Embedded World 2012 in Nürnberg/Germany February 28th to March 1st 2012 – Save the Date

Hi folks,

Visit EB in hall 4, booth 206 at the Embedded World form February 28th to Mach 1st in Nürnberg (get your free ticket here). We will display a cool demo running EB GUIDE Studio under Windows Embedded Automotive 7!


In addition, EB in cooperation with Microsoft will hold a free Windows Embedded Hands-On-Lab:

Tuesday, February 28nd, 14:00-16:00: Next generation User Experience (UX) with Silverlight for Windows Embedded under Windows Embedded Compact 7 (register here or simply go the Windows Embedded booth in hall 5 booth 340 10 minutes prior to the Hands-On-Lab).

Have fun!
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Windows Embedded Compact 7: Silverlight for Windows Embedded Tutorial Part 2

Hi folks,

in my first tutorial I showed you how to create a Silverlight for Windows Embedded (SWE) application for Windows Embedded Compact 7 using Expression Blend 3, PlatformBuilder and the Windows Embedded Silverlight Tools (WEST) to create a PlatformBuilder subproject.

Today I want to show you how you can use WEST to create a SWE application stand-alone from Visual Studio 2008 (VS2008) WITHOUT PlatformBuilder.

For this tutorial you need to have VS2008 SP1 installed on your machine.

1. Download and install WEST.

NOTE: For this tutorial we will use the WEST sample project that can be found under C:\Program Files\Windows Embedded Silverlight Tools\WindowsEmbeddedSilverlightClock. Of course you can simply reuse the SWE project we created for the first tutorial.

2. Export/install a Windows Embedded Compact 7 SDK that supports SWE.

3. Open VS2008, go to File New Project… Select Visual C++ Smart Device as the project type and use the WEST template Silverlight for Windows Embedded Application. Choose an appropriate project name and location.


Click the OK button.

4. Click the Next button in the appearing Silverlight for Windows Embedded Project Wizard.


5. Select your Platform SDK with SWE support that we installed in step 2. Click Next.


6. Select the above mentioned Expression Blend project.


7. Click Next to generate the C++ code for our SWE project.


NOTE: If the path to the Expression Blend project contains spaces the validation will return errors. Since we are not creating a PlatformBuilder subproject, these errors will not concern us.

8. We can now build and deploy our SWE application.


Congratulation and have fun!
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EB @ Embedded World 2011

As I mentioned in yesterday's talk at the Exhibitor's Forum (Embedded World 2011) you can now get the slides of the talk about Silverlight for Windows Embedded (SWE). Thank you very much again for being interested. Your valueable feedback given and discussions held after the presentation have shown that Silverlight is really on focus of the community.

Feel free to drop me a few lines via email if I can be helpful to you clarifying things. You are welcome!

You still have the chance to find us at our Microsoft partner booth in hall 11 until tomorrow evening. Subjects that can be discussed and presented there include

TerreStar Windows Mobile 6.5

• Satellite Phone and
• Cellular Smartphone
  

EB Guide Studio

• Graphics Target Framework
• Speech Target Framework
• HMI development
• EB GUIDE XAML plugin
  

as well as our offerings on Windows Embedded Services and Consulting and Training Services.

-- Oliver Merkel
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Article about SWE und EB GUIDE in Embedded Computing Design

Hi folks,

The article Microsoft Expression Blend and EB GUIDE Studio Interface, written by my colleague Jan Bast and me, was just published at Embedded Computing Design.


EB in close cooperation with Microsoft developed an EB GUIDE Studio XAML plug-in which allows the combination of the EB GUIDE Studio state machine with XAML files.

With Silverlight, EB GUIDE Studio was enriched with a major, groundbreaking technology. At the same time, Silverlight was enriched with an automotive grade HMI development tool.

Have fun reading the article!
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Electronica 2010 - embedded Forum

Hello Windows Embedded friends,

Jochen already mentioned the talk held at Electronica 2010 - embedded Forum, Nov 9th 2010 in an earlier posting. It was the first talk at the embedded Forum in session 1: Real-Time Operating Systems. Subject was Silverlight for Windows Embedded under Windows Embedded Compact 7 (WEC7)

For those who where joining us there: Thank you very much for attending and your feedback and questions afterwards. We were having some really valueable discussions at our Microsoft Partner booth A6.S07

Since I got some requests for the presentation slides: You can find the German and English version of the slides here. Alternatively I will forward these on email request (if not already done).

If you could not make it to the talk then here is a short abstract just in case you are interested and probably decide to state a request on the slides, too:

Oliver will introduce you to the upcoming version Windows Embedded Compact 7 as well as its installation experience. Furthermore Oliver will walk you through the development process of a simple Silverlight for Windows Embedded (SWE) Sample User Experience (UX). You will learn that the steps involved are much simpler than working with the current version of SWE for Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3.

In case of questions related to Silverlight for Windows Embedded feel free to contact Jochen or me directly.

Cheers,
-- Oliver

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Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 Webcasts including a SWE tutorial

Hallo folks,

Inspired by the great feedback, I have recorded some more Webcasts. This time the topic is Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3. I also included a Silverlight for Windows Embedded under Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 video tutorial. So you can compare the steps necessary to create a SWE application under Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 vs. WEC7:

What’s new in Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 - Part 1:



What’s new in Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 - Part 2:



Tips & tricks for Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 – Part 1:



Tips & tricks for Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 – Part 2:



Tips & tricks for Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 – Part 3:



Have fun!
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Mehr Deutsche Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 Webcast inclusive SWE Tutorial

Hallo zusammen,

Ich habe noch ein Webcsat für Sie aufgenommen. Hier weihe ich Sie in einige Tipps und Tricks zu den Neuerungen von Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 ein. Der Webcast beinhaltet auch Video-Tutorial über Silverlight for Windows Embedded unter Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3; schauen Sie doch einfach mal rein:

Tipps & Tricks zur Anwendung von Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 – Teil 1:



Tipps & Tricks zur Anwendung von Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 – Teil 2:



Tipps & Tricks zur Anwendung von Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 – Teil 3:



Viel Spaß dabei!
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TechED Europe 2010 talks accepted!

Hi folks,

thanks for voting for our submissions for TechED Europe 2010 from November 8th to 12th in Berlin, Germany. Your wishes will be granted: I will hold both these talks at this years TechEd Europe:

Advanced Application debugging techniques with Windows Embedded Compact 7

as well as

Windows Embedded Automotive 7 – Creating Next Generation User Experiences (UXs)



I will post an update as soon as I have further information about when and where these talks will take place. So stay tuned!

See you in Berlin!

Have fun!
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SWE und EB GUIDE Artikel

Hallo zusammen,

In der aktuellen Ausgabe der Automobil Elektronik ist ein von meinem Kollegen Jan Babst und mir geschriebener Artikel über Silverlight for Windows Embedded unter EB GUIDE Studio: "Mit Silverlight und Guide Studio zur intuitiven Bedienung" erschienen.


Viel Spaß beim lesen!
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SWE under Windows Embedded Compact Webcast

Hi folks,

If you are looking for a Silverlight for Windows Embedded under the Windows Embedded Compact 7 PCTP video tutorial; here you go:

Silverlight for Windows Embedded under Windows Embedded Compact 7 - Part 1



Silverlight for Windows Embedded under Windows Embedded Compact 7 - Part 2



Have fun!
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Deutsche Windows Embedded Compact 7 und Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 Webcasts

Hallo zusammen,

Sie sind auf der Suche nach Windows Embedded Compact 7, Silverlight for Windows Embedded oder Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 Video Tutorials? Dann habe ich das richtige für Sie:

Ich habe zwei Webcast aufgenommen, schauen Sie doch einfach mal rein!

Was ist neu in Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 – Teil 1



Was ist neu in Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 – Teil 2



Silverlight for Windows Embedded unter Windows Embedded Compact 7 - Teil 1



Silverlight for Windows Embedded unter Windows Embedded Compact 7 - Teil 2



Viel Spaß dabei!
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Windows Embedded Compact 7 - Windows Embedded Silverlight Tools

Hi folks,

Today I want to talk a little more about the Windows Embedded Silverlight Tools (WEST) that come with Windows Embedded Compact 7 (WEC7).

As explained in my Silverlight for Windows Embedded (SWE) tutorial for WEC7, WEST generates most of the C++ glue code that with Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 we would have to write ourselves!

But can WEST be used to write a stand-alone application without Platform Builder?

Well WEST generates a Platform Builder subproject that can not be used out of the box as of now. This subproject contains, amongst others, a sources file, .bib, .reg, .dat, and .db files as well as a .pbxml file. There is no .sln file. So in order to use the Platform Builder subproject generated by WEST, we need to create a solution using the generated source files as well as a WEC7 SDK including SWE support.

How about using WEST to generate code for SWE in Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3?

First of all WEST installs in Visual Studio 2008 SP1 whereas Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 is a plug-in for Visual Studio 2005. So you need to have both versions of Visual Studio installed.

I created a simple SWE project for Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 in Expression Blend 2, similar to the one I showed in my SWE tutorial for WEC7. Surprisingly, WEST generated the C++ glue code for my simple SWE project for Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 and it even ran without problems on WEC7.

But when trying to import the C++ code generated by WEST into a Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 subproject, I experienced some build errors. After including the correct header files and tweaking the sources file a little, I saw that the API set was extended in SWE for WEC7. In my specific example the SetResource() function as well as the XRXamlSource constructor was extended by a version that takes 2 arguments that is not available in SWE for Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3.

After adjusting those calls my WEST generated sample compiled under Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3.

Summary:
I would advice against using WEST to created SWE C++ code for Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 as even in my very simple sample project there were a lot of things to take care of manually. Instead rather use fellow MVP Valter Minutes comandline tool XAML2CPP to generate the C++ glue code for SWE for Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 projects.

Have fun!
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Windows Embedded Compact 7: Silverlight for Windows Embedded Tutorial

Hi folks,

As previously stated, Windows Embedded Compact 7 comes with quite a lot of improvements with regards to Silverlight for Windows Embedded (SWE): SWE is now based on Silverlight 3 and the new Windows Embedded Silverlight Tools (WEST) generate most of the glue code so you don’t have to write the glue code manually any more!

Now let’s focus on our first, simple SWE application for Windows Embedded Compact 7. Let’s begin with the installation: make sure you install Expression Blend 3 prior to Windows Embedded Compact 7 to ensure that the new SWE template will be added to Expression Blend 3. Otherwise you need to reinstall the WEST tools manually after installing Expression Blend 3.

Create an Expression Blend 3 SWE project:

1. Open Expression Blend 3.
2. In Expression Blend 3 click on New Project…



3. In the New Project Dialog select Silverlight for Windows Embedded Application, set the Name to SWEApp, set the Location to C:\Expression\Blend3\Projects\ careful here as this path needs to be WITHOUT spaces.


NOTE:
Later on we will import the project into Platform Builder. Platform Builder cannot handle spaces in the path.
The only option in the Language field is Visual C#. The WEST will convert the C# code to C++ code upon importing the project into Platform Builder.
4. Click OK to create the new project.
5. On the left, double click the Button control to add a default sized button. On the right of the MainPage.xaml window, click on the Split button to display the XAML code underneath


6. In the Properties on the top right set the Name of the button to myButton, to be able to address the button in the SWE C++ code later on.


7. Click on the Events icon to the far right of the Name field and add an Event Handler called myClickMe in the Click field. Upon conversion to SWE C++ code this will generate a Click Event Handler which we will populate later.


8. Examine the XAML view to see that we have created a button named myButton with a Click Event Handler called myClickMe.


9. From the Expression Blend 3 menu select File ¦ Save All, afterwards minimize Expression Blend 3.

Create a SWE subproject in Platform Builder

10. Open your previously created Windows Embedded Compact 7 OSDesign supporting SWE (SYSGEN_XAML_RUNTIME set) in Visual Studio 2008 with Platform Builder.
11. With the OSDesign open, click Tools ¦ Windows Embedded Silverlight Tools ¦ Create Platform Builder Subproject.


12. In the wizard that appears, click Next then enter SWEApp in the Name field and D:\SWESubprojects in the Location field as the name and location for our subproject. Click Next.


13. Specify C:\Expression\Blend3\Projects\SWEApp\SWEApp\SWEApp.csproj as the Silverlight project to convert. The wizard automatically recognizes MainPage.xaml. Click Next.


14. Now the WEST tool does its magic! Notice that there were no errors converting our project. Click Finish to end the wizard.


15. Examine the Summary Report which will be opened in Visual Studio 2008.
16. In the Platform Builder Solution Explorer, right-click Subprojects ¦ Add Existing Subproject….


17. Browse to D:\SWESubprojects\SWEApp, select SWEApp.pbpxml. Then click Open.


18. Take a moment to examine the generated code in App.cpp, MainPage.cpp and WinMain.cpp. In Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 we would have to write ALL this glue code ourselves!


19. In MainPage.cpp locate the event handler that we have created in Expression Blend 3: MainPage::myClickMe. Add the following code to display a native message box towards the end of the event handler:
// display a native message box
MessageBox(NULL,TEXT("Hello from Silverlight for Windows Embedded!"),
TEXT("SWE Sample"),MB_OK ¦ MB_SETFOREGROUND ¦ MB_TOPMOST);

hr = S_OK;
Save the file.


20. In the Solution Explorer, right-click your OSDesign and select Properties.


21. In the appearing Property Pages dialog box, expand the Configuration Properties on the left, select Subproject Image Settings, double click SWEApp on the right and make sure that Exclude from image and Always build and link as debug are checked. Click Ok on both dialog boxes to accept the changes.


22. Right-click the SWEApp subproject and select build. Notice that our SWEApp built successfully with 0 errors and 0 warnings.


23. Congratulations! We can now start our image and run our SWEApp.



Don't miss fellow MVP Valter Minute's series of SWE tutorials for Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 on his Blog.

Have fun!
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Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3: Silverlight for Windows Embedded sample Application

Hi folks,

In this post, I am going to talk about the new Silverlight for Windows Embedded sample application called XamlPerf. In addition of being a sample UI, it also displays some performance information on your screen as well as in the debug output window. The UI, however is not functional, yet. That task is up to us – currently if you click anywhere, XamlPerf will exit. The sample UI comes with different animations which are defined in different XAML files. These animations are Bounce, Bubbles, and Carousel:




Bubbles and Carousel both load with a default screen resolution of 800x480.

In order to include XamlPerf to your OSDesign you need to add the SYSGEN_SAMPLEXAMLPERF sysgen variable. You will find that this sysgen variable is NOT part of your catalog; but that you have to set is manually. To do so, simply add it as an environment variable from the Project->Properties dialog from within the PlatformBuilder UI. Upon rebuilding your system you will get shortcuts for the Bounce, Bubble, and Carousel XamlPerf on your devices desktop.

You can now either start XamlPerf by:

• Double clicking on one of the shortcuts or


• Via the command line with the following command: XamlPerf \windows\xamlperf\[XAMLFile].xaml where XALMFile is Bounce.xaml, Bubbles.xaml or Carousel.xaml

The source code for the XamlPerf sample application is available under _PUBLICROOT\Common\Oak\Demos\XamlPerf whereas the XAML files can be found under: _PUBLICROOT\Common\Oak\Files\XamlPerf. On your device the XAML files reside under \WINDOWS\XamlPerf\.

Have fun!
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Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3: Using Silverlight for Windows Embedded

Hi all,

in my previous post I promised to talk a little bit more about how to use Microsoft Silverlight 2 and the C++ based application development framework, which is called “Silverlight for Windows Embedded” on your Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 device.

First of all, you need to add support for Silverlight for Windows Embedded to your OSDesign. To do this you have to include the SYSGEN_XAML_RUNTIME variable to your OSDesign and rebuild your system.


If you also add the Silverlight for Windows Embedded sample application called “XamlPerf” (SYSGEN_SAMPLEXAMLPERF which is not available as a catalog item but needs to be set nevertheless in order to build the XamlPerf sample application) or the new “Internet Explorer 6.0 XAML UI Sample Browser” (SYSGEN_IESAMPLE_EXR) catalog item to your OSDesign, you already have sample programs that you can run on your device and examine.


The source code for the XamlPerf sample application and the XAML UI sample browser is located under _PUBLICROOT\COMMON\OAK\DEMOS\XAMLPERF and _PUBLICROOT\IE\OAK\IESAMPLE_EXR respectively.

Note: I will talk about XamlPerf and the new IE in separate posts, so stay tuned!

Now you have successfully included support for Silverlight for Windows Embedded to your platform and you are now ready to develop your Silverlight for Windows Embedded application as a subproject in your OSDesign.

The next step would be to think about whether or not you want to define the visual scene using a source XAML file. If so, you can either create that file by using Microsoft Silverlight 2 XAML, Microsoft Expression Blend 2 (Evaluation Version: http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/7/9/2798d28c-72b3-4231-a996-d9a7f1d56166/Blend_Trial_en.exe), or by programming XAML directly.

You should also think about which type of application based on Silverlight for Windows Embedded you want to build. Therefore it is necessary to identify (and of course add to your OSDesign) any additional SYSGEN variables and header files needed to build that particular application.

Once you have successfully created and built your OSDesign as well as established a connection from PlatformBuilder to your target device, you are ready to implement your actual Silverlight for Windows Embedded Application!

Valter Minute wrote a good tutorial on his blog about how to design a basic UI in Expression Blend 2, load it inside an application and interact with it.

For further information, have a look at the Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 help: “Create a Silverlight for Windows Embedded Application”.

Have fun!
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Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3: Silverlight for Windows Embedded

Hi folks,

Now that “Cashmere” has been officially announced to RTM on September 28th as Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 I can at last talk to you about the new features after playing around with the CTP (Community Technology Preview) for a month or so.

I guess the most anticipated new feature in Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 is Silverlight. But be aware: Silverlight is not Silverlight! Silverlight on your desktop is not the same as Silverlight on Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3. Let’s have a look at the key differences:

The first noticeable difference is the name; on Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 it is called “Silverlight for Windows Embedded” whereas on the desktop it is just called Silverlight.

Silverlight for Windows Embedded is used to develop user interfaces (UI) for shells and applications running on a Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 device, whereas Silverlight is used to develop interactive applications for the web running in a web browser.

Silverlight for Windows Embedded hosts the object tree (an entity that represents a Silverlight 2 XAML element tree (= visual tree)) in a visual host that has an underlying Win32 window, whereas Silverlight hosts the object tree in a plug-in for an internet browser window.

Silverlight for Windows Embedded supports native C++ only, while Silverlight is based on the .NET Framework and uses managed code written in Visual C# .NET, Visual Basic, IronPython and JavaScript.

The Silverlight for Windows Embedded API set is a completely new API set, separate from the Silverlight APIs, although much of the Silverlight 2 functionality is mirrored in Silverlight for Windows Embedded. NOTE: Silverlight 3 functionality is not yet supported in Silverlight for Windows Embedded.

Silverlight for Windows Embedded does NOT support Hyperlink controls or Databinding.

The following picture shows you an example of a shell based on Silverlight for Windows Embedded:


As you can see Silverlight for Windows Embedded and Silverlight are not exactly the same. For instance you can not install the Silverlight plug-in on your Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 device.

In the next post I am going to talk about how to use Silverlight for Windows Embedded on your Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R3 device – so stay tuned!

Have fun!
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