An Overview Of Microsoft's .NET Mobility Technologies
Presentation By:
Derek Ferguson, Chief Technology Evangelist
[email protected]
1
Presentation Overview
• The .NET Compact Framework
• The Mobile Internet Controls Runtime
2
Mobile .NET in a nutshell
.NET Framework
Mobile Internet
Controls Runtime
Mobile Web
Browser
3
CAB File
.NET Compact
Framework
Development Computer Requirements
• Hardware
• Pentium III @ 600 MHz
• 150 MB Hard Disk Space
• 800 x 600 @ 256 colors
• 256 MB RAM
• Software
• Windows XP or 2000
• ActiveSync 3.5
4
Device Requirements
• Operating System
• Pocket PC
• Pocket PC 2002
• Windows CE .NET
• RAM Space
• 2 MB
5
Architecture
6
Application Domains
• Benefits of OS processes without the overhead
• Fault isolation
• Security
• Performance
• Partial support under the Compact Framework
• Can create multiple application domains
• No domain-neutral code area
7
Security
• An open programming environment is assumed…
• No role-based security
• No zone-based security
• No AllowPartiallyTrustedCallersAttribute
• No declarative permission requests
• pInvoke can execute whatever native code it likes
• You can, however, verify code identity…
• Assemblies can be given strong names before deployment
• Assembly names can be verified at run time
8
Tools
• C# is nearly identical
• Visual Basic is different
• /netcf switch required to target the Compact Framework syntax
• /sdkpath switch required to point to…
•
9
‒ mscorlib.dll
‒ microsoft.visualbasic.dll
Debugging is only possible from within the VB device project
Application Types
• Windows Applications
• Class Libraries
• Windows Control Libraries
• Console Applications (Windows CE only)
10
Debugging
• The Emulators
• Run real Windows CE bits
• Still x86 processors
• Real Devices
• USB or serial connections are OK
• Ethernet or 802.11 are better
• In either case…
• No way to debug from managed into unmanaged
• No edit and continue
• No attaching to existing processes
• Need a “Loopback Adapter” before VS.NET 2003
• Map a shared drive to move files
11
What you have, and what you don’t have…
System.Web
Services
Description
Discovery
Protocols
UI
HtmlControls
WebControls
Caching
Configuration
SessionState
System.WinForms
Design
System.Drawing
Drawing2D
Imaging
System.Data
ADO.NET
Design
ComponentModel
Printing
System.Xml
SqlClient
SqlServerCe
XmlDocument
Xslt/XPath
Serialization
Reader/Writers
System
Collections
Security
Text
Globalization
12
IO
Net
Reflection
Resources
Configuration
ServiceProcess
Diagnostics
Threading
Runtime
InteropServices
Remoting
Serialization
Demo #1
A mobile Web Service client
13
Question & Answer
14
Windows CE Fundamentals
• One of Microsoft’s three flavors of Windows for devices
• Windows CE and CE.NET are for devices
• Windows NT Embedded and XP Embedded for “serious” appliances
• Really a smorgasbord of OS components
• OEM’s choose their favorite bits
• Platform Builder is the tool for doing the choosing
• Microsoft sets standards or CE “flavors” – such as Pocket PC OS
• Some components must be chosen under Platform Builder
• Some hardware specifications must be met
• OEM’s are free to add whatever else they like
15
Windows CE Popularity
• Pocket PC is the Windows CE poster child
• Already beaten Palm OS in terms of PDA revenues
• iPaqs are, by far, the leading Pocket PCs
• Twice the cost of a Palm device – but 10 times the functionality!
• CE.NET is the champion of new computing
• These devices will be first to ship Compact Framework (Beta 1)
• Handheld PCs and Palm PCs were also Windows CE
16
Windows CE Web Development
• Pocket Internet Explorer is the CE browser
• First version was very limited, but you don’t see it much
• Next version of Pocket PC’s had good functionality:
• Some DHTML support
• HTML 3.2
• Integrated with some custom Java implementations
• ECMAScript
• Newest version on Pocket PC 2002 is even better:
• ActiveX downloading
• Some ability to be hosted in other applications
17
i-Mode Fundamentals
• Developed by NTT DoCoMo
• Involved investing in more powerful phones
• Marketed exclusively in Japan
• Only now starting to show up in some US and Europe markets
18
i-Mode Popularity
• Over 20 million subscribers in Japan since 1996
• Cultural differences help
• Long commutes
• Expensive dedicated Internet connections
• One of the few wireless services to turn a good profit
19
i-Mode Web Development
• Compact HTML
• Medium-sized subset of HTML 3.2
• Specification is on-line…
•
•
•
•
•
•
‒ http://www.w3.org/TR/1998/NOTE-compactHTML-19980209/
All HTML is well-formed XML in this standard
Only one font and one color (black)
Frames and Tables
Images
All kinds of INPUT tags (including file uploads)
Links and clickmaps
• Have to put your content on the right network for access
20
WAP Fundamentals
• Direct successor to the very first markup language for mobile
•
•
•
•
21
devices – HDML
HDML was developed by Phone.com, which merged with
Software.com to become OpenWave (www.openwave.com)
HDML was a subset of HTML, but introduced the concept of
“cards”
WAP was created as HDML evolved and became an “open
standard” (www.wapforum.org)
WAP consists of many parts:
• WDP – Transport Layer
• WTLS – Security Layer
• WTP – Transaction Layer
• WSP – Session Layer
• WAE – Application Layer
WAP Popularity
• At the end of 2000, WAP looked like the “next big thing”
• Unfortunately:
• WAP’s markup language (WML) is very restrictive
• Using software on WAP devices has failed to appeal to US culture
• WAP security is typically insufficient
• By the end of 2001, people were commonly asking: “Is WAP
crap?”
22
WAP Web Development
• WML is the markup language sent from servers to WAP devices
• 100% XML
• A single WML page can contain multiple screens, known as
“cards”
• This dramatically reduces number of server hits and latency
• Because XML describes data rather than presentation, WML
•
•
23
offers very little in the way of formatting
Input buttons will be mapped the way that a given device deems
appropriate under various circumstances
WBMP is the only supported image format
Fundamental controls
• MobilePage
• Form
• Label
• Textbox
• Command
24
System Requirements
• Windows NT 4, 2000, or XP
• .NET Framework
25
Validators
• CompareValidator
• RangeValidator
• RegularExpressionValidator
• RequiredFieldValidator
• CustomValidator
26
Special Controls
• Calendar
• Link
• Phone Call
• Ad Rotator
• TextView
27
Lists
• List
• SelectionList
• ObjectList
28
Error Handling
• Error messages will be automatically formatted for mobile
devices
• Mobile device errors only show:
• Exception raised
• Method that raised the exception
• MICR lies about the HTTP response code when it has to. 
• To use custom error pages with WAP, you must specify
UseFullyQualifiedRedirectURL in web.config
29
Debugging
• Same as any other ASP.NET application
• No client-side breakpoints in VS.NET
• In web.config, “debug” attribute of “compilation” node:
• True for debugging
• False for performance
• Tracing:
• Can be enabled
• Won’t show up on mobile devices
• Will show up when viewed separately with Internet Explorer
30
Summary
• .NET provides two main technologies for mobile computing
• The .NET Compact Framework
• Provides a platform for code you can take with you
• Has some very steep device resource requirements
• Complete UI flexibility
• The MICR
• Adapts Web markup to differing device requirements
• Requires a constant Internet connection
• Limited UI richness
31
Demo #2
A Mobile Web Application
32