Windows SideShow .NET Framework components

Question

Hello,

A while back we posted the beta of the Windows SideShow .NET Framework components (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=06fa2ace-a42d-4117-821c-bce80786f1c4&DisplayLang=en) that allows developers to easily develop gadgets for Windows SideShow in managed code.

We are planning to release the final version shortly and as part of that, we are interested to hear about your experiences using these components.

If you have used this, please take a few minutes to answer the following questions:

1. Are there any issues you would like to see fixed in the final version?

2. Are there any additions/changes to the API you would like to see in the final version?

3. Any other feedback (good/bad both welcome!)

Thanks in advance,

Prasanna Padmanabhan - MSFT

Answer 1

Hi. I've been using the Sideshow components for a while (I'm writing a book about MicroFramework and Sideshow : http://www.dotnetmicroframework.com/) and they seem to work fine. A few tiny things:

1. The emulator doesn't have an icon (small thing, but it would be nice if it had one). Also, I don't really like having to close it down by using right click, there should really be a close menu of some kind.
2. There is no way that you can use the emulator to test a Sideshow gadget application running in "off-line" mode. Whenever the emulator program is running it is connected to the PC host. If you use the Control Panel to remove the content it also removes it from the device.
3. The explanation of some of the terms in MSDN documentation is not very easy to understand. Particularly the GadgetCachePolicies and the ScfImageFit enum.

Hope these help. I really like SideShow and think it has a great future.

Rob Miles

Answer 2

 

This appears to be an old post, but I have some feed back based on the Windows SideShow .NET Framework Components 1.0 (Beta). Please let me know if there is a newer version.

 

1. In the Sideshow SDK 1.4 Beta, the HelloWorld (built in Sideshow application) example offers more parameters for Text content than what is available for a Gadget. Color, Horizontal alignment, and word wrap are okay, but like the HelloWorld example, it would be nice to change both Horizontal and Vertical alignment.

 

2. Also for Text, I don't know if it is possible since only content is being downloaded, but the ability to support custom Fonts would be nice. The HelloWorld built-in sample support custom fonts for text.

 

When will a newer version be made available?

 

-Sean

 

 

 

 

 

Answer 3

Hi Sean,

 

Sean Liming wrote:

This appears to be an old post, but I have some feed back based on the Windows SideShow .NET Framework Components 1.0 (Beta). Please let me know if there is a newer version.   1. In the Sideshow SDK 1.4 Beta, the HelloWorld (built in Sideshow application) example offers more parameters for Text content than what is available for a Gadget. Color, Horizontal alignment, and word wrap are okay, but like the HelloWorld example, it would be nice to change both Horizontal and Vertical alignment.   2. Also for Text, I don't know if it is possible since only content is being downloaded, but the ability to support custom Fonts would be nice. The HelloWorld built-in sample support custom fonts for text.   When will a newer version be made available?

 

We appreciate the feedback.  We are working on an updated version of the Windows SideShow .NET Framework Components but can't provide any specific dates at this time.  To address your questions, there will likely always be a differential between the capabilities of the Simple Content Format (SCF) and the capabilities of the actual device.  The SCF is intended as a broadly supported, generic content format that can be viewed consistently across a variety of devices with varying capabilities.  As such, compromises have been made in certain areas of formatting to more easily enable the expected consistency across devices.

 

The Windows SideShow Device SDK for .NET Micro Framework you are using enables you to build firmware for a specific Windows SideShow-enabled device.  The capabilities of this device are likely to be richer than those available through SCF, and the primary mechanism of taking advantage of them is to write 'on-device applications', which is code that is stored and executed directly on the device (as opposed to a gadget which is stored and executed on the PC).  You can look at Solitare as an example of the differences in capabilities between the .NET Micro Framework's UI framework, and that available through SCF--there is a big difference especially in regards to layouts and interaction.

 

Now, if you are building a device and would like a richer gadget experience, Windows SideShow fully supports the use of custom endpoints (e.g. something other than SCF as the data format).  So, you could build an on-device application that supported your new content format (presumably with font and enhanced formatting support), and then write gadgets that use that custom endpoint to achieve a richer, but specialized to your device, experience.

 

Dan

Answer 4

Dan,

 

Thank you for the reply. I kind of figured that there was some design trade-offs for SCF, but it didn't hurt to ask for some additions. 

 

The differences between built-in applications and gadgets is clear. It would be kind of nice to extend SCF, but not critical. I will take a look at the Demo project - end point example.

 

 

-Sean