## wxMSW port

wxMSW is a port of wxWidgets for the Windows platforms including Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, NT, XP in ANSI and Unicode mode (for Windows 95 through the MSLU extension library). wxMSW ensures native look and feel for XP as well when using wxWidgets version 2.3.3 or higher. wxMSW can be compile with a great variety of compilers including MS VC++, Borland 5.5, MinGW32, Cygwin and Watcom as well as cross-compilation with a Linux hosted MinGW32 tool chain.

For further information, please see the files in docs/msw in the distribution.

wxWinCE

### wxWinCE

wxWinCE is the name given to wxMSW when compiled on Windows CE devices; most of wxMSW is common to Win32 and Windows CE but there are some simplifications, enhancements, and differences in behaviour.

For building instructions, see docs/msw/wince in the distribution. The rest of this section documents issues you need to be aware of when programming for Windows CE devices.

### General issues for wxWinCE programming

Mobile applications generally have fewer features and simpler user interfaces. Simply omit whole sizers, static lines and controls in your dialogs, and use comboboxes instead of listboxes where appropriate. You also need to reduce the amount of spacing used by sizers, for which you can use a macro such as this:

    #if defined(__WXWINCE__)
        #define wxLARGESMALL(large,small) small
    #else
        #define wxLARGESMALL(large,small) large
    #endif

    // Usage
    topsizer->Add( CreateTextSizer( message ), 0, wxALL, wxLARGESMALL(10,0) );

There is only ever one instance of a Windows CE application running, and wxWidgets will take care of showing the current instance and shutting down the second instance if necessary.

You can test the return value of wxSystemSettings::GetScreenType() for a qualitative assessment of what kind of display is available, or use wxGetDisplaySize() if you need more information.

You can also use wxGetOsVersion to test for a version of Windows CE at run-time (see the next section). However, because different builds are currently required to target different kinds of device, these values are hard-wired according to the build, and you cannot dynamically adapt the same executable for different major Windows CE platforms. This would require a different approach to the way wxWidgets adapts its behaviour (such as for menubars) to suit the style of device.

See the "Life!" example (demos/life) for an example of an application that has been tailored for PocketPC and Smartphone use.

Note: don't forget to have this line in your .rc file, as for desktop Windows applications:

    #include "wx/msw/wx.rc"

### Testing for WinCE SDKs

Use these preprocessor symbols to test for the different types of device or SDK:

__SMARTPHONE__ | Generic mobile devices with phone buttons and a small display
__PDA__ | Generic mobile devices with no phone
__HANDHELDPC__ | Generic mobile device with a keyboard
__WXWINCE__ | Microsoft-powered Windows CE devices, whether PocketPC, Smartphone or Standard SDK
WIN32_PLATFORM_WFSP | Microsoft-powered smartphone
__POCKETPC__ | Microsoft-powered PocketPC devices with touch-screen
__WINCE_STANDARDSDK__ | Microsoft-powered Windows CE devices, for generic Windows CE applications
__WINCE_NET__ | Microsoft-powered Windows CE .NET devices (_WIN32_WCE is 400 or greater)

wxGetOsVersion will return these values:

wxWINDOWS_POCKETPC | The application is running under PocketPC.
wxWINDOWS_SMARTPHONE | The application is running under Smartphone.
wxWINDOWS_CE | The application is running under Windows CE (built with the Standard SDK).

### Window sizing in wxWinCE

When creating frames and dialogs, create them with wxDefaultPosition and wxDefaultSize, which will tell WinCE to create them full-screen.

Don't call Fit() and Centre(), so the content sizes to the window rather than fitting the window to the content. (We really need a single API call that will do the right thing on each platform.)

If the screen orientation changes, the windows will automatically be resized so no further action needs to be taken (unless you want to change the layout according to the orientation, which you could detect in idle time, for example). However, if the input panel (SIP) is shown, windows do not yet resize accordingly. This will be implemented soon.

### Closing top-level windows in wxWinCE

You won't get a wxCloseEvent when the user clicks on the X in the titlebar on Smartphone and PocketPC; the window is simply hidden instead. However the system may send the event to force the application to close down.

### Hibernation in wxWinCE

Smartphone and PocketPC will send a wxEVT_HIBERNATE to the application object in low memory conditions. Your application should release memory and close dialogs, and wake up again when the next wxEVT_ACTIVATE or wxEVT_ACTIVATE_APP message is received. (wxEVT_ACTIVATE_APP is generated whenever a wxEVT_ACTIVATE event is received in Smartphone and PocketPC, since these platforms do not support WM_ACTIVATEAPP.)

### Hardware buttons in wxWinCE

Special hardware buttons are sent to a window via the wxEVT_HOTKEY event under Smartphone and PocketPC. You should first register each required button with wxWindow::RegisterHotKey, and unregister the button when you're done with it. For example:

      win->RegisterHotKey(0, wxMOD_WIN, WXK_SPECIAL1);
      win->UnregisterHotKey(0);

You may have to register the buttons in a wxEVT_ACTIVATE event handler since other applications will grab the buttons.

There is currently no method of finding out the names of the special buttons or how many there are.

### Dialogs in wxWinCE

PocketPC dialogs have an OK button on the caption, and so you should generally not repeat an OK button on the dialog. You can add a Cancel button if necessary, but some dialogs simply don't offer you the choice (the guidelines recommend you offer an Undo facility to make up for it). When the user clicks on the OK button, your dialog will receive a wxID_OK event by default. If you wish to change this, call wxDialog::SetAffirmativeId with the required identifier to be used. Or, override wxDialog::DoOK (return false to have wxWidgets simply call Close to dismiss the dialog).

Smartphone dialogs do not have an OK button on the caption, and are closed using one of the two menu buttons. You need to assign these using wxTopLevelWindow::SetLeftMenu and wxTopLevelWindow::SetRightMenu, for example:

    #ifdef __SMARTPHONE__
        SetLeftMenu(wxID_OK);
        SetRightMenu(wxID_CANCEL, _("Cancel"));
    #elif defined(__POCKETPC__)
        // No OK/Cancel buttons on PocketPC, OK on caption will close
    #else
        topsizer->Add( CreateButtonSizer( wxOK|wxCANCEL ), 0, wxEXPAND | wxALL, 10 );
    #endif

For implementing property sheets (flat tabs), use a wxNotebook with wxNB_FLAT|wxNB_BOTTOM and have the notebook left, top and right sides overlap the dialog by about 3 pixels to eliminate spurious borders. You can do this by using a negative spacing in your sizer Add() call. The cross-platform property sheet dialog wxPropertySheetDialog is provided, to show settings in the correct style on PocketPC and on other platforms.

Notifications (bubble HTML text with optional buttons and links) will also be implemented in the future for PocketPC.

Modeless dialogs probably don't make sense for PocketPC and Smartphone, since frames and dialogs are normally full-screen, and a modeless dialog is normally intended to co-exist with the main application frame.

### Menubars and toolbars in wxWinCE

Menubars and toolbars in PocketPC

On PocketPC, a frame must always have a menubar, even if it's empty. An empty menubar/toolbar is automatically provided for dialogs, to hide any existing menubar for the duration of the dialog.

Menubars and toolbars are implemented using a combined control, but you can use essentially the usual wxWidgets API; wxWidgets will combine the menubar and toolbar. However, there are some restrictions:

- You must create the frame's primary toolbar with wxFrame::CreateToolBar, because this uses the special wxToolMenuBar class (derived from wxToolBar) to implement the combined toolbar and menubar. Otherwise, you can create and manage toolbars using the wxToolBar class as usual, for example to implement an optional formatting toolbar above the menubar as Pocket Word does. But don't assign a wxToolBar to a frame using SetToolBar - you should always use CreateToolBar for the main frame toolbar.
- Deleting and adding tools to wxToolMenuBar after Realize is called is not supported.
- For speed, colours are not remapped to the system colours as they are in wxMSW. Provide the tool bitmaps either with the correct system button background, or with transparency (for example, using XPMs).
- Adding controls to wxToolMenuBar is not supported. However, wxToolBar supports controls.

Unlike in all other ports, a wxDialog has a wxToolBar, automatically created for you. You may either leave it blank, or access it with wxDialog::GetToolBar and add buttons, then calling wxToolBar::Realize. You cannot set or recreate the toolbar.

Menubars and toolbars in Smartphone

On Smartphone, there are only two menu buttons, so a menubar is simulated using a nested menu on the right menu button. Any toolbars are simply ignored on Smartphone.

### Closing windows in wxWinCE

The guidelines state that applications should not have a Quit menu item, since the user should not have to know whether an application is in memory or not. The close button on a window does not call the window's close handler; it simply hides the window. However, the guidelines say that the Ctrl+Q accelerator can be used to quit the application, so wxWidgets defines this accelerator by default and if your application handles wxID_EXIT, it will do the right thing.

### Control differences on wxWinCE

These controls and styles are specific to wxWinCE:

- wxTextCtrl The wxTE_CAPITALIZE style causes a CAPEDIT control to be created, which capitalizes the first letter.

These controls are missing from wxWinCE:

- wxCheckListBox This can be implemented using a wxListCtrl in report mode with checked/unchecked images.
- MDI classes MDI is not supported under Windows CE.
- wxMiniFrame Not supported under Windows CE.

Tooltips are not currently supported for controls, since on PocketPC controls with tooltips are distinct controls, and it will be hard to add dynamic tooltip support.

Control borders on PocketPC and Smartphone should normally be specified with wxSIMPLE_BORDER instead of wxSUNKEN_BORDER. Controls will usually adapt appropriately by virtue of their GetDefaultBorder() function, but if you wish to specify a style explicitly you can use wxDEFAULT_CONTROL_BORDER which will give a simple border on PocketPC and Smartphone, and the sunken border on other platforms.

### Online help in wxWinCE

You can use the help controller wxWinceHelpController which controls simple `.htm` files, usually installed in the Windows directory. See the Windows CE reference for how to format the HTML files.

### Installing your PocketPC and Smartphone applications

To install your application, you need to build a CAB file using the parameters defined in a special .inf file. The CabWiz program in your SDK will compile the CAB file from the .inf file and files that it specifies.

For delivery, you can simply ask the user to copy the CAB file to the device and execute the CAB file using File Explorer. Or, you can write a program for the desktop PC that will find the ActiveSync Application Manager and install the CAB file on the device, which is obviously much easier for the user.

Here are some links that may help.

- A setup builder that takes CABs and builds a setup program is at http://www.eskimo.com/~scottlu/win/index.html.
- Sample installation files can be found in `Windows CE Tools/wce420/POCKET PC 2003/Samples/Win32/AppInst`.
- An installer generator using wxPython can be found at http://ppcquicksoft.iespana.es/ppcquicksoft/myinstall.html.
- Miscellaneous Windows CE resources can be found at http://www.orbworks.com/pcce/resources.html.
- Installer creation instructions with a setup.exe for installing to PPC can be found at http://www.pocketpcdn.com/articles/creatingsetup.html.
- Microsoft instructions are at http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnce30/html/appinstall30.asp?frame=true&hidetoc=true.
- Troubleshooting WinCE application installations: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q181007

You may also check out `demos/life/setup/wince` which contains scripts to create a PocketPC installation for ARM-based devices. In particular, `build.bat` builds the distribution and copies it to a directory called `Deliver`.

### wxFileDialog in PocketPC

Allowing the user to access files on memory cards, or on arbitrary parts of the filesystem, is a pain; the standard file dialog only shows folders under My Documents or folders on memory cards (not the system or card root directory, for example). This is a known problem for PocketPC developers, and a wxFileDialog replacement will need to be written.

### Remaining issues

These are some of the remaining problems to be sorted out, and features to be supported.

- Font dialog. The generic font dialog is currently used, which needs to be simplified (and speeded up).
- Sizer speed. Particularly for dialogs containing notebooks, layout seems slow. Some analysis is required.
- Notification boxes. The balloon-like notification messages, and their icons, should be implemented. This will be quite straightforward.
- SIP size. We need to be able to get the area taken up by the SIP (input panel), and the remaining area, by calling SHSipInfo. We also may need to be able to show and hide the SIP programmatically, with SHSipPreference. See also the Input Dialogs topic in the Programming Windows CE guide for more on this, and how to have dialogs show the SIP automatically using the WC_SIPREF control.
- wxStaticBitmap. The About box in the "Life!" demo shows a bitmap that is the correct size on the emulator, but too small on a VGA Pocket Loox device.
- wxStaticLine. Lines don't show up, and the documentation suggests that missing styles are implemented with WM_PAINT.
- wxCheckListBox. This class needs to be implemented in terms of a wxListCtrl in report mode, using icons for checkbox states. This is necessary because owner-draw listboxes are not supported on Windows CE.
- wxFileDialog. A more flexible dialog needs to be written (probably using wxGenericFileDialog) that can access arbitrary locations.
- HTML control. PocketPC has its own HTML control which can be used for showing local pages or navigating the web. We should create a version of wxHtmlWindow that uses this control, or have a separately-named control (wxHtmlCtrl), with a syntax as close as possible to wxHtmlWindow.
- Tooltip control. PocketPC uses special TTBUTTON and TTSTATIC controls for adding tooltips, with the tooltip separated from the label with a double tilde. We need to support this using SetToolTip. (Unfortunately it does not seem possible to dynamically remove the tooltip, so an extra style may be required.)
- Focus. In the wxPropertySheetDialog demo on Smartphone, it's not possible to navigate between controls. The focus handling in wxWidgets needs investigation. See in particular src/common/containr.cpp, and note that the default OnActivate handler in src/msw/toplevel.cpp sets the focus to the first child of the dialog.
- OK button. We should allow the OK button on a dialog to be optional, perhaps by using wxCLOSE_BOX to indicate when the OK button should be displayed.
- Dynamic adaptation. We should probably be using run-time tests more than preprocessor tests, so that the same WinCE application can run on different versions of the operating system.
- Modeless dialogs. When a modeless dialog is hidden with the OK button, it doesn't restore the frame's menubar. See for example the find dialog in the dialogs sample. However, the menubar is restored if pressing Cancel (the window is closed). This reflects the fact that modeless dialogs are not very useful on Windows CE; however, we could perhaps destroy/restore a modeless dialog's menubar on deactivation and activation.
- Home screen plugins. Figure out how to make home screen plugins for use with wxWidgets applications (see `http://www.codeproject.com/ce/CTodayWindow.asp` for inspiration). Although we can't use wxWidgets to create the plugin (too large), we could perhaps write a generic plugin that takes registry information from a given application, with options to display information in a particular way using icons and text from a specified location.
- Further abstraction. We should be able to abstract away more of the differences between desktop and mobile applications, in particular for sizer layout.