Microsoft is offering the sixth and seventh in a promised series of 24 webcasts devoted to Windows Mobile 6.1 software development. The latest installments, devoted to using PIM data and to interoperability between managed and native code, are viewable online now, according to the...
company.
Presented by long-time embedded developer Maarten Struys (right), the webcasts are the latest in Microsoft's "24 hours of Windows Mobile application development" series. The sixth installment, which was first broadcast live last week, is subtitled "Using Pocket Outlook data inside a managed application." It shows developers how to use Windows Mobile's Pocket Outlook functionality from their own managed applications, the company says.
Making use of Pocket Outlook is important to limit the amount of data that is stored on Windows Mobile devices, and to provide users with a consistent user interface when dealing with Personal Information Manager (PIM) data, according to Microsoft. The "sample-filled" one-hour webcast shows how to retrieve, use, and store PIM data via the Windows mobile managed APIs that ship as part of the Windows Mobile 5.0 and Windows Mobile 6 software development kits (SDKs), the company adds.
The seventh webcast in the series -- pictured below, and also viewable now -- is subtitled "Interoperability between managed and native code." Writes Struys in his introduction, "Even though the Microsoft .NET Compact Framework 3.5 contains a lot of functionality, sometimes it is unavoidable to call back (P/Invoke) into native Win32. In this webcast, we show you the basics of P/Invoke."
Microsoft's interoperablity webcast uses a mix of PowerPoint slides and streaming video (second row, left) (Click any to enlarge)
The second half of the one-hour webcast shows developers how to use existing COM objects inside their native applications, according to Microsoft. "Of course, both P/Invoking into native code and using COM objects inside managed applications are illustrated by a number of code samples," Struys adds.
Background
Apologies are in order, because last week we quipped that Microsoft's "24 hours of Windows Mobile application development" series of webcasts seemed oddly named. Now, thanks to Maarten Struys having explained that there will actually be 24 one-hour webcasts in the series, all has become clear!
The webcasts feature a mix of PowerPoint slides and live video demonstrating the use of Visual Studio and the Windows Mobile device emulator, as pictured above. They're typically broadcast live Wednesdays at 10 AM PDT, then subsequently made available on demand. Recent offerings have included guides to developing "battery-friendly" applications and programming for different form factors.
Windows Embedded Evangelist Maarten Struys is a technical manager at PTS Software in the Netherlands. Struys speaks regularly at Windows-related conferences, according to Microsoft, and is also a freelance journalist who maintains a blog on the .NET for Devices website.
And, while Struys was the sole presenter for the sixth and seventh "24 hours" webcasts, some of the other episodes have been co-presented by Constanze Roman (right), a community program manager with Microsoft's Windows Mobile team. In addition to participating regularly in activities aimed at the Windows Mobile developer community, she maintains her own blog devoted to Windows Mobile development, Constanze's Mobile Musings.
Constanze Roman interviews Maarten Struys Source: Microsoft (click to play)
Further information
To view "24 hours of Windows Mobile application development: Using Pocket Outlook data inside a managed application," go to Microsoft's MSDN website, here. To view "24 hours of Windows Mobile application development: Interoperability between managed and native code," go to MSDN, here. [In both cases, a Windows Live ID and password will be requested].
To get a list of other available webcasts devoted to Windows Mobile development, see Microsoft's website, here.
Presented by long-time embedded developer Maarten Struys (right), the webcasts are the latest in Microsoft's "24 hours of Windows Mobile application development" series. The sixth installment, which was first broadcast live last week, is subtitled "Using Pocket Outlook data inside a managed application." It shows developers how to use Windows Mobile's Pocket Outlook functionality from their own managed applications, the company says.
And, while Struys was the sole presenter for the sixth and seventh "24 hours" webcasts, some of the other episodes have been co-presented by Constanze Roman (right), a community program manager with Microsoft's Windows Mobile team. In addition to participating regularly in activities aimed at the Windows Mobile developer community, she maintains her own blog devoted to Windows Mobile development, Constanze's Mobile Musings.
