sending the data to the MySQL table in the DigitalOcean server. However, doesn't seem to do the same in the windows application. I want it to run the query the same as in the windows desktop app as in the android app.
Any help would be appreciated,
Thanks and Regards.

Deploy windows 8.1 store apps

I have to continu the work of an intern, working on windows 8.1 store application.
For the context, I am a very beginner with windows 8.1 OS, and also with windows 8.1 app dev... So at the moment, I don't know, what informations you will need to help me, and that's annoying, so please tell me if I miss anything.
So, I tried first, to install what he does.
In the debug folder, I found some app.exe, so I tried them and got the message "the app must be in a app container" (in french, I can only translate in english, I don't know if it's the same in the english Windows...).
So, I tried something else, deploy the application with Visual studio, but I don't find any results in the project folder...
It is an app that is meant for an enterprise, so there is no need to deploy it in the windows store.
How can I deploy it, so I can install the application myself, on all the desks easily?
I found this, but cannot find any .appx file .
These 2 blogs were written for Windows 8. I have done before but not sure if still correct for 8.1;
Steps for deploying on a device (with screenshots)
How Do I Deploy a Windows 8 App to Another Device for Testing?
Distribute apps to business customers
Deploying Metro style apps to businesses

OTA midlet issue

After installing my midlet to a phone over the air, I'm getting a blank page from browser which need to be closed manually.
Any idea how to prevent it?
I read that JAD files are no longer required, as the all info located in JAR. I tried to use the JAR files instead of JAD's, but with them the browser first downloads and only then offers to install the middlet. With JAD it offers to install first, which IMHO more user friendly. Is this the expected behavior, or it can be improved and remove the need in JAD's?
I'm using Eclipse MJT (Previously called EclipseME).
A JAD file makes it easier to sign and deploy your application.
I would definitely not expect all phones to be able to install an applicaiton from the JAR alone.
Without more information, I can see 2 reasons why a blank web browser page would be left on the screen after a jad install:
bug in handset firmware. Not only can the phone not download the jar without launching a full web browser but it also forgets to close the browser window. It happens.
your application asks the phone to notify a remote computer after installation. There is a standard application property for this in the MIDP specifications. it could be in the jad or in the manifest.

CAB installation failing on new Windows Mobile 6.5 devices

We use a CAB file through a webpage to deploy our mobile application to our customers. Now with the new Windows Mobile 6.5 devices, the cab file is downloaded as a .tsk file (when using the new Internet Explorer). Naturally the installation fails to install the application as a theme.
If the file is downloaded in Opera, or you change the file extension back to cab. The installation process completes. But the application can launch due to Missing Method Exceptions.
Has anyone experienced this? Does anyone know if there is a workaround for it?
We are currently builing the CAB using a vdproj in visual studio and signing it using CabWiz. Were using the Windows Mobile 5.0 SDK.
This is an issue with a specific version of the HTC Touch 2 ROM.
Apparentlly this is fixed with an upgrade of the mobile.
see reference:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=574121

How can I check the device platform before deployment in the .NET Compact Framework?

I've developed an application for Windows Mobile using Windows Mobile 6 Pro with CF 3.5 and I have some deployment questions.
I'm targeting only Pocket PC and I don't want to let users install it on their smartphone (because it simply won't work).
How can I check for the platform on which the user is installing the application and show him some error message?
Just to let you know, I have an .msi in order to install the app into the device from the desktop (setup project with cab inside), and it's fine.
I just need this extra verification.
See this link on how you can detect the platform. Cab files support an optional setup.dll, which can be used for registering custom actions in Install init, Install exit, Uninstall init and Unistall exit. You could use the install init entry point and stop the installation or show a dialog if the platform doesn't match. This of course has to be native development.