WinCE Programming Tips
This page is a under construction reference to help in the development for the Windows CE platform, covering common programming topics specific to it.
Other Interfaces
- Lazarus known issues (things that will never be fixed) - A list of interface compatibility issues
- Win32/64 Interface - The Windows API (formerly Win32 API) interface for Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP/Vista/10, but not CE
- Windows CE Interface - For Pocket PC and Smartphones
- Carbon Interface - The Carbon 32 bit interface for macOS (deprecated; removed from macOS 10.15)
- Cocoa Interface - The Cocoa 64 bit interface for macOS
- Qt Interface - The Qt4 interface for Unixes, macOS, Windows, and Linux-based PDAs
- Qt5 Interface - The Qt5 interface for Unixes, macOS, Windows, and Linux-based PDAs
- GTK1 Interface - The gtk1 interface for Unixes, macOS (X11), Windows
- GTK2 Interface - The gtk2 interface for Unixes, macOS (X11), Windows
- GTK3 Interface - The gtk3 interface for Unixes, macOS (X11), Windows
- fpGUI Interface - Based on the fpGUI library, which is a cross-platform toolkit completely written in Object Pascal
- Custom Drawn Interface - A cross-platform LCL backend written completely in Object Pascal inside Lazarus. The Lazarus interface to Android.
Platform specific Tips
- Android Programming - For Android smartphones and tablets
- iPhone/iPod development - About using Objective Pascal to develop iOS applications
- FreeBSD Programming Tips - FreeBSD programming tips
- Linux Programming Tips - How to execute particular programming tasks in Linux
- macOS Programming Tips - Lazarus tips, useful tools, Unix commands, and more...
- WinCE Programming Tips - Using the telephone API, sending SMSes, and more...
- Windows Programming Tips - Desktop Windows programming tips
Interface Development Articles
- Carbon interface internals - If you want to help improving the Carbon interface
- Windows CE Development Notes - For Pocket PC and Smartphones
- Adding a new interface - How to add a new widget set interface
- LCL Defines - Choosing the right options to recompile LCL
- LCL Internals - Some info about the inner workings of the LCL
- Cocoa Internals - Some info about the inner workings of the Cocoa widgetset
TIPS / FAQ
Application runs on Windows Device Emulator, but not on physical device
When running a compiled application on the Windows Device emulator, it works fine, but running it on the physical device you get the error:
Cannot find 'project1' (or one of its components).
This is usually indicative of missing DLLs on the target device, especially if you have a very simple "Hello World" type of application. In many instances, it is related to the aygshell.dll file, which is not present on many industrial-type devices running a bare Windows CE version - normally devices running "Windows Mobile" versions of Windows CE will not have this problem.
This problem has been reported on Motorolla/Symbol MC9000 and MC1000 barcode scanners running both Windows CE 4.2 and 5.
To resolve, do a search for "aygshells.zip" in a search engine - there are some "Dummy" aygshell.dll files available that can be copied to the device to overcome this problem.
Get Device ID
Get and ID of your device useful for protect your application. This work only on Windows Mobile 5.0 and Windows CE 5.1 <delphi>
function GetDeviceUniqueID(AppData:LPCWSTR; cbApplictionData:Integer; dwDeviceIDVersion:Integer;
var deviceIDOuput; var pcbDeviceIDOutput:DWORD):Integer; external 'coredll.dll' name 'GetDeviceUniqueID';
function GetDeviceID: string; var
AppData: array[0..19] of WideChar; DeviceID : array[0..19] of Byte; Count: DWORD; s: string; Res, i:Integer;
begin
//not sure about Unicode AppData := Utf8Decode('MY_SIG');//any string you like Count := SizeOf(DeviceID); FillChar(DeviceID, Count, #0); Res := GetDeviceUniqueID(AppData, SizeOF(AppData), 1, DeviceID, Count); if Res = 0 then begin Result := ; for i := 0 to Count -1 do begin if (i > 0) and ((i mod 2) = 0) then Result := Result + '-'; //add space make the string wrap in label Result := Result + IntToHex(DeviceID[i], 2); end; end else Result := ;//error accord
// you can MD5 it with your string // Result := MD5Print(MD5Buffer(DeviceID, Count)); end; </delphi> Reference pages: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms893522.aspx http://peterfoot.net/RetrieveIMEIThroughTAPI.aspx http://blogs.msdn.com/jehance/archive/2004/07/12/181067.aspx
Get Device Name
Easy to get it from registry
<delphi> function GetDeviceName: string; var
aReg:TRegistry;
begin
aReg := TRegistry.Create(KEY_READ); try aReg.RootKey := HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE; aReg.OpenKey('Ident', False); if aReg.ValueExists('Name') then Result := aReg.ReadString('Name') else Result := 'GUEST'; finally aReg.Free; end;
end; </delphi>
Show/Hide SIP Panel
SIP: Software Input Panel button, it is a keyboard come with WinCE for touch screen devices.
<delphi> const
//some of consts already found in Windows SIPF_OFF = $00000000; SIPF_ON = $00000001; SIPF_DOCKED = $00000002; SIPF_LOCKED = $00000004;
function SipShowIM(IPStatus:DWORD):Integer; stdcall; external 'coredll.dll' name 'SipShowIM';
begin
SipShowIM(SIPF_ON)
end;
</delphi>
Wakeup Device/ Power On
If you like to make alarm application this function make your device power on, you need also make some sounds with it.
<delphi> function SetSystemPowerState(psState: PWideChar; StateFlags: DWORD; Options : DWORD):DWORD;
stdcall; external 'coredll.dll' name 'SetSystemPowerState';
SetSystemPowerState(nil, POWER_STATE_ON, 0); Application.BringToFront; ShowWindow(Handle, SW_SHOW);
</delphi>
LED / Vibrator
You can turn on/off then LED/vibrator in, your device, it worked for me but not as like as i want, may be it need some improvements.
<delphi> const
NLED_COUNT_INFO_ID = 0; NLED_SUPPORTS_INFO_ID = 1; NLED_SETTINGS_INFO_ID = 2;
type
TNLED_COUNT_INFO = record cLeds: DWORD; end; TNLED_SETTINGS_INFO = record LedNum: DWORD; // LED number, 0 is first LED OffOnBlink: Integer; // 0 = off, 1 = on, 2 = blink TotalCycleTime: DWORD; // total cycle time of a blink in microseconds OnTime: DWORD; // on time of a cycle in microseconds OffTime: DWORD; // off time of a cycle in microseconds MetaCycleOn: Integer; // number of on blink cycles MetaCycleOff: Integer; // number of off blink cycles end;
function NLedGetDeviceInfo(nID:Integer; var pOutput): WordBool; stdcall; external 'coredll.dll' name 'NLedGetDeviceInfo'; function NLedSetDevice(nID: Integer; var pOutput): WordBool; stdcall; external 'coredll.dll' name 'NLedSetDevice';
</delphi>
Examples
<delphi> function TForm1.MakeLEDOn; var
Countnfo: TNLED_COUNT_INFO; Info:TNLED_SETTINGS_INFO;
begin
NLedGetDeviceInfo(NLED_COUNT_INFO_ID, Countnfo); //with Countnfo.cLeds you can check if your device support LEDs; Info.LedNum := 0; //<--- First LED Info.OffOnBlink := 1; Info.OffTime := 0; Info.MetaCycleOff:= 50; Info.MetaCycleOn:= 50; Info.TotalCycleTime := 100; NLedSetDevice(NLED_SETTINGS_INFO_ID, Info);
end;
procedure TForm1.MakeLedOff; var
Info:TNLED_SETTINGS_INFO;
begin
Info.LedNum := 0; Info.OffOnBlink := 0; NLedSetDevice(NLED_SETTINGS_INFO_ID, Info);
end;
</delphi>
Vibrator it is the last LED in your device, if you can write some music you can now make your phone dance.
<delphi>
function TForm1.MakeVibratorOn;
var
Countnfo: TNLED_COUNT_INFO; Info:TNLED_SETTINGS_INFO;
begin
NLedGetDeviceInfo(NLED_COUNT_INFO_ID, Countnfo); Info.LedNum := Countnfo.cLeds -1; Info.OffOnBlink := 1; NLedSetDevice(NLED_SETTINGS_INFO_ID, Info);
end;
function TForm1.MakeVibratorOff; var
Countnfo: TNLED_COUNT_INFO; Info:TNLED_SETTINGS_INFO;
begin
NLedGetDeviceInfo(NLED_COUNT_INFO_ID, Countnfo); Info.LedNum := Countnfo.cLeds -1; Info.OffOnBlink := 0; NLedSetDevice(NLED_SETTINGS_INFO_ID, Info);
end; </delphi>
Getting Battery Status
For more information : MSDN GetSystemPowerStatusEx
<delphi> //by Philip Heinisch
type TBAT_INFO = record ACLineStatus:byte; //0=Offline, 1=Online, 2=Backup Power,3= Unknown status BatteryFlag:byte; //0=High, 1=Low, 2=Critical, 3=Charging, 4=No Battery, 5=Unknown BatteryLifePercent:byte; //0..100 Battery Life in Percent Reserved1:byte; //always 0 BatteryLifeTime: DWORD; //remaining time in seconds BatteryFullLifeTime: DWORD; //max usage time in seconds Reserved2:byte; //always 0 BackupBatteryFlag:byte; //0=High, 1=Low, 2=Critical, 3=Charging, 4=No Battery, 5=Unknown BackupBatteryLifePercent:byte; //0..100 Backup Battery Life in Percent Reserved3:byte; //always 0 BackupBatteryLifeTime: DWORD; //remaining time in seconds BackupBatteryFullLifeTime: DWORD; //max usage time in seconds end; function GetSystemPowerStatusEx(var pOutput;fUpdate:boolean ): WordBool; stdcall; external 'coredll.dll' name 'GetSystemPowerStatusEx';
//Usage Example:
function getbat : byte; var
batinfo: TBAT_INFO;
begin if GetSystemPowerStatusEx(batinfo,True) then getbat:=batinfo.BatteryLifePercent else getbat:=255; //255=Function Call Failed end; </delphi>