Develop Bugs

HTC Homeplug Weather fix - get your LOCAL weather! [New universal patch uploaded!]

THIS SERVER HAS NOW BEEN DEACTIVATED - See below / my final post
WARNING! The old IP-based/Pocket Hosts method using my server HAS BEEN DEACTIVATED, as I have had to remove the code in question from the direct IP. This means that selecting the custom weather server purely via the HTC home customizing utilities without installing a patched version of the HTC Home DLL, it WILL NOT WORK and you will just get "unable to retrieve data" messages. If this is the case, please uninstall your existing HTC Home plugin, and use one of the ones off the download page.
You can, if necessary, set up your own IP address to base it on, if you can't use my system for some reason, and use the pocket host method that way (requires your own server). Otherwise, please use the cabs below.
NEW! UNIVERSAL PATCH PACKAGE
I've written a universal patcher, so people can now get the HTC Home package they want, and just patch the HTCHome.dll from \WINDOWS. Simply get the package, unzip, drop your HTCHome.dll file in the N2A-Patcher folder, and run the n2a-patcher script inside. It'll magically create you a package! (This won't work for DLLs which people have already patched, you need to use the unmodified original.) This should negate the need for me to create individual packages anymore. Feedback welcome! As a result, I won't be releasing any more complete packages - just install your personal favorite, get the \WINDOWS\HTCHome.dll from your device, drop it in the packager, and let it do it's magic, then install the newly created cab.
Coming soon, if I can figure it out - drop the installer in, and get a patched full installer out! Of course, I have to figure out how to batch extract the cabfile correctly first... *laughs*
I've also just created a DLL to CAB packager (so you can drop your own pre-patched DLL in, and it'll turn it into a ready-to-install cabfile), and a DLL patcher (which just patches the DLL itself, ready for cooking etc - perfect for all you flashers out there!) - all on the download page.
PLEASE DON'T PM ME ABOUT THIS - KEEP IT TO THE THREAD UNLESS I SPECIFICALLY REQUEST A PM OR PM YOU!
Help Request
If anyone has an unpatched Sprint Touch XML file, I could do with a backup copy, for those who corrupt their XML files...
If you've got a Touch, Kaiser/TyTN II or Sprint Touch...
There are specific device DLL replacement packages on the new file download page.
NEW DOWNLOAD AND INSTRUCTION SITE
I've moved all the downloads and instructions to a new page, which will hopefully make it clearer on what people need to download. It also contains full instructions on hexediting the DLL if you wish, and re-signing. I'm not entirely sure if it's more readable or not, but it's certainly more manageable! Feedback welcome. There's some specific overlays now for certain versions of the ROMs too.
FAQ:
Can I install colour customisations to this?
Sure. Take a look around the forum. There's plenty of guides elsewhere.
What does this do?
It reroutes the request to the AccuWeather server to my server instead, which then requests the appropriate data from the AccuWeather server, and translates it into the HTC Weather XML format.
Can I run this via my own server?
Yup. It's running on mine via PHP 5.2.x, using the SimpleXML extension. The code is downloadable from the main download page, and I've even commented it. Once you get it running, you'll need to hexedit the HTCHome.dll file in the same way as described for the ROM chefs. I'd recommend keeping the same length of file for replacement - using directories to pad it out if necessary - it could cause unpredictable results otherwise.
Do I need to run my own server to get my local weather?
Nope, feel free to use mine.
Your server isn't working!
Oops. It's a rarity, but occasionally network outages happen. The server won't be disappearing anytime soon though without any warning! I'm sorry to say that I'll be taking the server down for this shortly as I'm wrapping up my web hosting business and transferring it to another company, but quite a few other people seem to have hosted a copy if people still need it. I hope it's been of use over the years everyone!
Why have you done this?
It was really annoying me that I could only get the weather for a city 25 miles away, that had nothing to do with mine.
Can you make me an XML file for such-a-place?
No, I've done enough already, and it's documented fairly heavily above. If you can't follow instructions, give up and stop trying to hack your phone. I'm not here to hold your hand. I'll help fix bugs and obvious issues, but if you can't edit a textfile, you're on your own.
Release Notes
I've stripped most local data from the return info apart from the town/city and country, but the HTC plugin seems to ignore that anyway. Works for all international locations I've tested. I welcome feedback on anything that's not working though, and I'll try to get it nailed pretty quickly. As said above, also works on zip codes, which will make it easier for our US friends on here.
New release fixes countries that weren't in the list, by removing the country checks altogether - I'm confident it'll "just work" - in theory Report bugs in the usual way.
Known Issues
The WM5 version will NOT update over GPRS/3G, unless you are using an AKU3.3 ROM. WM5 Weather update over GPRS has been proven with Wizard AKU3.3 (like the T-Mobile or WM5SEr5). Other devices/ROM's still to be confirmed.
The temperature in Farhenheit can occasionally be a degree or two out, as I convert from the Celsius scale. To get both readings would mean two calls to the server, which would be more work and bandwidth for my server. I'm sure you can live with a degree out occasionally.
Kudos
Thanks PAPPL for the info on signing files, Schen for his great work on the plugin, and to all those who contributed to getting these plugins (and getting them working!) in the first place!
Enjoy!
As I've taken the server down, I've attached all the relevant files to this post. If someone does want to provide somewhere to point the weather.not2advanced.com domain to, I still own the domain and can add the appropriate A address to it for the purpose if they want to continue hosting for the many users that still seem to be using this plugin. Sorry I had to take it down, but I no longer run the hosting operation this was being held on, and it can be a bit heavy on resources at times.
- Rick

Wow, sounds like a lot of work went into this.
Do you think it would be possible, using this framework, to pull data from the NWS website instead of Accuweather?

Theroetically, I could, providing they set up an appropriate XML feed. However, I can only do one such setup per IP address (and the IP addresses I have are somewhat limited), but if someone wanted to set it up, I've no doubt it'd be possible. However, it wouldn't be trivial - I've had to manually grab bits of data from the XML and process it into the format the home plugin expects. As a UK resident, the NWS isn't huge amounts of use to me
On a more technical note though, it'd require a similar format - at least 5 days in advance for a particular area, and the exact parameters (or something that can be adjusted / mangled / processed into the exact parameters) that the plugin needs. (Take a look at the code in the zipfile if you want to see how much of a pain in the neck THAT was!) Adapting it would also need a complete conversion matrix, or a hacky method using (say) the RSS feed ID for the BBC, or however the NWS does it.

Will this work for cingular/att customer?

If it works already for the major cities, then it'll work the same way, but with more localised weather available.
If you're having trouble with the normal weather plugin setup though, you may still have trouble. Then again, it might work! I've no idea. Try it and find out

Yeeaah
Hi N2A / Rick.
Great job - really! I can't thank you enough.
It finally works for me.
Thanks

HTC Homeplug Weather
Hello,
Thanks for sharing your great work. (I am french so sorry for my poor english)
However, I working on HTC Homeplug Weather because it wont let me download weather forecast when I am using 3G connection.
It works great when I an using wifi connection so I think it is coming from the proxy of vodaphone France (SFR) wich is blocking the access. So I was wondering if I will be able to connect to your server ? (for the moment it is not working) or redirecting the plugin to my tunnel...
Second is there a way to be sure that htc weather plugin is trying to connect to htc.accuweather.com and not to another web site.
Thanks in advance
A french guy wich is also living in a small city and wishto have his weather forecast ;-)

TorbenKB said:
Hi N2A / Rick.
Great job - really! I can't thank you enough.
It finally works for me.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're most welcome Glad I could help.
gdbtg said:
Hello,
However, I working on HTC Homeplug Weather because it wont let me download weather forecast when I am using 3G connection.
It works great when I an using wifi connection so I think it is coming from the proxy of vodaphone France (SFR) wich is blocking the access. So I was wondering if I will be able to connect to your server ? (for the moment it is not working) or redirecting the plugin to my tunnel...
Second is there a way to be sure that htc weather plugin is trying to connect to htc.accuweather.com and not to another web site.
Thanks in advance
A french guy wich is also living in a small city and wishto have his weather forecast ;-)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, if it's the HTC accuweather site specifically blocked, then it will help you. If it's generically blocking sites, then it won't.
Re a tunnel - depends what you mean by it.
The HTC home plugin *always* tries to connect to htc.accuweather.com - hence the host file change, which diverts it to my server instead, which provides the correct data. (NO LONGER APPLIES WITH NEW PLUGINS!)
However, if it's still not working with the hosts file modification (may require soft reset, not sure!), then I'm afraid there's not a lot I can do, unless you can tunnel it as you said, but it depends on what you're using to tunnel.

HTC Homeplug Weather
Thanks for your quick answer !
It's still not worling ;-(
But I wondering how can I test if Pockets Hosts is redirecting properly the htc weather address.
Sincerely

gdbtg said:
Thanks for your quick answer !
It's still not worling ;-(
But I wondering how can I test if Pockets Hosts is redirecting properly the htc weather address.
Sincerely
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
***************** REMOVED OLD CONTENT, NO LONGER APPLIES WITH THE NEW PLUGINS *****************

HTC Homeplug Weather
Ok, I have got the web site and not the error message.
So there is something wrong.
Thanks for your help.

Befor I can try your nice work, I have a problem with the write protection of the hh_0407_weather... file. I dont get my own file in the folder. I tried some things but it didnt work.
Can you help me? I'm runing a B&B v3.7 Ger beta.
Thanks

gdbtg said:
Ok, I have got the web site and not the error message.
So there is something wrong.
Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reload pocket hosts - it should look something like the attached thumbnail. If it does, try a soft reset. However, if it's still refusing point blank, it's highly possible you're going via a proxy, and that is handling the DNS lookups. To bypass that will require a hack to the HTC plugin itself. I can set it up server side for it (which was going to be my initial approach!), but it'll need an appropriate hostname hacking into the binary. I'll see what I can do on that score tomorrow, both on the home plugin front and the server-side setup.
smallgermanboy said:
Befor I can try your nice work, I have a problem with the write protection of the hh_0407_weather... file. I dont get my own file in the folder. I tried some things but it didnt work.
Can you help me? I'm runing a B&B v3.7 Ger beta.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suggest using Total Commander - you can remove the read-only flag from there, and even edit it inside it. Works beautifully.

I use the Total Com, too. But when I open the file the Internet Explorer opens and displays the xml file. I tried to remove the flag but he didnt adopt it. So I looked at the attributes again and nothing has changed.

smallgermanboy said:
I use the Total Com, too. But when I open the file the Internet Explorer opens and displays the xml file. I tried to remove the flag but he didnt adopt it. So I looked at the attributes again nothing has changed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm assuming that's after you've gone to the file properties. You should be able to unclick "Read-only" and "System" on it.
There's quite a bit of information on doing this scattered around the forums. Is it cooked into your ROM? (It'll have a tickbox by the "In ROM" box if that's the case.) But you want to clear the Read Only and System attributes from the file properties if you can, THEN edit it.
More information on this thread.

N2A said:
I'm assuming that's after you've gone to the file properties. You should be able to unclick "Read-only" and "System" on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did this but when I open the properties again the attributes for "Read-only" and "System" are still on.
There's quite a bit of information on doing this scattered around the forums. Is it cooked into your ROM? (It'll have a tickbox by the "In ROM" box if that's the case.) But you want to clear the Read Only and System attributes from the file properties if you can, THEN edit it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its in the ROM.

There's your problem. I suggest copying it somewhere else on the device, editing it, and copying it back, but it may have issues doing it.
If you can't copy it back, apparently Resco Explorer is able to do it.

I used resco to do it. you have 14 days free trial so you can test it first.
http://www.resco.net/pocketpc/explorer/downloads.asp
And thanks N2A this is realy great. And works perfectly can find all the small places in Norway

ialu said:
I used resco to do it. you have 14 days free trial so you can test it first.
http://www.resco.net/pocketpc/explorer/downloads.asp
And thanks N2A this is realy great. And works perfectly can find all the small places in Norway
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for both
I copied it with the resco and now it works perfekt. I tried several small cities in Germany and he found all. THANKS again

Thanks. works great. now i know it's going to rain all week here in abergavenny

[APP] Hide Folders

I've noticed recently that there's quite a few people asking how to hide folders on Windows Mobile. There's a few applications out there, but they're either completely overkill (they do a million more things and are therefore massive), or they're not free (or a mixture of the two).
Since I wanted this functionality myself, I decided to write a very simple application to allow me to toggle the hidden state of folders. This application should be considered in beta state, but it works fine for me so far. It's not fancy in the slightest, and I have no plans to make it look anything special, but if I get enough response then I'd put some time aside to "tart it up" a bit.
I'd be grateful if people could let me know of any problems with it. It's targeted for WM 4+ (I have 6.1), using .Net 2.0.
All that aside, I hope some of you do find it useful.
You can download it here...
http://www.johnmolyneux.co.uk/downloads/hidefolders.cab
I was recently informed about a review for this application, which can be found here...
http://mobilityupdate.com/hide-your-folders-on-windows-mobile-using-hidefolders-application/
Thanks for the great review Ella
Cheers,
John.

Hi,
Works well on my Kaiser (See my sig for the rest of my specs).
Nice little app, I use Resco and Total Commander, so I don't have much use for it, but I'll keep the CAB just in case.
I like the loading when you expand the tree rather than loading all folders at the start.
Ta
Dave

Cheers for doing that Dave - I don't know about you, but I'm always relieved when things work for others!
As for the loading when you expand the treeview nodes, I had to add that because it was taking about a minute to start the program, if it was getting the whole directory structure. The Windows folder alone was taking around 40 seconds!
Anyway, thanks again. I appreciate the test and report

Updated to v1.1. I've sorted the folder lists alphabetically, and I've added an about screen, mainly to acknowledge the guy that made the icons I used for the application.

it didn't work. i set a folder in the storage card to hidden mode bt the folder is still visible! when i use file explorer!
i have asus p320

hackerzlab said:
it didn't work. i set a folder in the storage card to hidden mode bt the folder is still visible! when i use file explorer!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi.
It sounds to me like you've got 'Show all files' enabled. In File Explorer, go to Menu and make sure 'Show all files' is unchecked.
Cheers.

hide folder working fine
working great in htc 3450...
but make sure in file explorer u unchecked show all files....[]

Work well on Xperia, thanks

Great piece of app. Really appreciated. You need to uncheck "show all files" & you will have your files hidden. But the problem I faced is mainly with the Touch commander 2.51 which doesn't have any of this option. I tried this on Resco explorer & files were hidden. So overall w/o touch commander it worked like charm.
Just an humble suggestion John
WHy don't you create an app that could lock files, I mean that could just rename them with ascii letters which can't be opened unless provided password[which would rename the folder again.] I have searched for this kind of app but couldn't find one so your release would be a hit with this function. Thanks allover.
Regards
Saksham Katyal

hidefolders review:
http://mobilityupdate.com/hide-your-folders-on-windows-mobile-using-hidefolders-application/

kakachopra said:
working great in htc 3450...
but make sure in file explorer u unchecked show all files....[]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah but still doesnt work successfully. if you use a photo viewing program like resco photo viewer hidden files are still viewable. SKB mobile safety suite locks well, cant see it but takes forever with large files and you need alot of phone memory.
Im sure someone must have a program that has the best of both worlds???

How do i use it???
Hello and thanks for the cab....How do i hide a folder in Htc hd?The program just lets me go through the paths and when i find the folder i want to hide it has to options ...on the left "about" on the right "exit" It does't says anywhere menu or hide.....Any succestions?
Thank you in advance.

johncmolyneux said:
I'd be grateful if people could let me know of any problems with it. It's targeted for WM 4+ (I have 6.1), using .Net 2.0.
All that aside, I hope some of you do find it useful.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks 4 the app!
works great on ipaq 600
if it is not to hard can you make the app popup as a combination of hardware keys?
2 make it simple one can select from predefined combination
like: key1&key4 ,key1&key2…. (from settings/buttons)
or if it is not to hard adding read key combination option (in the app settings)
anyway thanks
Edit: to not let it woke in the background the combination will be entered after taping the apps icon (the apps icon says )

CARPEDIEM8 said:
Hello and thanks for the cab....How do i hide a folder in Htc hd?The program just lets me go through the paths and when i find the folder i want to hide it has to options ...on the left "about" on the right "exit" It does't says anywhere menu or hide.....Any succestions?
Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Found a program called Hide my stuff v3.6, works much better than this one and the SKB. it truly hides files or all files within a folder, no frills so is very fast to hide, unhide, you can even edit or beam files whilst its in a hidden state etc. found it by chance but works very well.

thank you veru much ! I will try that!

appreciating your help . it is working fine for me

Works great on my BlueAngel..thank you man!

EREZYAD said:
if it is not to hard can you make the app popup as a combination of hardware keys?
2 make it simple one can select from predefined combination
like: key1&key4 ,key1&key2…. (from settings/buttons)
or if it is not to hard adding read key combination option (in the app settings)
anyway thanks
Edit: to not let it woke in the background the combination will be entered after taping the apps icon (the apps icon says )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
works great!! Thanks
and if could add up some function like that, it would be perfect!! Thanks again

You need AEButtons to assign software to hardware keys. I've never used it myself, but lots of people use it very succesfully.
Hope this helps

Im glad to say that the hide folders works great. Does anybody know a way to hide files (not folders) under the My Device for a WinMobile 6.5? I want to do this to clean the screen and not to accidentally delete files.
The only files/folders I want to see when I open File Explorer are:
My Documents
Storage Card

Undocumented Capabilities in WMAppManifest.xml WP7

Looking around the IMGFS, I found some undocumented capabilities that can be used in building an app (in addition to the standard ones mentioned in the WMAppManifest.xml file).
These are the extra ones I found, in case anyone is interested (from BasePolicy.xml):
ID_CAP_RINGTONE_ADD:Allows ringtone-marketplace applications to read/write into the Ringtones directory
ID_CAP_MEDIALIB:Access to the media library - read, play-back, etc.
ID_CAP_INTEROPSERVICES:Temporary Interop Service Capability.. To be removed by feature team
ID_CAP_SIMrovides access to SIM manager API
ID_CAP_SMSrovides access to SMS API
ID_CAP_WAProvides access to WAP API
ID_CAP_IDENTITY_USER:Allow an application to use a phone.info.dll to retrieve user properties
ID_CAP_TESTPUBLIC1:Small public test capability
ID_CAP_LOADUNSIGNEDMANAGEDDLL:Capability to load unsigned managed dll into chamber's process space
ID_CAP_LOADUNSIGNEDNATIVEDLL:Capability to load unsigned native dll into chamber's process space
ID_CAP_DEBUG:Allow an application to run in debugging enviorment.
---Edit---
I've tested each of these individually, and some work, and others don't.
ID_CAP_INTEROPSERVICES works
ID_CAP_RINGTONE_ADD works
ID_CAP_MEDIALIB works
ID_CAP_IDENTITY_USER works
ID_CAP_TESTPUBLIC1 works
ID_CAP_SIM ID doesn't work
CAP_SMS doesn't work
ID_CAP_WAP doesn't work
ID_CAP_LOADUNSIGNEDNATIVEDLL doesn't work
ID_CAP_LOADUNSIGNEDMANAGEDDLL doesn't work.
Note that even for the ones that work, Microsoft may still reject them in the app store.
I tested these by entering them in the WMAppManifest.xml in the XAP, and loading them on a windows phone device. This guy suggests that if it loads on the device, you have the permission: http://www.drdobbs.com/windows/227701092 and I think he's right. If you don't have permission, it doesn't actually load, and in every case, if it loaded it ran.

ID_CAP_RINGTONE_ADD - So i guess with next update we will get Custom ringtones that can b installed from an app
off topic can some one create utility that will do something about tuch sensetive buttons, when using camera if u tuch any of then by accident it exit camera, so u have to hold phone very carefully.
also, app to lock screen rotation would be nice.... any of thous features undocumented anywhere
P.S sorry for unrelated message

I think the ID_CAP_RINGTONE_ADD feature will only be enabled for the carriers (who knows what Microsoft really has in mind, though). The Windows Phone has done a good job (or lousy job, compared to what I desire) managing permissions so they can choose what capability to give whom.
Disabling other buttons shouldn't be hard if you can get to the native API. So once the phone is jailbroken......

Actually, Microsofts own Q&A on Windows Phone 7 states to look in the Marketplace for additional ringtones. Here is an excerpt and a link:
To find a ringtone in Marketplace
1
On Start, tap the arrow to go to the App list, then tap Marketplace .
2
Press the Search button.
3
Do one of the following:
•
To browse a variety of ringtones, type ringtones, then tap Enter .
•
To look for a more particular type of ringtone, type something more specific, like Halloween ringtones.
Tip
To hear what a ringtone or alert sounds like, tap Play .
Note
Marketplace may not be available in your country or region.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/howto/wp7/start/ringtones-and-sounds.aspx

All well and good having that, but why should we purchase a ring tone?

TheDisneyMagic said:
All well and good having that, but why should we purchase a ring tone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I don't see myself buying any, but this means an app could be made to create/add ringtones.

Long press on a song in Zune won't let you set it as the ringtone?

Iridox said:
Long press on a song in Zune won't let you set it as the ringtone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, I asumed this would be how it worked but no option in the list to do so.

Ah, that's a PITA >_>

naplesbill said:
Well, I don't see myself buying any, but this means an app could be made to create/add ringtones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A whole app just to add a ringtone!?

naplesbill said:
Actually, Microsofts own Q&A on Windows Phone 7 states to look in the Marketplace for additional ringtones. Here is an excerpt and a link:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/howto/wp7/start/ringtones-and-sounds.aspx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To me that excerpt looks like you can download ringtones from the store, not that you can create an app to download ringtones. It would appear that Microsoft has an internal application that can add ringtones (which makes sense). These permissions are enforced by the OS, not the app store (maybe the app store does too). So if they want to be able to install ringtones, they need to give their own app permission to do so.

athompson said:
Looking around the IMGFS, I found some undocumented capabilities that can be used in building an app (in addition to the standard ones mentioned in the WMAppManifest.xml file).
These are the extra ones I found, in case anyone is interested (from BasePolicy.xml):
ID_CAP_RINGTONE_ADD:Allows ringtone-marketplace applications to read/write into the Ringtones directory
ID_CAP_MEDIALIB:Access to the media library - read, play-back, etc.
ID_CAP_INTEROPSERVICES:Temporary Interop Service Capability.. To be removed by feature team
ID_CAP_SIMrovides access to SIM manager API
ID_CAP_SMSrovides access to SMS API
ID_CAP_WAProvides access to WAP API
ID_CAP_IDENTITY_USER:Allow an application to use a phone.info.dll to retrieve user properties
ID_CAP_TESTPUBLIC1:Small public test capability
ID_CAP_LOADUNSIGNEDMANAGEDDLL:Capability to load unsigned managed dll into chamber's process space
ID_CAP_LOADUNSIGNEDNATIVEDLL:Capability to load unsigned native dll into chamber's process space
ID_CAP_DEBUG:Allow an application to run in debugging enviorment.
Visual Studio won't let you add all of them directly, but uncompress your .xap in the build directory, and add it manually.
If anyone is thinking of doing this, the phone rejected my attempts to do so. I tried to give myself ID_CAP_LOADUNSIGNEDNATIVEDLL, but it wouldn't even load on the phone. Oh well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But if someone use these things in an application , I think microsoft doesn`t approve it in the market place!

amir_rafie said:
But if someone use these things in an application , I think microsoft doesn`t approve it in the market place!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya, not only that, they probably automatically check to make sure you don't try to use them. The phone automatically checks, too.
The main reason I put them here is because I couldn't find them documented anywhere on the web, and I thought it would be good to save someone the time if they started down the same path I did.

hopefully once there is a jailbreak that turns of security/cert checking we can add these capabilities to our apps. Im particularly interested in the p/invoke capability.

indiekiduk said:
Im particularly interested in the p/invoke capability.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
YES! It would make the world beautiful and skies turn blue.

So I set up VS 2010 and tried debugging an app that had a simple DLLImport in it and ID_CAP_INTEROPSERVICES in the manifest, however it still crashed with a MethodAccessException. It was def a valid dll and method name because I took it from one of the DLLImports in the system.location .net dll decompiled with Reflector.

indiekiduk said:
So I set up VS 2010 and tried debugging an app that had a simple DLLImport in it and ID_CAP_INTEROPSERVICES in the manifest, however it still crashed with a MethodAccessException. It was def a valid dll and method name because I took it from one of the DLLImports in the system.location .net dll decompiled with Reflector.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. If your app installed, it means you were able to get the ID_CAP_INTEROPSERVICES permission, because if the phone rejects your permission, it rejects it at install time. Maybe the DLL path was wrong, like you need to do ..\DLLNAME.dll or something.

indiekiduk said:
So I set up VS 2010 and tried debugging an app that had a simple DLLImport in it and ID_CAP_INTEROPSERVICES in the manifest, however it still crashed with a MethodAccessException. It was def a valid dll and method name because I took it from one of the DLLImports in the system.location .net dll decompiled with Reflector.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try a relative URI path. ./DLLName.dll

On the subject of Native Applications on Windows Phone 7:
A few days ago, an Application called "Network Profile" appeared in the Samsung Zone of my Omnia 7's Marketplace.
This app is the first external app that uses native code - The Marketplace says that it "Requires access to your interop services", and on opening the XAP on my PC, I found it to contain three native COM DLLs, alongside two .NET DLLs and a further native DLL with MUIs that appear to only serve to hold resources.
I'm not sure whether this can be linked to here, so I'm going to describe the interesting parts.
It has not one, but three XMLs - the typical WMAppManifest.xml (pastebin.com/uEJWdTuA), a WMAppPRHeader.xml (pastebin.com/AVcv7JUX) which seems to have something to do with PlayReady DRM, and most interestingly WMInteropManifest.xml (pastebin.com/NCVKP6kM).
There is also the AppManifest.xaml (pastebin.com/rRrB090h).
The NetworkProfile.dll has a number of COM Imports like so:
Code:
[ComImport, InterfaceType(ComInterfaceType.InterfaceIsIUnknown), Guid("F1113B13-AAB8-45E9-91A5-CBE568C29612")]
internal interface INwProfInterface
The Constructor for the class containing all the COM Interfaces:
Code:
ComBridge.RegisterComDll("NwProfDLL.dll", new Guid("4A2580BA-11A3-49AB-AC98-C30B5E72D381"));
this.NwInterface = (INwProfInterface) new CNwProfClass();
ComBridge.RegisterComDll("SecVersion.dll", new Guid("DFE52822-B526-4913-807A-D2AABC7BF911"));
this.SecVerInterface = (ISecVersionInterface) new SecVersionClass();
ComBridge.RegisterComDll("COMRilClient.dll", new Guid("A18F6B1A-924E-4787-AA82-19F98B49CF5D"));
this.SecRILControlInterface = (ISecRilControl) new COSecRilControl();
Happy to answer any questions, and if allowed, either guide people to getting it themselves, or providing a download link to the XAP.

Sweet, good find! I downloaded that app. How did you get it off your phone? If you have a download link to the XAP no one will complain, either.

[XAP][SOURCE][MANGO] Samsung gen2 interop test app v2

All right folks - several hours later than I wanted to get this out to you, but here it is. Blame my new cat, she's wonderfully distracting.
Requirements:
Samsung generation-2 WP7 device (Focus S or Focus Flash/Omnia 7 S).
Dev-unlocked (ChevronWP7 Labs or AppHub).
Interop-unlocked (yes, it works on your phones).
XAP deployment tool (any).
Helpful:
Screen capture app (good way to report results that are too long to type).
Good software testing skill (mostly, give me info as complete as you can).
A recent backup, if you're worried of damage, unless you're willing to hard reset.
Instructions:
Download the attached ZIP archive.
Extract the XAP file from the Bin\Debug\ folder.
Deploy the XAP to your phone.
Run the app (SamsungTest).
Note the initial message box with your phone name, case sensitive.
Tap the buttons to run tests.
Note the results of each test.
Note any exceptions that occur.
Report the results, including phone name, test output, and exceptions (with context).
Note: The Audio Mute test is a toggle; press it again to switch back. It is the only test that should modify your phone in any way, and should be both minor and easily reverted.
Developers:
The full source code of the app is attached, including the most important file (Samsung2Interop.cs), a helper with many useful constants (SamsungWin32.cs), and the native COM DLLs. You can see how I use the DLLs and how to build your own apps, or modify existing apps, using them.
Thanks sent to the first few people to give useful reports!

SAMSUNG SGH-i937
Wireless: app closes out.
Audio:
"Unexpected exception please report!
System.IO.FileNotFoundException: The system cannot find the file specified as..."
(the above lines are what is cut off from the top of the message in the picture i attached below)
Get IMEI: app closes out
File Listing: "Your documents folder contains these files:" [ok]
Directory List: "Your root directories are:" [ok]
Registry: "Sub-keys of HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\bmpimage :\n" [ok] (app closes when pressing [ok])
Provxml: "Provxml query output:" [ok]

Well, that's a weird and disappointing result. I figured some might not work, but I didn't expect them all to fail and most certainly didn't expect either the app to crash silently or to get a FileNotFoundException!
OK, I've put together a v2 of the test app. It's got very few test changes, but should help me pinpoint the problem better, I hope...
One request when testing: I'm much more interested in the top of the exception than the bottom of the stack trace, so if you're going to screenshot part of it, go for that part. Thanks!

SAMSUNG SGH-i937
wireless closes app
audio mute screenshot attached
get imei closes app
file listing Your documents folder contains these files: ok
Directory List test Your root directories are: ok
Registry HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\bmpimage:
Provxml Provxml query output: ok

Gotcha. Will test after class.
Sent from my SGH-i937 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
---------- Post added at 08:36 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:17 AM ----------
Went ahead and gave it a try before taking off. If the download file in the first post is the updated test file, then I'm afraid it yields the same results, on every test :-/

Mine was done after you posted about the V2 file also.

Wireless test exits the app
Get IMEI exits the app
The rest go as follows

ManelScout4Life said:
Wireless test exits the app
Get IMEI exits the app
The rest go as follows
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mine is exactly the same (same phone as well)

OK, I clearly need to investigate this more. It sounds like there's a systemic issue with how I'm accessing this data, although there are a few more tweaks I can make to the test. I'd be interested to get results from the other Samsung phone, the Focus Flash, but I doubt anything escept the first message will be different.
I'll post a new version or two later today. I want to take another look at exactly how the code gets called by the Diag app, just in case there's some weird initialization step or something.

GoodDayToDie said:
OK, I clearly need to investigate this more. It sounds like there's a systemic issue with how I'm accessing this data, although there are a few more tweaks I can make to the test. I'd be interested to get results from the other Samsung phone, the Focus Flash, but I doubt anything escept the first message will be different.
I'll post a new version or two later today. I want to take another look at exactly how the code gets called by the Diag app, just in case there's some weird initialization step or something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can test it on my new Samsung Omnia W (Focus Flash), but can you explain me how to convert the source in a .XAP?

AdryJay said:
I can test it on my new Samsung Omnia W (Focus Flash), but can you explain me how to convert the source in a .XAP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you're just trying to test it, the xap is in the folder mentioned in the OP, there's no need to build the xap, as it's done already.
if you want to play with the source and build an alternate xap to test that's another question that i'm sure someone can answer

adiliyo said:
if you're just trying to test it, the xap is in the folder mentioned in the OP, there's no need to build the xap, as it's done already.
if you want to play with the source and build an alternate xap to test that's another question that i'm sure someone can answer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Found it...
SAMSUNG GT-I8350
Wirless Test: The app crashed.
Audio Mute Test: Unexpected exception, please report!
System.IO.FileNotFoundException: The system cannot find the file specified.
at
SamsungTest.MainPage.TestAudioMute()
at
SamsungTest.MainPage.TestAudioMute_Click
(Objcet sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
at
System.Windows.Controls.Primitives.ButtonBase.OnClick()
at
System.Windows.Controls.Button.OnClick()
at
System.Windows.Controls.Primitives.ButtonBase.OnMouseLeftButtonUp
(MouseButtonEvent Args e)
at
System.Windows.Controls.Control.OnMouseLeftButtonUp(Control ctrl, EventArgs e)
at MS.Internal.JoltHelper.FireEvent(IntPtr
unmanagedObj, IntPtr
unmanagedObjArgs, Int32 argsTypeIndex,
Int32 actualArgsTypeIndex, String
eventName)
Then it crashed.
Get IMEI Test: The app crashed.
File Listing Test: Your documents folder contains these files: OK
Directory List Test: Your root directories are: OK
Registry Test: Sub-keys of HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\bmpimage : OK
Then the app crashed.
Provxml Test: Provxml query output: OK
Hope this help you... ^^

Well, it confirmed two things: the string I can use to identify the Focus Flash, and that the problem with the app is not specific to the Focus S. At this point, that's almost more reassuring than if it had worked, since at least that means there aren't per-phone differences.

GoodDayToDie said:
Well, it confirmed two things: the string I can use to identify the Focus Flash, and that the problem with the app is not specific to the Focus S. At this point, that's almost more reassuring than if it had worked, since at least that means there aren't per-phone differences.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have a Focus Flash/S to play with, GDTD?
I believe the reason why we're having issues is that Samsung changed the driver DLLs, which would mean we would need to find a XAP from the Marketplace that has references to the gen2 DLLs. Or am I missing something?

@Jaxbot: No I don't, which is why I created this thread; I needed testing from people who do.
Your guess is exactly correct. I've already got a few interop-enabled XAPs from various helpful people with gen2 phones (some come from marketplace, some from the \Windows folder using the webserver app). I've decompiled them enough (I thought) to re-package the COM DLLs they use for homebrew use. However, it's not working, and is throwing some really weird errors (the "FileNotFound" one is bizarre, the simple crashing almost worse). So, I'm digging deeper and trying to figure out why. Worst case, I disassemble/decompile the native COM DLLs nd try to figure them out. That'll take a while - I can read (some) ARM assembly and C++, but even if the decompiler does a good job it's still going to be slow work - so I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. Managed code is usually easier to reverse engineer.

I have a Samsung Focus Flash with interop unlocked and ICS working.
Im not sure what this xap test is for. Can anyone please fill me in so that I may be able to help.
Thanks!

GoodDayToDie said:
@Jaxbot: No I don't, which is why I created this thread; I needed testing from people who do.
Your guess is exactly correct. I've already got a few interop-enabled XAPs from various helpful people with gen2 phones (some come from marketplace, some from the \Windows folder using the webserver app). I've decompiled them enough (I thought) to re-package the COM DLLs they use for homebrew use. However, it's not working, and is throwing some really weird errors (the "FileNotFound" one is bizarre, the simple crashing almost worse). So, I'm digging deeper and trying to figure out why. Worst case, I disassemble/decompile the native COM DLLs nd try to figure them out. That'll take a while - I can read (some) ARM assembly and C++, but even if the decompiler does a good job it's still going to be slow work - so I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. Managed code is usually easier to reverse engineer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course managed code is easier to reverse engineer..you can get the actual source back =P
Anyway, I'd help out, but I don't have a Flash or S either... It's certainly possible, but not without a lot of tinkering.
I wonder if Samsung did this intentionally to screw with us, or if it's just a coincidence (new drivers, etc).

wsantiagow said:
I have a Samsung Focus Flash with interop unlocked and ICS working.
Im not sure what this xap test is for. Can anyone please fill me in so that I may be able to help.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just read the thread man, it's two pages long.

Any news about the development?

Sorry man, got wrapped up in trying to interop-unlock Nokia and then HTC phones, and haven't gotten back to this app yet. It's on my mind, don't worry - there's just only so many things I can do in a day, especially when Minecraft release just came out.
I'll try to have a new version shortly after Thanksgiving. I've got a pretty good idea now what's wrong, but I have to figure out how to work around it.

Creating simple contacts' application

Hello all!
I am looking into development of something which is similar to people's list in people hub. What I want is a huge list of people on one page with (of course) LonglistSelector. When I tap a member of the list, I want the user to be navigated to the details page of that item. User needs to be able to manipulate and modify the data on the details page. The list is going to be real huge. I have a few question about the approach.
1. What is the best way to store data? I am thinking of creating local database with a few columns with person's name in one column, age in another etc.
If this is the approach to go for, can anyone provide me detailed description about the databases? I have deeply gone through the MSDN, WindowsPhoneGeek and many other documentations. I feel dumb about the whole database scenario.
2. Is XML list as database a good approach for large amounts of data or it will be pain?

i would say SQL CE is your best bet to store huge amounts of data. XML is slow at large volumes of data when compared to JSON. I would prefer JSON over XML.

darthveda said:
i would say SQL CE is your best bet to store huge amounts of data. XML is slow at large volumes of data when compared to JSON. I would prefer JSON over XML.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So basically, I need to go with the local database using LINQ. Now, how do I do that? As I mentioned, I have read intensively. However, I just don't seem to get hang of it.

akshay2000 said:
So basically, I need to go with the local database using LINQ. Now, how do I do that? As I mentioned, I have read intensively. However, I just don't seem to get hang of it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I created my local database with LINQ based off this sample:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/hh286405(v=vs.92).aspx
First define the columns which you would want to create and then modify the sample code to suit your needs.
For contacts, there is an excellent sample available:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/hh286416(v=vs.92)
if you are stuck with some particular piece of code then let me know, i would be glad to help you out

darthveda said:
I created my local database with LINQ based off this sample:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/hh286405(v=vs.92).aspx
First define the columns which you would want to create and then modify the sample code to suit your needs.
For contacts, there is an excellent sample available:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/hh286416(v=vs.92)
if you are stuck with some particular piece of code then let me know, i would be glad to help you out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had gone through those links earlier! Back then, they made very little sense to me. I have researched a bit by now. I will update here if I get stuck somewhere.

hi
i had read the thread now and maybe this example of MS can help you... it's not based on local database, but uses ASP.NET Web API!
so maybe this is a way for you..

darthveda said:
if you are stuck with some particular piece of code then let me know, i would be glad to help you out
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm attaching my code file to the post. When I try to run the app and click the button (it tries to add an item to the observablecollection) I get NullReferenceException error. Apparently, the collection's instant hasn't been created. But I tried to instantiate it using 'new' keyword - no luck. Am I doing anything wrong?

akshay2000 said:
I'm attaching my code file to the post. When I try to run the app and click the button (it tries to add an item to the observablecollection) I get NullReferenceException error. Apparently, the collection's instant hasn't been created. But I tried to instantiate it using 'new' keyword - no luck. Am I doing anything wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
solution folder will be better, you are using telerik controls, i can't recreate your solution.

It's done!
darthveda said:
solution folder will be better, you are using telerik controls, i can't recreate your solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response! After a lot of debugging and (almost literally) adding Debug.writeline after each line of code, I managed to solve it. It had nothing to do with the Database or the ObservableCollection. It was totally different - GroupDescriptor issue! More details here: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/...ion-while-adding-item-to-observablecollection
I'll post here if I get stuck with something again.
Again, thanks a lot!

Any reason you are using telerik controls? for starters and very simple programs, you can use controls from silverlight toolkit or coding4fun toolkit. i am using longlist selector which does the job just like the jumplist from telerik controls does.

darthveda said:
Any reason you are using telerik controls? for starters and very simple programs, you can use controls from silverlight toolkit or coding4fun toolkit. i am using longlist selector which does the job just like the jumplist from telerik controls does.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No specific reasons except that the Jumplist provides StickyHeader functionality. And animation framework seems nice addition too!