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1%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
2%% Name: wxmsw.tex
3%% Purpose: wxMSW and wxWinCE platform specific informations
4%% Author: wxWidgets Team
5%% Modified by:
6%% Created:
7%% RCS-ID: $Id$
8%% Copyright: (c) wxWidgets Team
9%% License: wxWindows license
10%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
11
12\section{wxMSW port}\label{wxmswport}
13
14wxMSW is a port of wxWidgets for the Windows platforms
15including Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, NT, XP in ANSI and
16Unicode mode (for Windows 95 through the MSLU extension
17library). wxMSW ensures native look and feel for XP
18as well when using wxWidgets version 2.3.3 or higher.
19wxMSW can be compile with a great variety of compilers
20including MS VC++, Borland 5.5, MinGW32, Cygwin and
21Watcom as well as cross-compilation with a Linux hosted
22MinGW32 tool chain.
23
24For further information, please see the files in docs/msw
25in the distribution.
26
27\subsection{Themed borders on Windows}\label{wxmswthemedborders}
28
29Starting with wxWidgets 2.8.5, you can specify the wxBORDER\_THEME style to have wxWidgets
30use a themed border. Using the default XP theme, this is a thin 1-pixel blue border,
31with an extra 1-pixel border in the window client background colour (usually white) to
32separate the client area's scrollbars from the border.
33
34If you don't specify a border style for a wxTextCtrl in rich edit mode, wxWidgets now gives
35the control themed borders automatically, where previously they would take the Windows 95-style
36sunken border. Other native controls such as wxTextCtrl in non-rich edit mode, and wxComboBox,
37already paint themed borders where appropriate. To use themed borders on other windows, such
38as wxPanel, pass the wxBORDER\_THEME style, or (apart from wxPanel) pass no border style.
39
40In general, specifying wxBORDER\_THEME will cause a border of some kind to be used, chosen by the platform
41and control class. To leave the border decision entirely to wxWidgets, pass wxBORDER\_DEFAULT.
42This is not to be confused with specifying wxBORDER\_NONE, which says that there should
43definitely be {\it no} border.
44
45\wxheading{More detail on border implementation}
46
47The way that wxMSW decides whether to apply a themed border is as follows.
48The theming code calls wxWindow::GetBorder() to obtain a border. If no border style has been
49passed to the window constructor, GetBorder() calls GetDefaultBorder() for this window.
50If wxBORDER\_THEME was passed to the window constructor, GetBorder() calls GetDefaultBorderForControl().
51
52The implementation of wxWindow::GetDefaultBorder() on wxMSW calls wxWindow::CanApplyThemeBorder()
53which is a virtual function that tells wxWidgets whether a control can have a theme
54applied explicitly (some native controls already paint a theme in which case we should not
55apply it ourselves). Note that wxPanel is an exception to this rule because in many cases
56we wish to create a window with no border (for example, notebook pages). So wxPanel
57overrides GetDefaultBorder() in order to call the generic wxWindowBase::GetDefaultBorder(),
58returning wxBORDER\_NONE.
59
60\subsection{wxWinCE}\label{wxwince}
61
62wxWinCE is the name given to wxMSW when compiled on Windows CE devices;
63most of wxMSW is common to Win32 and Windows CE but there are
64some simplifications, enhancements, and differences in
65behaviour.
66
67For building instructions, see docs/msw/wince in the
68distribution, also the section about Visual Studio 2005 project
69files below. The rest of this section documents issues you
70need to be aware of when programming for Windows CE devices.
71
72\subsubsection{General issues for wxWinCE programming}
73
74Mobile applications generally have fewer features and
75simpler user interfaces. Simply omit whole sizers, static
76lines and controls in your dialogs, and use comboboxes instead
77of listboxes where appropriate. You also need to reduce
78the amount of spacing used by sizers, for which you can
79use a macro such as this:
80
81\begin{verbatim}
82#if defined(__WXWINCE__)
83 #define wxLARGESMALL(large,small) small
84#else
85 #define wxLARGESMALL(large,small) large
86#endif
87
88// Usage
89topsizer->Add( CreateTextSizer( message ), 0, wxALL, wxLARGESMALL(10,0) );
90\end{verbatim}
91
92There is only ever one instance of a Windows CE application running,
93and wxWidgets will take care of showing the current instance and
94shutting down the second instance if necessary.
95
96You can test the return value of wxSystemSettings::GetScreenType()
97for a qualitative assessment of what kind of display is available,
98or use wxGetDisplaySize() if you need more information.
99
100You can also use wxGetOsVersion to test for a version of Windows CE at
101run-time (see the next section). However, because different builds
102are currently required to target different kinds of device, these
103values are hard-wired according to the build, and you cannot
104dynamically adapt the same executable for different major Windows CE
105platforms. This would require a different approach to the way
106wxWidgets adapts its behaviour (such as for menubars) to suit the
107style of device.
108
109See the "Life!" example (demos/life) for an example of
110an application that has been tailored for PocketPC and Smartphone use.
111
112{\bf Note:} don't forget to have this line in your .rc file, as for
113desktop Windows applications:
114
115\begin{verbatim}
116#include "wx/msw/wx.rc"
117\end{verbatim}
118
119\subsubsection{Testing for WinCE SDKs}
120
121Use these preprocessor symbols to test for the different types of device or SDK:
122
123\begin{twocollist}\itemsep=0pt
124\twocolitem{\_\_SMARTPHONE\_\_}{Generic mobile devices with phone buttons and a small display}
125\twocolitem{\_\_PDA\_\_}{Generic mobile devices with no phone}
126\twocolitem{\_\_HANDHELDPC\_\_}{Generic mobile device with a keyboard}
127\twocolitem{\_\_WXWINCE\_\_}{Microsoft-powered Windows CE devices, whether PocketPC, Smartphone or Standard SDK}
128\twocolitem{WIN32\_PLATFORM\_WFSP}{Microsoft-powered smartphone}
129\twocolitem{\_\_POCKETPC\_\_}{Microsoft-powered PocketPC devices with touch-screen}
130\twocolitem{\_\_WINCE\_STANDARDSDK\_\_}{Microsoft-powered Windows CE devices, for generic Windows CE applications}
131\twocolitem{\_\_WINCE\_NET\_\_}{Microsoft-powered Windows CE .NET devices (\_WIN32\_WCE is 400 or greater)}
132\end{twocollist}
133
134wxGetOsVersion will return these values:
135
136\begin{twocollist}\itemsep=0pt
137\twocolitem{wxWINDOWS\_POCKETPC}{The application is running under PocketPC.}
138\twocolitem{wxWINDOWS\_SMARTPHONE}{The application is running under Smartphone.}
139\twocolitem{wxWINDOWS\_CE}{The application is running under Windows CE (built with the Standard SDK).}
140\end{twocollist}
141
142\subsubsection{Window sizing in wxWinCE}
143
144Top level windows (dialogs, frames) are created always full-screen. Fit() of sizers will not rescale top
145level windows but instead will scale window content.
146
147If the screen orientation changes, the windows will automatically be resized
148so no further action needs to be taken (unless you want to change the layout
149according to the orientation, which you could detect in idle time, for example).
150When input panel (SIP) is shown, top level windows (frames and dialogs) resize
151accordingly (see \helpref{wxTopLevelWindow::HandleSettingChange}{wxtoplevelwindowhandlesettingchange}).
152
153\subsubsection{Closing top-level windows in wxWinCE}
154
155You won't get a wxCloseEvent when the user clicks on the X in the titlebar
156on Smartphone and PocketPC; the window is simply hidden instead. However the system may send the
157event to force the application to close down.
158
159\subsubsection{Hibernation in wxWinCE}
160
161Smartphone and PocketPC will send a wxEVT\_HIBERNATE to the application object in low
162memory conditions. Your application should release memory and close dialogs,
163and wake up again when the next wxEVT\_ACTIVATE or wxEVT\_ACTIVATE\_APP message is received.
164(wxEVT\_ACTIVATE\_APP is generated whenever a wxEVT\_ACTIVATE event is received
165in Smartphone and PocketPC, since these platforms do not support WM\_ACTIVATEAPP.)
166
167\subsubsection{Hardware buttons in wxWinCE}
168
169Special hardware buttons are sent to a window via the wxEVT\_HOTKEY event
170under Smartphone and PocketPC. You should first register each required button with \helpref{wxWindow::RegisterHotKey}{wxwindowregisterhotkey},
171and unregister the button when you're done with it. For example:
172
173\begin{verbatim}
174 win->RegisterHotKey(0, wxMOD_WIN, WXK_SPECIAL1);
175 win->UnregisterHotKey(0);
176\end{verbatim}
177
178You may have to register the buttons in a wxEVT\_ACTIVATE event handler
179since other applications will grab the buttons.
180
181There is currently no method of finding out the names of the special
182buttons or how many there are.
183
184\subsubsection{Dialogs in wxWinCE}
185
186PocketPC dialogs have an OK button on the caption, and so you should generally
187not repeat an OK button on the dialog. You can add a Cancel button if necessary, but some dialogs
188simply don't offer you the choice (the guidelines recommend you offer an Undo facility
189to make up for it). When the user clicks on the OK button, your dialog will receive
190a wxID\_OK event by default. If you wish to change this, call \helpref{wxDialog::SetAffirmativeId}{wxdialogsetaffirmativeid}
191with the required identifier to be used. Or, override \helpref{wxDialog::DoOK}{wxdialogdook} (return false to
192have wxWidgets simply call Close to dismiss the dialog).
193
194Smartphone dialogs do {\it not} have an OK button on the caption, and are closed
195using one of the two menu buttons. You need to assign these using \helpref{wxTopLevelWindow::SetLeftMenu}{wxtoplevelwindowsetleftmenu}
196and \helpref{wxTopLevelWindow::SetRightMenu}{wxtoplevelwindowsetrightmenu}, for example:
197
198\begin{verbatim}
199#ifdef __SMARTPHONE__
200 SetLeftMenu(wxID_OK);
201 SetRightMenu(wxID_CANCEL, _("Cancel"));
202#elif defined(__POCKETPC__)
203 // No OK/Cancel buttons on PocketPC, OK on caption will close
204#else
205 topsizer->Add( CreateButtonSizer( wxOK|wxCANCEL ), 0, wxEXPAND | wxALL, 10 );
206#endif
207\end{verbatim}
208
209For implementing property sheets (flat tabs), use a wxNotebook with wxNB\_FLAT|wxNB\_BOTTOM
210and have the notebook left, top and right sides overlap the dialog by about 3 pixels
211to eliminate spurious borders. You can do this by using a negative spacing in your
212sizer Add() call. The cross-platform property sheet dialog \helpref{wxPropertySheetDialog}{wxpropertysheetdialog} is
213provided, to show settings in the correct style on PocketPC and on other platforms.
214
215Notifications (bubble HTML text with optional buttons and links) will also be
216implemented in the future for PocketPC.
217
218Modeless dialogs probably don't make sense for PocketPC and Smartphone, since
219frames and dialogs are normally full-screen, and a modeless dialog is normally
220intended to co-exist with the main application frame.
221
222\subsubsection{Menubars and toolbars in wxWinCE}
223
224\wxheading{Menubars and toolbars in PocketPC}
225
226On PocketPC, a frame must always have a menubar, even if it's empty.
227An empty menubar/toolbar is automatically provided for dialogs, to hide
228any existing menubar for the duration of the dialog.
229
230Menubars and toolbars are implemented using a combined control,
231but you can use essentially the usual wxWidgets API; wxWidgets will combine the menubar
232and toolbar. However, there are some restrictions:
233
234\itemsep=0pt
235\begin{itemize}
236\item You must create the frame's primary toolbar with wxFrame::CreateToolBar,
237because this uses the special wxToolMenuBar class (derived from wxToolBar)
238to implement the combined toolbar and menubar. Otherwise, you can create and manage toolbars
239using the wxToolBar class as usual, for example to implement an optional
240formatting toolbar above the menubar as Pocket Word does. But don't assign
241a wxToolBar to a frame using SetToolBar - you should always use CreateToolBar
242for the main frame toolbar.
243\item Deleting and adding tools to wxToolMenuBar after Realize is called is not supported.
244\item For speed, colours are not remapped to the system colours as they are
245in wxMSW. Provide the tool bitmaps either with the correct system button background,
246or with transparency (for example, using XPMs).
247\item Adding controls to wxToolMenuBar is not supported. However, wxToolBar supports
248controls.
249\end{itemize}
250
251Unlike in all other ports, a wxDialog has a wxToolBar, automatically created
252for you. You may either leave it blank, or access it with wxDialog::GetToolBar
253and add buttons, then calling wxToolBar::Realize. You cannot set or recreate
254the toolbar.
255
256\wxheading{Menubars and toolbars in Smartphone}
257
258On Smartphone, there are only two menu buttons, so a menubar is simulated
259using a nested menu on the right menu button. Any toolbars are simply ignored on
260Smartphone.
261
262\subsubsection{Closing windows in wxWinCE}
263
264The guidelines state that applications should not have a Quit menu item,
265since the user should not have to know whether an application is in memory
266or not. The close button on a window does not call the window's
267close handler; it simply hides the window. However, the guidelines say that
268the Ctrl+Q accelerator can be used to quit the application, so wxWidgets
269defines this accelerator by default and if your application handles
270wxID\_EXIT, it will do the right thing.
271
272\subsubsection{Context menus in wxWinCE}
273
274To enable context menus in PocketPC, you currently need to call wxWindow::EnableContextMenu,
275a wxWinCE-only function. Otherwise the context menu event (wxContextMenuEvent) will
276never be sent. This API is subject to change.
277
278Context menus are not supported in Smartphone.
279
280\subsubsection{Control differences on wxWinCE}
281
282These controls and styles are specific to wxWinCE:
283
284\itemsep=0pt
285\begin{itemize}
286\item {\bf wxTextCtrl} The wxTE\_CAPITALIZE style causes a CAPEDIT control to
287be created, which capitalizes the first letter.
288\end{itemize}
289
290These controls are missing from wxWinCE:
291
292\itemsep=0pt
293\begin{itemize}
294\item {\bf MDI classes} MDI is not supported under Windows CE.
295\item {\bf wxMiniFrame} Not supported under Windows CE.
296\end{itemize}
297
298Tooltips are not currently supported for controls, since on PocketPC controls with
299tooltips are distinct controls, and it will be hard to add dynamic
300tooltip support.
301
302Control borders on PocketPC and Smartphone should normally be specified with
303wxBORDER\_SIMPLE instead of wxBORDER\_SUNKEN. Controls will usually adapt
304appropriately by virtue of their GetDefaultBorder() function, but if you
305wish to specify a style explicitly you can use wxDEFAULT\_CONTROL\_BORDER
306which will give a simple border on PocketPC and Smartphone, and the sunken border on
307other platforms.
308
309\subsubsection{Online help in wxWinCE}
310
311You can use the help controller wxWinceHelpController which controls
312simple {\tt .htm} files, usually installed in the Windows directory.
313See the Windows CE reference for how to format the HTML files.
314
315\subsubsection{Installing your PocketPC and Smartphone applications}
316
317To install your application, you need to build a CAB file using
318the parameters defined in a special .inf file. The CabWiz program
319in your SDK will compile the CAB file from the .inf file and
320files that it specifies.
321
322For delivery, you can simply ask the user to copy the CAB file to the
323device and execute the CAB file using File Explorer. Or, you can
324write a program for the desktop PC that will find the ActiveSync
325Application Manager and install the CAB file on the device,
326which is obviously much easier for the user.
327
328Here are some links that may help.
329
330\itemsep=0pt
331\begin{itemize}
332\item A setup builder that takes CABs and builds a setup program is at \urlref{http://www.eskimo.com/~scottlu/win/index.html}{http://www.eskimo.com/~scottlu/win/index.html}.
333\item Sample installation files can be found in {\tt Windows CE Tools/wce420/POCKET PC 2003/Samples/Win32/AppInst}.
334\item An installer generator using wxPython can be found at \urlref{http://ppcquicksoft.iespana.es/ppcquicksoft/myinstall.html}{http://ppcquicksoft.iespana.es/ppcquicksoft/myinstall.html}.
335\item Miscellaneous Windows CE resources can be found at \urlref{http://www.orbworks.com/pcce/resources.html}{http://www.orbworks.com/pcce/resources.html}.
336\item Installer creation instructions with a setup.exe for installing to PPC can be found at \urlref{http://www.pocketpcdn.com/articles/creatingsetup.html}{http://www.pocketpcdn.com/articles/creatingsetup.html}.
337\item Microsoft instructions are at \urlref{http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnce30/html/appinstall30.asp?frame=true&hidetoc=true}{http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnce30/html/appinstall30.asp?frame=true&hidetoc=true}.
338\item Troubleshooting WinCE application installations: \urlref{http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q181007}{http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q181007}
339\end{itemize}
340
341You may also check out {\tt demos/life/setup/wince} which contains
342scripts to create a PocketPC installation for ARM-based
343devices. In particular, {\tt build.bat} builds the distribution and
344copies it to a directory called {\tt Deliver}.
345
346\subsubsection{wxFileDialog in PocketPC}
347
348Allowing the user to access files on memory cards, or on arbitrary
349parts of the filesystem, is a pain; the standard file dialog only
350shows folders under My Documents or folders on memory cards
351(not the system or card root directory, for example). This is
352a known problem for PocketPC developers.
353
354If you need a file dialog that allows access to all folders,
355you can use wxGenericFileDialog instead. You will need to include
356{\tt wx/generic/filedlgg.h}.
357
358\subsubsection{Embedded Visual C++ Issues}
359
360\wxheading{Run-time type information}
361
362If you wish to use runtime type information (RTTI) with eVC++ 4, you need to download
363an extra library, {\tt ccrtrtti.lib}, and link with it. At the time of
364writing you can get it from here:
365
366\begin{verbatim}
367http://support.microsoft.com/kb/830482/en-us
368\end{verbatim}
369
370Otherwise you will get linker errors similar to this:
371
372\begin{verbatim}
373wxwince26d.lib(control.obj) : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol "const type_info::`vftable'" (??_7type_info@@6B@)
374\end{verbatim}
375
376\wxheading{Windows Mobile 5.0 emulator}
377
378Note that there is no separate emulator configuration for Windows Mobile 5.0: the
379emulator runs the ARM code directly.
380
381\wxheading{Visual Studio 2005 project files}
382
383Unfortunately, Visual Studio 2005, required to build Windows Mobile 5.0 applications,
384doesn't do a perfect job of converting the project files from eVC++ format.
385
386When you have converted the wxWidgets workspace, edit the configuration properties
387for each configuration and in the Librarian, add a relative path ..$\backslash$..$\backslash$lib to
388each library path. For example: {\tt ..$\backslash$\$(PlatformName)$\backslash$\$(ConfigurationName)$\backslash$wx\_mono.lib}.
389
390Then, for a sample you want to compile, edit the configuration properties
391and make sure {\tt ..$\backslash$..$\backslash$lib$\backslash$\$(PlatformName)$\backslash$\$(ConfigurationName)} is in the Linker/General/Additional
392Library Directories property. Also change the Linker/Input/Additional Dependencies
393property to something like {\tt coredll.lib wx\_mono.lib wx\_wxjpeg.lib wx\_wxpng.lib wx\_wxzlib.lib wx\_wxexpat.lib commctrl.lib winsock.lib wininet.lib}\rtfsp
394(since the library names in the wxWidgets workspace were changed by VS 2005).
395
396Alternately, you could could edit all the names to be identical to the original eVC++
397names, but this will probably be more fiddly.
398
399\subsubsection{Remaining issues}
400
401These are some of the remaining problems to be sorted out, and features
402to be supported.
403
404\itemsep=0pt
405\begin{itemize}
406\item {\bf Windows Mobile 5 issues.} It is not possible to get the HMENU for
407the command bar on Mobile 5, so the menubar functions need to be rewritten
408to get the individual menus without use of a menubar handle. Also the
409new Mobile 5 convention of using only two menus (and no bitmap buttons) needs to be
410considered.
411\item {\bf Sizer speed.} Particularly for dialogs containing notebooks,
412layout seems slow. Some analysis is required.
413\item {\bf Notification boxes.} The balloon-like notification messages, and their
414icons, should be implemented. This will be quite straightforward.
415\item {\bf SIP size.} We need to be able to get the area taken up by the SIP (input panel),
416and the remaining area, by calling SHSipInfo. We also may need to be able to show and hide
417the SIP programmatically, with SHSipPreference. See also the {\it Input Dialogs} topic in
418the {\it Programming Windows CE} guide for more on this, and how to have dialogs
419show the SIP automatically using the WC\_SIPREF control.
420\item {\bf wxStaticBitmap.} The About box in the "Life!" demo shows a bitmap that is
421the correct size on the emulator, but too small on a VGA Pocket Loox device.
422\item {\bf wxStaticLine.} Lines don't show up, and the documentation suggests that
423missing styles are implemented with WM\_PAINT.
424\item {\bf HTML control.} PocketPC has its own HTML control which can be used for showing
425local pages or navigating the web. We should create a version of wxHtmlWindow that uses this
426control, or have a separately-named control (wxHtmlCtrl), with a syntax as close as possible to wxHtmlWindow.
427\item {\bf Tooltip control.} PocketPC uses special TTBUTTON and TTSTATIC controls for adding
428tooltips, with the tooltip separated from the label with a double tilde. We need to support this using SetToolTip.
429(Unfortunately it does not seem possible to dynamically remove the tooltip, so an extra style may
430be required.)
431\item {\bf Focus.} In the wxPropertySheetDialog demo on Smartphone, it's not possible to navigate
432between controls. The focus handling in wxWidgets needs investigation. See in particular src/common/containr.cpp,
433and note that the default OnActivate handler in src/msw/toplevel.cpp sets the focus to the first child of the dialog.
434\item {\bf OK button.} We should allow the OK button on a dialog to be optional, perhaps
435by using wxCLOSE\_BOX to indicate when the OK button should be displayed.
436\item {\bf Dynamic adaptation.} We should probably be using run-time tests more
437than preprocessor tests, so that the same WinCE application can run on different
438versions of the operating system.
439\item {\bf Modeless dialogs.} When a modeless dialog is hidden with the OK button, it doesn't restore the
440frame's menubar. See for example the find dialog in the dialogs sample. However, the menubar is restored
441if pressing Cancel (the window is closed). This reflects the fact that modeless dialogs are
442not very useful on Windows CE; however, we could perhaps destroy/restore a modeless dialog's menubar
443on deactivation and activation.
444\item {\bf Home screen plugins.} Figure out how to make home screen plugins for use with wxWidgets
445applications (see {\tt http://www.codeproject.com/ce/CTodayWindow.asp} for inspiration).
446Although we can't use wxWidgets to create the plugin (too large), we could perhaps write
447a generic plugin that takes registry information from a given application, with
448options to display information in a particular way using icons and text from
449a specified location.
450\item {\bf Further abstraction.} We should be able to abstract away more of the differences
451between desktop and mobile applications, in particular for sizer layout.
452\item {\bf Dialog captions.} The blue, bold captions on dialogs - with optional help button -
453should be catered for, either by hard-wiring the capability into all dialogs and panels,
454or by providing a standard component and sizer.
455\end{itemize}
456