MSDN library

[wlederer]

I heard many times about MSDN library from Microsoft. Can we get some benefit from use it for iX Developer? Or it is not relevant to HMI programming?
regards, Waldemar

[Ron L.]

Yes, I use MSDN often when writing C# code. You can access the MSDN documentation online at.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/

Here is a sample documentation page.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library ... s.90).aspx

Notice next to each element there is an icon that looks like mobile phone. This will tell you if the function is available in the ".NET Compact Framework 3.5" which is the library included with the WinCE-based iX HMI panels such as the iX Panel T7A.

Snap 2012-02-29 at 12.34.14.jpg (42.61 KiB) Viewed 10490 times

[wlederer]

Thank You Ron. Which platform is "for us"? Should we buy subscription?

[Ron L.]

The platform is "Windows Embedded CE 6.0", but all you really need to know is that you're using the ".NET Compact Framework 3.5" libraries. You do not need to buy a subscription; all the documentation you need is free online.

If you would like some more in depth training on the capabilities of C# with the .NET Compact Framework, you might consider picking up one of these books on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Programming-NET-C ... 157&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/NET-Compact-Frame ... 157&sr=8-3

http://www.amazon.com/NET-Compact-Frame ... 57&sr=8-11

If you're new to C# then you may also want to dig into some online tutorials about the C# language in general.
http://csharp.net-tutorials.com/

[wlederer]

Thank You Ron. It is very helpfull information.
In the comment to the second book You recommended, from Peter Nowak
http://www.amazon.com/NET-Compact-Frame ... 157&sr=8-3

I found:
"..Visual Studio 2008 for example is described as a requirement. Unfortunatelly the author doesn't describe, why Visual Studio 2010 can't be used in this scenario. (Visual Studio 2010 doesn't support any Windows Mobile development. It is meant to be used for Windows Phone 7 development and later).."
Does it mean, we should avoid installing VS 2010 and prefer VS 2008?

[Ron L.]

Well if you're using an iX Panel, then you will be using neither. You will need to use the "iX Developer" software.

However, the author is correct, if you were targeting a terminal with Windows Embedded CE 6.0 that did NOT have iX runtime on it, then you would have to use Visual Studio 2008. VS 2010 does not have support for the .NET Compact Framework 3.5.

Just to make sure were on the same page. iX Panels such as the iX Panel T4A do have WinCE 6.0 as the underlying operating system, but they have iX installed on them so they will only work with iX Developer.