I've been maintaining a Windows CE app for some time now (over a year) and have produced new versions of it from time to time, copying them to the handheld device[s] and running the new versions there.
Today, though, I created a new Windows CE app for the first time. It is a very simple utility.
To create it in VS 2008, I selected a C# "Smart Device Project" template, added a few controls and a bit of code, and built it.
Here are some of the options I selected:
I copied the .exe produced via building the project to the handheld device's Program Files folder:
...but it won't run. Is it in the wrong location? Does it need some ancillary files copied over? Is there some other sort of setup I need to do to get it to run? Or what?
UPDATE
Since there's not much of it, I'm pasting ALL the code below in case somebody thinks my code could be the problem:
using System;
using System.Linq;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.IO.Ports;
namespace PrinterCommanderCE
{
public partial class PrinterCommanderForm : Form
{
public PrinterCommanderForm()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void btnSendCommands_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
SendPrinterCommands();
}
private void SendPrinterCommands()
{
bool successfulSend = false;
const string quote = "\"";
string keepPrinterOn = string.Format("! U1 setvar {0}power.dtr_power_off{0} {0}off{0}", quote);
string shutPrinterOff = string.Format("! U1 setvar {0}power.dtr_power_off{0} {0}on{0}", quote);
string advanceToBlackBar = string.Format("! U1 setvar {0}media.sense_mode{0} {0}bar{0}", quote);
string advanceToGap = string.Format("! U1 setvar {0}media.sense_mode{0} {0}gap{0}", quote);
if (radbtnBar.Checked)
{
successfulSend = SendCommandToPrinter(advanceToBlackBar);
}
else if (radbtnGap.Checked)
{
successfulSend = SendCommandToPrinter(advanceToGap);
}
if (successfulSend)
{
MessageBox.Show("label type command successfully sent");
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("label type command NOT successfully sent");
}
if (ckbxPreventShutoff.Checked)
{
successfulSend = SendCommandToPrinter(keepPrinterOn);
}
else
{
successfulSend = SendCommandToPrinter(shutPrinterOff);
}
if (successfulSend)
{
MessageBox.Show("print shutoff command successfully sent");
}
else
{
MessageBox.Show("print shutoff command NOT successfully sent");
}
}
private bool SendCommandToPrinter(string cmd)
{
bool success = false;
try
{
SerialPort serialPort = new SerialPort();
serialPort.BaudRate = 19200;
serialPort.Handshake = Handshake.XOnXOff;
serialPort.Open();
serialPort.Write(cmd);
serialPort.Close();
success = true;
}
catch
{
success = false;
}
return success;
}
}
}
UPDATE 2
Based on this, I added a global exception handler to the app so that Program.cs is now:
namespace PrinterCommanderCE
{
static class Program
{
[MTAThread]
static void Main()
{
AppDomain currentDomain = AppDomain.CurrentDomain;
currentDomain.UnhandledException += new UnhandledExceptionEventHandler(GlobalExceptionHandler);
Application.Run(new PrinterCommanderForm());
}
static void GlobalExceptionHandler(object sender, UnhandledExceptionEventArgs args)
{
Exception e = (Exception)args.ExceptionObject;
MessageBox.Show(string.Format("GlobalExceptionHandler caught : {0}", e.Message));
}
}
}
Yet running the new build shows nothing - it just "flashes" momentarily with about as much verbosity as Lee Harvey Oswald after Jack Ruby's friendly visit.
UPDATE 3
Could the problem be related to this, and if so, how to solve it?
The circumstance that both my updated version of an existing app AND this brand new and simple app refuse to run indicate there is something fundamentally flawed somewhere in the coding, building, or deployment process.
UPDATE 4
As this is a minimal utility, the reason it (and my legacy, much more involved) app are not working may have something to do with the project properties, how it's being built, a needed file not being copied over, or...???
NOTE: The desktop icon is "generic" (looks like a blank white form); this perhaps indicates a problem, but is it indicative of something awry or is it a minor (aesthetics-only) problem?
UPDATE 5
In Project > Properties..., Platform is set to "Active (Any CPU)" and Platform target the same ("Active (Any CPU)")
I have read that this is wrong, that it should be "x86", but there is no "x86" option available - Any CPU is the only one...?!?
UPDATE 6
In Project > Properties... > Devices, the "Deploy the latest version of the .NET Compact Framework (including Service Packs)" is checked. Is this as it should be?
UPDATE 7
Okay, here's the really strange part of all this:
I have two CF/CE apps that I need to run on these Motorola/Symbol 3090 and 3190 handheld devices.
One is this simple utility discussed above. I find that it actually does run on one of the devices (the 3190, FWIW). So it runs on one device, but not on the other.
HOWEVER, the other (legacy) .exe is the opposite - it runs on the 3090 (where the utility will not even start up), but not on the 3190.
So the utility's needs are met by the 3190, and the legacy util's needs are met by the 3090. However, the NEW version of the legacy app does not run on either device!
I am baffled; I feel as Casey Stengel must have when speaking once of his three catchers: "I got one that can throw but can't catch, one that can catch but can't throw, and one who can hit but can't do either."
UPDATE 8
The 3190 has a newer version of the CF installed; it seems that both the new and the old apps should run on the new device with the newer CE, but they don't - only the one built against/for the new framework does...
UPDATE 9
Here is what the 3090 looks like:
UPDATE 10
So I have two exes, one that runs on the devices (both of them now), and the other that will run on neither of the devices. The two exesw seem almost identical. I compared them with three tools: Red Gates' .NET Reflector; JetBrains' dotPeek, and Dependency Walker.
Here is what I found:
Dependency Walker
Both seem to have the same errors about missing dependencies (I didn't have them in the same folder with their dependent assemblies is probably the problem there)
.NET Reflector
The nonworking file has this entry that the working file does not:
[assembly: Debuggable(0x107)]
Is this the problem and, if so, how can I change it?
JetBrains dotPeek
The References in the working copy of the exe are all version 1.0.50000.0
The non-working exe has an identical list of References, and the same version number.
There is this difference, though:
For the working .exe, dotPeek says, "1.4.0.15, msil, Pocket PC v3.5"
For the non-working .exe, dotPeek says, "1.4.0.15, msil, .Net Framework v4.5"
Is this the problem and, if so, how can I change the non-working .exe to match the working one?
This last is disconcerting, primarily because I see no place in the non-working (newer) version of the project where a "4.5" string exists. Where could dotPeek be getting that information?
UPDATE 11
I do know now that the problem is somewhere between these two MessageBox.Show()s, because the first one I see, but not the second:
public static int Main(string [] args)
{
try
{
// A home-brewed exception handler (named ExceptionHandler()) is already defined, but I'm adding a global one
// for UNHANDLED exceptions (ExceptionHandler() is explicitly called throughout the code in catch blocks).
MessageBox.Show("made it into Main method"); // TODO: Remove after testing <= this one is seen
AppDomain currentDomain = AppDomain.CurrentDomain;
currentDomain.UnhandledException += new UnhandledExceptionEventHandler(GlobalExceptionHandler);
string name = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Name;
IntPtr mutexHandle = CreateMutex(IntPtr.Zero, true, name);
long error = GetLastError();
if (error == ERROR_ALREADY_EXISTS)
{
ReleaseMutex(mutexHandle);
IntPtr hWnd = FindWindow("#NETCF_AGL_BASE_",null);
if ((int) hWnd > 0)
{
SetForegroundWindow(hWnd);
}
return 0;
}
ReleaseMutex(mutexHandle);
DeviceInfo devIn = DeviceInfo.GetInstance();
Wifi.DisableWifi();
// Instantiate a new instance of Form1.
frmCentral f1 = new frmCentral();
f1.Height = devIn.GetScreenHeight();
f1.Text = DPRU.GetFormTitle("DPRU HHS", "", "");
MessageBox.Show("made it before Application.Run() in Main method"); // TODO: Remove after testing <= this one is NOT seen
Application.Run(f1);
devIn.Close();
Application.Exit();
return 0;
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
DPRU.ExceptionHandler(ex, "Main");
return 0;
}
} // Main() method
UPDATE 12
More specifically, I've got infinite looping going on somehow; By mashing the "Ent" pill on the handheld device (that's what the button looks like - a "lozenge") - it sounds like gerbils tap-dancing (as debugging MessageBox.Show()s in two methods pop up and are dismissed over and over ad infinitum ad (literally) nauseum).
If an application does not start it is mostly missing something. As you compiled for WindowsCE and CF3.5, the Compact Framework 3.5 runimes have to be installed on the WindowsCE device.
Normally Compact Framework is part of Windows CE images, at least version 1.0, but who knows for your test device? If at least one CF is installed, an app requiring a newer CF version will show that on start by a message stating about the missed version. So either no CF is on your device, or something is goind real wrong.
You can run \Windows\cgacutil.exe to check the CF version installed on the device. The tool will show the version of installed CF.
You can debug using a TCP/IP connection or ActiveSync connection. See remote debuggung elsewhere in stackoverflow, I wrote a long aanswer about remote debug via TCP/IP. Or does your device neither have USB and WLAN or ENET?
Update: Here is the answer for remote debug via tcp/ip: VS2008 remotely connect to Win Mobile 6.1 Device This will also enable the remote deployment "In Project > Properties... > Devices, the "Deploy the latest version of the .NET Compact Framework (including Service Packs)" is checked. Is this as it should be?"
Are the earlier apps you wrote also written .NET? Compact framework does not care about the processor architecture, only the CF runtimes have to match the processor. So you do not need an x86 target as if you write a native C/C++ SmartDevice project.
To your comments:
a) CF1.0 is installed on the device.
b) the exe built on the colleagues computer seems to be built for CF1 and therefor runs OK.
c) your exe is built for CF 3.5 and does not run as there is no CF3.5 runtime on the device.
d) most CF exe files are very small as long as they do not include large resources or ...
Conclusion so far: Install the CF3.5 runtime onto the device: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb788171%28v=vs.90%29.aspx.
To run the legacy app on both devices, the referenced Motorola or other 3rd party runtimes must also be installed. I stringly recommand to setup your environment so you can use ActiveSync/WMDC for development, deployment and debugging of the device. If you are unable look for some more experienced colleague.
Can you try to run it inside the debugger and check where it fails?
Can you place a breakpoint right at the beginning of Program.main and check if it's reached?
Debug output may also give you some interesting hints.
Im using gwt-platform and I have 2 Presenters ( MainpagePresenter and SecondpagePresenter). MainpagePresenter is my DefaultPlace.
So, onModuleLoad I am starting to load data from the server part with rpc and saving my data into the client cache. I implemented a PopupPanel to show a loading screen like this:
PopupPanel loadingPanel = new PopupPanel(false, true);
this.loadingPanel.add(new Label("loading..."));
this.loadingPanel.center();
this.loadingPanel.show();
So the user can't click on anything before everything is loaded sucessfully.
The Panel will be hidden when onSucess() from the rpc is called.
My SecondpagePresenter gets the saved data from the cache onReset().
#Override
protected void onReset()
{
super.onReset();
this.data = (Data) this.cache.get("Data");
}
Everything works fine, but when I am browsing the second page and do a browser refresh, the code of SecondpagePresenter will still be called before my data is received.
The only solution I found so far is to implement a while loop like this:
while(cache.get("data") != null)
{
Window.alert("loading");
}
This prevents the code to continue but the user has to click on an "OK"-Button.
So my questions is: Is there a way to block the code from SecondpagePresenter to get called before the data from my MainpagePresenter is loaded successfully?
I'm having a rare issue in my code, I have a method that makes a very simple validation based on a string variable:
private void showNextStep(String psCondition,String poStepName){
int liCurrentStep=Integer.valueOf(poStepName);
String lsNextTrueStep=moSteps[liCurrentStep][4];
String liNextFalseStep=moSteps[liCurrentStep][5];
if ("Yes".equals(psCondition)){
moFrmStepsContainer.getField(liNextFalseStep).hide();
moFrmStepsContainer.getField(lsNextTrueStep).show();
}else{
moFrmStepsContainer.getField(liNextFalseStep).show();
moFrmStepsContainer.getField(lsNextTrueStep).hide();
}
}
Now, here is the ticky part: if I execute the application without debugging mode, it does the validation right all the time, how ever if don't it always goes to the else block (or at least I think) I tried to use JS alerts (I have a class that calls JS methods) to debug manually and check the valors of the variables; the valors where all right and the validation was also good. This means that only debugging or putting alerts before at the beggining of the IF block it does the validation right, otherwise it always goes to the ELSE, what do you think it could be?
It might be worth mentioning this is a web application made in netbeans 6.9, using the framework GWT 2.1. This application runs in firefox 25.0.1
Thank you!
UPDATE
Here is the code of the event that calls my method
final ComboBoxItem loYesNo=new ComboBoxItem("cmbYesNo" + moSteps[liStepIndex][0],"");
loYesNo.setValueMap("Yes","No");
loYesNo.setVisible(false);
loYesNo.setAttribute("parent", liStepIndex);
loYesNo.addChangedHandler(new ChangedHandler() {
public void onChanged(ChangedEvent poEvent){
String lsStepName=loYesNo.getName();
FormItem loItem=moFrmStepsContainer.getField(lsStepName);
String liStepNumber=String.valueOf(loItem.getAttributeAsInt("parent"));
showNextStep((String)poEvent.getItem().getValue(),liStepNumber);
}
});
I am invoking a compiler command but the compiler messages are not getting displayed in the Eclipse Console View consistently.
I have my launch() method implemented the same way as first code block of
this question; I have the command-line string setup which I use to call DebugPlugin.exec() method. However, unlike the the author of the question above, my output Eclipse console is very inconsistent. T
There is no activity in the console when I invoke the command and the console continues to display the "No console to display at this time." But after invoking the command numerous time and activating different consoles from the drop-down menu, the console occasionally does become active and message is displayed.
I am confused with how the eclipse is behaving and not sure how to resolve this issue. Any comment and/or recommendation would be appreciated.
Thanks!!
--
EDIT
To add some more info, running the external process using External Tools works fine. I add the compiler process c:\path\myprocess.exe in Locations field and the file to compile in the Arguments field within the External Tools Configuration window. When I run it, all the output is displayed fine. It just won't display when I run it programmatically through LaunchConfigurationDelegate class.
Maybe try bringing the console to front programmatically see if it helps:
* Bring the console to front.
*/
public static void showConsole() {
Display.getDefault().asyncExec(new Runnable() {
#Override
public void run() {
IWorkbenchWindow window = CUIPlugin.getActiveWorkbenchWindow();
if (window != null) {
IWorkbenchPage page = window.getActivePage();
if (page != null) {
IViewPart consoleView =
page.findView(IConsoleConstants.ID_CONSOLE_VIEW);
if (consoleView == null) {
IWorkbenchPart activePart = page.getActivePart();
try {
consoleView =
page.showView(IConsoleConstants.ID_CONSOLE_VIEW);
} catch (PartInitException pie) {
CUIPlugin.log(pie);
}
// restore focus stolen by the creation of the
// console
page.activate(activePart);
} else {
boolean bringToTop = true;
if (bringToTop) {
page.bringToTop(consoleView);
}
}
}
}
}
});
}
Finally got it to work. The main change I've made is having my MyLaunchConfigurationDelegate extend LaunchConfigurationDelegate instead of just implementing ILaunchConfigurationDelegate. When observed through the debugger, the launch() method went through similar code path as external process that was launched via External Tools when MyLaunchConfigurationDelegate extended LaunchConfigurationDelegate.
I guess it was lack of information on my part but I wasn't sure which part of the code was more important to share.
Another piece of code that was removed was:
IProcess dbgProcess = DebugPlugin.newProcess(launch, compilerProcess, "XVR Compiler", processAttributes);
...
launch.removeProcess(dbgProcess);
I've added it while attempting different approach in debugging this issue and it actually caused more issues by removing the debugProcess before it has chance to display output to the console.
I need to respond to the events of minimizing / maximizing Eclipse window. How do I do that?
I can suggest a way: you can write a plugin for it.
For example see this improvized "tutorial", I made it, tried it works on Ganymede. A bit ugly at the final Shell variable, but working. If you know nicer solution just shoot :)
((actually there is a way: to extend your own ControlListener class, but that needs more coding :))
Create a new Plug-in Project, name it as you want, create it from a template named: Hello World Command
Open the SampleHandler class, and then replace the execute() function with this code.
public Object execute(ExecutionEvent event) throws ExecutionException {
IWorkbenchWindow window = HandlerUtil
.getActiveWorkbenchWindowChecked(event);
final Shell s = window.getShell();
window.getShell().addControlListener(new ControlListener() {
#Override
public void controlMoved(ControlEvent e) {
// TODO Auto-generated method stub
}
#Override
public void controlResized(ControlEvent e) {
MessageDialog.openInformation(s,
"WindowEventHandler Plug-in", "RESIZED: "
+ e.toString() + "\nHello, Eclipse world");
}
});
MessageDialog.openInformation(window.getShell(),
"WindowEventHandler Plug-in",
"Hello, Eclipse world, resize will be taken care of.");
return null;
}
now. Start the project (Run As-> Eclipse application), and you'll se an Eclipse button on the toolbar. Click on it! It triggers the running of the above code where the essence is that the window.getShell() returns with the main window component so you can add listeners to it.
If you want it to run automatically, not just for a button, you have to find out a plugin where the entry point is connected to the starting of the application.
Hope this helps.
b
Found a way to do it easily: you have to create a ShellListener or ShellAdapter, which have methods that are called when the shell is iconified, deiconified, activated, deactivated and closed.
After creating it, add it as a listener with the following line:
int i;
PlatformUI.getWorkbench().getActiveWorkbenchWindow().getShell().addShellListener( yourListenerHere);
If you ever remove it from the shell's listeners list, be sure that Workbench, ActiveWorkbnchWindow and Shell are not null.