TamsPPC - the PocketPC Blog

I am currently working on “porting” my VB.NET test application from Pocket PC to Windows Mobile Smartphone(two binaries, but one code base) and have found the following links very useful. Treat it as a “collection of resources” for now - a detailed writeup comes in the near future!

Share Source Code Across Platforms (Devices)
This article gives you a broad overview at what’s needed.

Verify Platform Support for Code in Device Projects
A single line can kill your app - this article tells you how to tell the VB compiler to make sure that no “unedible” code is compiled.

Change Platforms in Device Projects
This little writeup tells you how to switch your Visual Studio between the two “platforms”…

If you find any other useful resources, please post them here!

Recently, many software houses have begun offering components(used in their applications) to third-party developers(take Resco as an example). The US-based company PhatWare has decided to follow suite by offering its OTA-updating utility to developers:

PhatUpdate SDK for Microsoft Windows Mobile offers an easy and convenient way to provide updates for installed software products and offer additional products compatible with the user’s device. In addition to product updates, the application can also be configured to offer trial versions of other 1st and 3rd party software and provides links to download and purchase the software directly from the device. The SDK includes royalty-free redistribution license, one year maintenance and updates, and two hours of engineering support via phone or email.

The system will work on touchscreened and touchscreenless Windows Mobile 5 or 6 devices. Purchasing it(599$) entitles you to 2h of free tech support and unlimited distribution rights(aka you can use it in all your apps, forever). Additionally, you are entitled to free updates for one year after your initial purchase.

Each and every .NET CF developer is perfectly aware of the pains involved in obfuscating applications in order to keep their source code safe. ArianeSoft’s Pocket Programming Language is another development solution for PocketPC (it IMHO has quite a few advantages over .NET CF) - here’s what they have to say on security:

Please tell us a bit more about yourself
My name is Alain Deschenes, I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with my wife and daughter. I have been programming for the past 20 years. I started on an Apple IIGS in 1986 in Basic, then Pascal, Assembly, C and C++. I am the president of ArianeSoft Inc. and the author of PPL (Pocket Programming Language) and DataMite.

Do you consider piracy an important issue in the mobile computing space?
Yes. Most, if not all, mobile applications and games are cracked these days. It is a big problem. If a little company wants to stay alive and healthy, it needs to work on anti-piracy features in their programs.

Has ArianeSoft itself ever had piracy problems?
Yes, we are always working on tightening our security. We know we cannot win this game but at least we try. It is very unfortunate that people, even today, don’t realize that the sales we are loosing as a small company, really impacts on our future. The mobile community is like when I started on the Apple II, they were mostly small companies developing softwares. We have to work harder and protect our softwares better without causing too much troubles to our customers.

What does ArianeSoft do to help its customers stay safe?
We follow the warez scene closely and make sure our products stay protected, we have multiple methods for protecting them and change them every once in a while so that cracks only work for one version.

.NET CF has recently gotten under fire because applications created with it are easily disassembled. Is this possible with PPL, too?
Not unless you know how to. There are encryption, compression involved and then you need to know how the undocumented PPL’s bytecodes works. We are not saying it is impossible but until PPL really becomes a major player with critical applications developed with it, there should be no worries.

Does ArianeSoft plan to offer a “signed app” program in the future; thereby hindering pirates to run unsigned code on their machines?
No plans yet, maybe in the future.

Some developers have considered virii an effective deterrent to piracy. Do you think that their idea could work out theoretically?
I don’t think so. We need to protect the customers. We need to make sure the program is not going to think you are an illegal user and do something bad to your device or your data. The only thing your program should do in the event of piracy is stop functioning.

Do you think that device manufacturers are interested in reducing piracy?
I don’t think they care and they have no reasons to. They should care about making better devices and the software developers should worry about piracy. Unless they find a hardware solution to piracy, then that would be an amazing feature.

Will ArianeSoft ever offer a “disassembler” or release the specifications for its intermediate language to the public?
No.

Anything else you would like to add
We are starting work on version 2.0 of PPL. There is still a long road ahead but PPL 2.0 will bring major improvements to the visual form builder with a complete object-oriented control library. Thank you for considering us for an interview.

People who know me well know that I literally try to code everywhere I am - even on the go. Palm OS users have had SrcEdit for years…and CEdit is it’s complement for the PocketPC. I was on the SrcEdit beta team for ages, the product is thus very stable, feature-rich and fast - can CEdit stack up?

CEdit is structured around ‘projects’ rather than individual files. Visual Studio project files on the PocketPC can be opened to reveal their ‘internal structure’:

CEdit also has its own project file format - it allows the adding/removing of files on the go. Visual Studio projects can not be edited this way on the PocketPC though:

Clicking one of the files of such a project allows you to edit it. The editor highlights like Visual Studio on default settings, the highlighting colors can not be changed. The editor determines the used language by looking at the file ending:

The program has a function bookmark list that analyzes the source code file to determine all functions in it. Tapping one of them takes you to its definition:

CEdit also has a Find/Replace functionality accessible from the toolbar:

The editor supports a variety of fonts that get rendered in a cleartypeesque shape even in landscape mode. The default font isn’t as readable as SrcEdit’s, but still works well - I am currently evaluating other fonts and will keep you posted:

CEdit supports the following types of project file:

• Visual C#(.csproj)
• Visual Basic.NET(.vbproj)
• Visual C++(.dsp)
• Visual Basic(.vbp)
• Embedded VB(.ebp)
• Embedded VC++(.vcp)

The following file types are supported with syntax highlighting:

• Visual C++
• Visual C#
• HTML
• XML
• PHP
• ASP.net, ASP 3.0
• Java
• JSP
• Visual Basic .net, 6.0

LogicalSky’s CEdit has a pretty well-done help system onboard. It can be accessed from the Start Menu by clicking help:

Last but not least, CEdit is NOT an IDE. It does not contain a graphical GUI editor or a compiler! However, a customizeable Tools menu allows you to integrate compilers and other utilities from third-party developers!

This review looked at version 3.5 of CEdit on a hp ipaq rx4240. CEdit supports both landscape and portrait displays!

Overall, CEdit delivers its promise - a working programmer’s editor with syntax highlighting for PocketPC’s. Editing/Viewing code contained Visual Studio projects is possible, although I would wish to see a better toolbar, a small bitmap font and Visual Studio project file editing in the next version! The program costs reasonable 20$ at the TamsShop!