Getting Started with Platform Builder and the Catalog

I am a software developer, not a hardware developer. We are working on
rolling out a new product that will be Windows CE based. I have been tasked
with defining the image we will use. Resources will be tight, and we do not
want the device to look like it is running CE, so I doubt any of the
"standard" images will work. I am wondering what is the best way to become
familiar with the Catalog items and how Plaform Builder works.

Pat O

Paul
Fri Aug 25 12:36:30 CDT 2006

Build a standard image and play with it. Follow the tutorial for building
the operating system in the help. Add the things that you want supported on
your device, if they are different than one of the standard configurations.
When you know what you are doing, you can choose to replace the shell with
your own, if that's what you mean by "look like it's running Windows CE", or
just write a program that takes over the screen, if it will be a single
application device.

Paul T.

"Pat O" <PatO@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:27EFB009-6942-419D-A3E1-6F60B19102D0@microsoft.com...
>I am a software developer, not a hardware developer. We are working on
> rolling out a new product that will be Windows CE based. I have been
> tasked
> with defining the image we will use. Resources will be tight, and we do
> not
> want the device to look like it is running CE, so I doubt any of the
> "standard" images will work. I am wondering what is the best way to
> become
> familiar with the Catalog items and how Plaform Builder works.
>
> Pat O
>

Dean
Fri Aug 25 13:27:15 CDT 2006

If this is your first exposure to CE, I'd strongly recommend a training
class. It will save you countless hours in the long run.

See http://www.bsquare.com/training_support/training.asp for classes we
provide.

--
Dean Ramsier - eMVP
BSQUARE Corporation


"Pat O" <PatO@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:27EFB009-6942-419D-A3E1-6F60B19102D0@microsoft.com...
>I am a software developer, not a hardware developer. We are working on
> rolling out a new product that will be Windows CE based. I have been
> tasked
> with defining the image we will use. Resources will be tight, and we do
> not
> want the device to look like it is running CE, so I doubt any of the
> "standard" images will work. I am wondering what is the best way to
> become
> familiar with the Catalog items and how Plaform Builder works.
>
> Pat O
>

PatO
Fri Aug 25 16:08:01 CDT 2006

Do you do training in Milwaukee/Chicago?

"Dean Ramsier" wrote:

> If this is your first exposure to CE, I'd strongly recommend a training
> class. It will save you countless hours in the long run.
>
> See http://www.bsquare.com/training_support/training.asp for classes we
> provide.
>
> --
> Dean Ramsier - eMVP
> BSQUARE Corporation
>
>
> "Pat O" <PatO@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:27EFB009-6942-419D-A3E1-6F60B19102D0@microsoft.com...
> >I am a software developer, not a hardware developer. We are working on
> > rolling out a new product that will be Windows CE based. I have been
> > tasked
> > with defining the image we will use. Resources will be tight, and we do
> > not
> > want the device to look like it is running CE, so I doubt any of the
> > "standard" images will work. I am wondering what is the best way to
> > become
> > familiar with the Catalog items and how Plaform Builder works.
> >
> > Pat O
> >
>
>
>

PatO
Fri Aug 25 16:10:02 CDT 2006

I have built a few images. My issue is that the Catalog names are at best
unfortunate. For instance, the Network User Interface is appearently not the
Control Panel widget for setting network properties, but has something to do
with Media Player?? What I am looking for is a Platform Builder to English
dictionary I guess :-).

"Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]" wrote:

> Build a standard image and play with it. Follow the tutorial for building
> the operating system in the help. Add the things that you want supported on
> your device, if they are different than one of the standard configurations.
> When you know what you are doing, you can choose to replace the shell with
> your own, if that's what you mean by "look like it's running Windows CE", or
> just write a program that takes over the screen, if it will be a single
> application device.
>
> Paul T.
>
> "Pat O" <PatO@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:27EFB009-6942-419D-A3E1-6F60B19102D0@microsoft.com...
> >I am a software developer, not a hardware developer. We are working on
> > rolling out a new product that will be Windows CE based. I have been
> > tasked
> > with defining the image we will use. Resources will be tight, and we do
> > not
> > want the device to look like it is running CE, so I doubt any of the
> > "standard" images will work. I am wondering what is the best way to
> > become
> > familiar with the Catalog items and how Plaform Builder works.
> >
> > Pat O
> >
>
>
>

Paul
Fri Aug 25 16:47:34 CDT 2006

No, NetUI is actually the user interface pieces for all sorts of mostly
network operations. It's what pops up to ask you what SSID wireless network
you want to connect to, if you have 802.11, and it's also what pops up when
you install a PC Card that the device manager doesn't recognize and needs to
know the driver name for. It's a centralized piece of user interface stuff
so that you don't have to change 100 DLLs if you want to build a headless
device or if your screen size is strange and the dialogs don't fit right,
etc. I don't recall any media player dependencies on NetUI, but I could
certainly be wrong about that. What led you to that conclusion?

There's no right thing that you could call it, so they left it what it was
from way back. At least those who have been using CE for a while recognize
it. The closest you can come up with for a catalog description is in the
help. If that's not good enough, you'll have to read the source for each
item and figure it out.

Paul T.

"Pat O" <PatO@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:3B90C145-85F5-477B-B1EE-D2F32D886463@microsoft.com...
>I have built a few images. My issue is that the Catalog names are at best
> unfortunate. For instance, the Network User Interface is appearently not
> the
> Control Panel widget for setting network properties, but has something to
> do
> with Media Player?? What I am looking for is a Platform Builder to
> English
> dictionary I guess :-).
>
> "Paul G. Tobey [eMVP]" wrote:
>
>> Build a standard image and play with it. Follow the tutorial for
>> building
>> the operating system in the help. Add the things that you want supported
>> on
>> your device, if they are different than one of the standard
>> configurations.
>> When you know what you are doing, you can choose to replace the shell
>> with
>> your own, if that's what you mean by "look like it's running Windows CE",
>> or
>> just write a program that takes over the screen, if it will be a single
>> application device.
>>
>> Paul T.
>>
>> "Pat O" <PatO@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:27EFB009-6942-419D-A3E1-6F60B19102D0@microsoft.com...
>> >I am a software developer, not a hardware developer. We are working on
>> > rolling out a new product that will be Windows CE based. I have been
>> > tasked
>> > with defining the image we will use. Resources will be tight, and we
>> > do
>> > not
>> > want the device to look like it is running CE, so I doubt any of the
>> > "standard" images will work. I am wondering what is the best way to
>> > become
>> > familiar with the Catalog items and how Plaform Builder works.
>> >
>> > Pat O
>> >
>>
>>
>>

Dean
Mon Aug 28 08:49:51 CDT 2006

Not that I know of, Akron OH is probably the closest for us...

--
Dean Ramsier - eMVP
BSQUARE Corporation


"Pat O" <PatO@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:EE10EAE0-C451-40D3-A2E6-35E25C984031@microsoft.com...
> Do you do training in Milwaukee/Chicago?
>
> "Dean Ramsier" wrote:
>
>> If this is your first exposure to CE, I'd strongly recommend a training
>> class. It will save you countless hours in the long run.
>>
>> See http://www.bsquare.com/training_support/training.asp for classes we
>> provide.
>>
>> --
>> Dean Ramsier - eMVP
>> BSQUARE Corporation
>>
>>
>> "Pat O" <PatO@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:27EFB009-6942-419D-A3E1-6F60B19102D0@microsoft.com...
>> >I am a software developer, not a hardware developer. We are working on
>> > rolling out a new product that will be Windows CE based. I have been
>> > tasked
>> > with defining the image we will use. Resources will be tight, and we
>> > do
>> > not
>> > want the device to look like it is running CE, so I doubt any of the
>> > "standard" images will work. I am wondering what is the best way to
>> > become
>> > familiar with the Catalog items and how Plaform Builder works.
>> >
>> > Pat O
>> >
>>
>>
>>

Samuel
Fri Sep 01 00:19:22 CDT 2006

Pat,

If you don't want the device to look like it's running CE, you can add
setting to the registry to "NOT" load CE desktop, and launch your
application instead.
This will allow you to have full control of the display, and show what ever
you want the user to see.

Here is a link to Windows CE how to video on MSDN.
It's a good investment in time for you to check out some of these videos,
even if you decide to pay and take the Windows CE training course.

Best Regards,
Samuel Phung
ICOP Technology Inc.


"Pat O" <PatO@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:27EFB009-6942-419D-A3E1-6F60B19102D0@microsoft.com...
>I am a software developer, not a hardware developer. We are working on
> rolling out a new product that will be Windows CE based. I have been
> tasked
> with defining the image we will use. Resources will be tight, and we do
> not
> want the device to look like it is running CE, so I doubt any of the
> "standard" images will work. I am wondering what is the best way to
> become
> familiar with the Catalog items and how Plaform Builder works.
>
> Pat O
>