SMDK v1.7 for .NET Usage Notes

Usage Notes

1. Accessing Help and Documentation
The SMDK for .NET components can be easily accessed using the "Symbol Mobility Developer Kit v1.7 for .NET" program group on the Windows Start Menu.  This program group provides access to the Help file, Readme file and the Sample applications source code. SMDK for .NET Help has also been integrated with the Microsoft® Visual Studio® environment to provide an enhanced development experience through quicker lookups and intellisense.
 

2. Developing Applications
Once this package has been installed, creating .NET Compact Framework Applications that target SMDK is fairly simple. Follow the steps below to create a new application.

1. Create a new "Smart Device Application" project that uses either the Microsoft® Visual Basic.NET or Microsoft® Visual C# languages.

2. From the "Project" pull-down menu select "Add Reference...".

3. From the list of .NET assemblies, select the "Symbol" assembly as well as the particular SMDK assembly that matches the functionality you would like to develop with (Example: For barcode scanning applications select "Symbol" and "Symbol.Barcode").

4. Begin programming your application. Refer to the SMDK API documentation for information on the methods and properties of each class.

 

3. Developing Applications in VS2005/2008 using the "Symbol" Design Time Components
The device applications for scanning, imager and MSR can be developed using the design time (toolbox) components.  SMDK v1.7 for .NET will automatically install these design time components to the toolbox in Visual Studio 2005/2008.  These components can be dragged onto a form and begin the development without having to add references.

 

4. Adding the BarcodeReader Design Time Control to the VS2003 Toolbox
BarcodeReader Design Time control is a design time component that can be dragged onto a form. Before the BarcodeReader design-time control can be used, it must be added to the Visual Studio.NET 2003 toolbox:

1. Activate the Toolbox window (Menu: View/Toolbox) from Visual Studio .NET.
2. Within the Toolbox, right click the tab where you want to put the BarcodeReader control, and then select "Add/Remove Items..." from the pop-up menu.
3. In the "Customize Toolbox" dialog, select the ".NET Framework Components" tab and then click Browse to locate the  Symbol.Barcode.Design.dll.  This DLL can be found at the following location:
   
       \Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio.NET 2003\CompactFrameworkSDK\v1.0.5000\Windows CE\Designer\
    
4. Open Symbol.BarcodeDesign.dll.  The BarcodeReader control will show up in the Customize Toolbox dialog. Click OK to close the dialog.

Note: Barcode Design Time is the only component available for the Microsoft Visual Studio 2003 environment.

5. Application Deployment through Visual Studio
During development, Visual Studio will automatically copy the .NET Compact Framework and SMDK CAB files to your device if they have not already been installed. Your application will then be deployed onto the device. For devices that have the .NET Compact Framework or SMDK class libraries installed, Visual Studio .NET will download the application only.
 

6. Application Mass Deployment
The following Mass Deployment directories are provided by the SMDK v1.7 for .NET:
 

Devices OS/CABs	Location under \Program Files
Windows CE, Windows Mobile 2003	\Symbol Mobility Developer Kit for .NET\v1.7\Windows CE\MassDeployment\CE.NETorWM2003
MKSeries CE 4.2	\Symbol Mobility Developer Kit for .NET\v1.7\Windows CE\MassDeployment\MKSeries

Included in these directories are files (.cab, .cpy, and .reg) that can be used to copy the .NET CF*** and SMDK cab files from an "\Application" partition into the "\Windows" directory and installed on a cold boot. The CAB files are installed using "Startup.exe" to launch wceload.exe (standard CAB installation method) with the command line that contains the name of the CAB file.

*** Please note that the .NET CF CAB files are not provided in the MassDeployment directory. 

They can be manually copied from the Visual Studio .NET 2003/2005 directory to the "\Application" folder located on the 
device.

For Windows CE.NET or Windows Mobile 2003 devices the .NET CF CAB files can be found under "\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003\CompactFrameworkSDK\v1.0.5000\Windows CE\wce400\armv4" or "Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\SmartDevices\SDK\CompactFramework\2.0\v2.0\WindowsCE\wce400\armv4".

For Windows CE 5.0 devices, the .NET CF CAB files can be found under "Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\SmartDevices\SDK\CompactFramework\2.0\v2.0\WindowsCE\wce500\armv4i".

With Visual Studio 2008, these will be avaiable under \Program Files\Microsoft.NET\SDK\CompactFramework\v2.0\WindowsCE.

The included .cpy and .reg files are designed for CF1 cab installation. These files can be customized for CF2 installation. The following lines in the files "symbolmdk.cpy" and "symbolmdk.reg" should be modified to match the .NET CF CAB file. 

"symbolmdk.cpy"
            \application\netcfv2.ppc.armv4.cab > \windows\netcfv2.ppc.armv4.cab

"symbolmdk.reg": 
           [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Symbol\Startup\Programs\Prog10]
            "Command"="\Windows\netcfv2.ppc.armv4.cab"

 

7. Caution with Power Samples 
The CS_PowerSample1 and VB_PowerSample1 have been provided to demonstrate the Power Management features of devices that utilize a Microsoft Power Management architecture (MC9000, MC50, MC3000 etc.). The sample may not function with certain devices. Using Power Management features to change device and system power states should be avoided as it may interfere with the working of the device and may result in unexpected behavior and loss of data.

8. Running Samples on MC1000
ScanSample1, AudioSample1 and ResCoordSample1(CS and VB) have been updated to fit the smaller display of the MC1000. Further modifications in the samples have been made to allow for keyboard navigation on the MC1000 where keyboard is the only means of input. Support for keyboard navigation requires the presence of CF1 SP3. Other samples may not be usable on the MC1000 without further modifications.

9. Caution with WAN Samples 
The WAN sample is provided for demonstrating the usage of TAPI and other WAN related features. This sample program is provided for demonstration purpose only and it should not be used as a production application. This sample will work on only those device that provide WAN capabilities like MC9090.

10. Caution with CaptureAccumulateTransfer (CAT) Samples 
The CAT sample is provided for demonstrating the usage of capturing and storing data on a device and transmitting it to a host PC using socket technology. This sample program is provided for demonstration purpose only and it should not be used as a production application. Please note that only one client device can connect to the host at any given time.

11. Using RFID2 Host Assembly with RD5000
Using the RFID2.Host assembly with RD5000 requires installing additional software package. To obtain this package search for "RFID Control Daemon Package (RFIDControl) For The RD5000" onSupport Central. Refer to the documentation provided in the package for installing and performing the remote control operation on RD5000.

12. RFID2 Requires that the Application Keeps Track of Configuration 
When reconnecting to reader (after incidental or manual disconnect), API assumes default configuration. When the customer application configures reader, and a disconnect operation is performed, the application would need to reconfigure the reader after reconnecting to reader.

13. RFID2 Antenna Configuration 
If an application needs to change any antenna settings, it must first get the current antenna configuration using IRFIDReader.GetAntennaConfiguration, make the desired changes, and then set the modified antenna configuration using IRFIDReader.SetAntennaConfiguration.

14. RFID2 Migration 
The help file contains a migration section for porting applications from the Keytone RFID API to the new RFID2 API.  Applications written using the older RFID API cannot be ported.  A complete rewrite is required.

15. RFID2 Write ID exception 
When using RD5000 or MC9090 readers, the user application may receive an exception indicating that the write operation could not be verified. The application must handle this exception and either reissue the command or read the tag ID to determine if the write operation actually succeeded.

16. RFID2 API Product Support 
Refer to Symbol.RFID2.Device assembly section in help file to find out the products supported by Symbol.RFID2