Friday, May 22, 2009

Mobile Application Blocks new Community Drop (05-21-2009) available for download.

I’ve just uploaded the latest drop of the Microsoft Patterns & Practices Mobile – Mobile Application Blocks to the CodePlex site.

This new Community Drop (05-21-2009) includes the following changes:

  • All the SQL CE references have been updated targeting to SQLCE 3.5 SP1 (3.5.1.0)
  • The ConfigSectionEncrypt sample tool which can be used to encrypt configuration sections has been ported and included on this drop.
  • For each block we've created separate projects for .Net CF 3.5 and 2.0. So you currently will find projects named:
    • <BlockProjectName>.csproj - Targeting .Net CF 3.5
    • <BlockProjectName>.20.csproj - Targeting .Net CF 2.0
  • ContainerModel Block performance improvements and code simplifications.
  • Readme.htm file included with basic information about the project and online resources.

Notice that even the blocks were ported thinking on .Net CF 3.5, they still being compatible with .Net CF 2.0 and in fact, most of the blocks source code on previous drops were targeting 2.0. In this version we’ve cleaned up things and you have specific projects for each version.

The other main change is the inclusion of the ConfigSectionEncrypt tool which was absent on previous drops. It’s a great sample and companion for working with the Configuration Block using Encrypted Sections. It was just a straight port at this time, and probably the tool’s UI is not the most intuitive you have seen. So, I’ll try to clarify how to use it in future posts.

About the installation, I recommend you to remove any previous version of the blocks before installing this, and, if you’re installing the blocks for first time, please double check our Requirements Page.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

VS2008 Add New Project: Smart Device Unit Testing Project? A simple project template that would make things easier

Are you tired of the “Create Unit Test” wizard as the only way to create a Smart Device Unit Testing Project? Don’t you feel comfortable with the alternative of edit a Compact Framework Class Library project file changing Guids to convert it into a Unit Testing project? Well, let me try to help you with this smart device unit testing project template that maybe fits your needs.

You can put this zip file into the “%userprofile%\Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Templates\ProjectTemplates” folder, and it will appear as a new option under “My templates” when you try to create or add a new project into your solution:

image

Much better! At least IMO ;). Enjoy!