Create Your Application Using an SDK for an OS Image (Compact 7)
3/12/2014
You can create a project for an application that you will develop and test on a stand-alone virtual CEPC that includes the OS image in a virtual drive or on a device that has the OS image copied into flash memory. This type of project does not require Platform Builder because you do not need to download an OS image to the device or the virtual CEPC to test a change in your application code. To create this type of application project, you include the SDK that was created from the OS design project.
Tip
If you plan to test your application on a virtual CEPC or a device that does not already include an OS image, use the procedure in Create Your Application as a Platform Builder Subproject instead.
Prerequisites
To complete the following procedure, you must:
- Install Windows Embedded Compact, with or without Platform Builder. For more information, see Installation.
- Install the SDK that was created from an OS design project by you or the OS developer. For information about how to create an SDK by using Platform Builder, see Create an SDK.
- Optional. Create or have access to an SDK for a stand-alone virtual CEPC that is similar to the SDK for the target device if you plan to use a virtual CEPC for preliminary testing. You can install both SDKs at the same time. If you plan to use a virtual CEPC for preliminary testing, you will also need to create or have access to a stand-alone virtual CEPC to test your application. For more information about creating a stand-alone virtual CEPC and a matching SDK, see Create a Stand-Alone Virtual CEPC and Create an SDK for Virtual CEPC.
To create an application project
If you haven't done so already, install the SDK for the OS design. Navigate to the SDK installer and double-click it to begin the installation process. Complete the steps in the wizard as directed.
The following image shows the Setup Wizard provided by the installer for an OS SDK.
.png "Example of an SDK installer")
In Microsoft Visual Studio 2008, on the File menu, point to New, and then click Project.
In the New Project dialog box, under Project types, expand the Visual C++ node, and then select Smart Device.
.png "Creating a new application project")
Under Templates, select the type of project that you want to create. The following image shows the Smart Device project templates that are installed with Windows Embedded Compact.
.png "The two main types of Smart Device applications")
- If you want to create a project for an application with a UI, select Win32 Smart Device Project. You can choose this option whether you intend to use Microsoft Silverlight for Windows Embedded or not.
- If you have a Microsoft Expression Blend 3 project that you want to convert into a Microsoft Silverlight for Windows Embedded project, select Silverlight for Windows Embedded Application. The wizard will prompt you for an Expression Blend project file. For detailed information about working with Expression Blend, see Expression Blend and Silverlight for Windows Embedded.
The remainder of this procedure assumes that you have selected the Win32 Smart Device Project template.
In the New Project dialog box, enter a name and location for your project, and then click OK.
The Win32 Smart Device Project Wizard appears.
On the Platforms page of the wizard, in the Selected SDKs list, select Windows Mobile 5.0 Pocket PC SDK, and click the left-arrow button to remove it from the project.
In the Installed SDKs list, select the SDK that you installed in step 1, and click the right-arrow button to move it into the Selected SDKs list.
For example, the following image shows an SDK that is about to be added to the project. The SDK was built from an OS design that supports virtual CEPC and Silverlight for Windows Embedded and is already installed on the development computer.
.png "Include an SDK in your project to support the OS")
Tip
As mentioned previously, you might use an SDK for a virtual CEPC during the early stages of development to test an application on your computer, even though the application will eventually run on a device. If you have both the virtual CEPC SDK and the final device SDK installed, you can select both of them on the Platforms page of the wizard. For example, in the preceding image, under Installed SDKs, there is an SDK for a device, named TI3530_SL_International. You could add that SDK to the Selected SDKs list first, and then add the VCEPC_SL_onVdrive SDK. The SDK that is listed at the top of the Selected SDKs list will be the one used by your project by default. When you want to switch which SDK is used to build your application, use the Configuration Manager of Visual Studio to change the Platform selection for the Release or Debug version of your application. You can also use the Configuration Manager to add a new platform to the list if you want to install another SDK later. For more information, see Managing Configuration Options.
Click Next.
On the Project Settings page, select an application type (such as Windows application), and then click Finish.
.png "The Project Settings dialog box")
Tip
Do not select the Empty project option unless you want to create a project without source files.
Your new project is generated and opens in Visual Studio for editing.
.png "New project open in Visual Studio for editing")
To build the solution, right-click your solution name and click Build.
Next Steps
You can now develop your application by adding code to the source file, creating new source files, and so on.
To test your application, you must use a stand-alone virtual CEPC that already includes the OS image or a device that has the OS image copied into flash memory. The target virtual CEPC or device must be selected in Configuration Manager for the active solution configuration.
.png "Selecting a platform for the active configuration")
For each change that you make to your application code, you will need to rebuild your application and rerun it on the virtual CEPC or device.
To debug your application, use the tools in Visual Studio. In Visual Studio, you connect to your device or stand-alone virtual CEPC using Connect to Device on the Tools menu, set breakpoints in your application source files, and then press F5 to run your application in debug mode. For more information about debugging options, see Debug the Application and Debugging.
For information about how to create a stand-alone virtual CEPC and test applications, see the following sections.
- Create a Stand-Alone Virtual CEPC
You only need to follow the procedures in this section one time to create the stand-alone virtual CEPC on which you will test your application. After that, you just run the virtual CEPC before you start testing your application. - Create an SDK for Virtual CEPC
You only need to follow the procedures in this section one time, except for the procedure To run the sample application on your virtual CEPC, which you need to run each time you start your virtual CEPC. You might also need to repeat the procedure To configure Visual Studio with the IP address of your virtual CEPC if the IP address of your stand-alone virtual CEPC changes. The IP address might change if it has not been used for a long time.