David Kline : Announcements

Moving on...

DavidKlineMS — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:36:14 GMT

If any of you read Gamerscoreblog, you may have noticed a suspicious resemblance between the photo of the zombie and the one that graces this site's News section... Let me quell any rumors by saying that it is indeed true that the zombie and I are, in fact, one and the same.

Earlier this year, I decided to leave the .NET Compact Framework team and to join the good folks in Windows Gaming.

I truly enjoyed my 7.5 years as a member of the .NET Compact Framework team. I have been very fortunate to have gotten to work with a fantastic group of people on an extremely cool and important product. From when I joined them in late 2000 (early in the v1 product), to the release of version 3.5, I have grown and learned quite a bit.

If someone had told me back in August 2000, that I would become an avid writer on a weblog and a presenter at developers conferences, I would have told them they were crazy. In fact, I not only became those two things, I LOVED doing them. Not only were they avenues for personal and professional growth, they lead me to meeting many many great people who came out to MEDC, Mix and other smaller (Redmond based) conferences. Thanks to all who attended these conferences, met with me and read my writings.

Lately, you may have noticed that the flow of content here has been slower than usual. Switching jobs can be a bit time consuming :). This site's topic will move from the .NET Compact Framework to a general testing and development focus. I expect to maintain this slower traffic pace for some time. Over time, I will likely migrate the .NET Compact Framework topics into a smaller set of categories to make room for the new content.

Thanks again to everyone for the great time with the .NET Compact Framework and I hope to get to one day see some of you again at future conferences (ex: GDC, CES) or in and around Redmond.

Take care!
-- DK

.NET Compact Framework v3.5 Power Toys CTP

DavidKlineMS — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 20:59:52 GMT

The .NET Compact Framework team made an exciting CTP available this week. The .NET Compact Framework v3.5 Power Toys September 2007 CTP release contains some old friends (ex: Remote Performance Monitor) and ads some great new ones (Service Model Metadata Tool, App Configuration Tool, etc).

Here's what the download page has to say about the included tools:

Remote Performance Monitor and GC Heap Viewer – Provides real time counter data (ranging from Garbage Collector activity to type loading info) on a running NETCF application. The GC Heap Viewer feature allows you to capture the managed heap at any moment your app is running to view live references, and allows you to compare multiple snapshots to find memory leak issues.

NETCF CLR Profiler – CLR Profiler is an instrumenting allocation profiler for NETCF applications. It provides detailed allocation visualizations, allocation callstacks visualizations and useful for diagnosing memory management issues.

App Configuration Tool (NetCFcfg.exe) - On-device tool for specifying what version of the NETCF runtime an application will run against, displaying installed versions of NETCF and displaying info about DLLs in the GAC.

NETCF ServiceModel Metadata Tool – The .NET Compact Framework ServiceModel Metadata Tool (netcfsvcutil.exe) allows you to generate a Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) client proxy to help developers consume WCF services on device. Like svcutil.exe, which is the desktop version of the utility, netcfsvcutil.exe is a command-line tool that generates service model code from metadata documents and generates metadata documents from service model code.

Remote Logging Configuration Tool – The Logging Configuration Tool enables users to easily configure logging options on a NETCF device including: loader, interop, network, error and finalizer logs.

NETCF Network Log Viewer – A utility for viewing NETCF network log data.

Dan Horbatt and Andrew Arnott talk in detail about the new Service Model Metadata Tool here (Dan) and here (Andrew).

I highly recommend downloading and using the power toys. And as always, please send us your feedback.

Enjoy!
-- DK

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
The information contained within this post is in relation to beta software. Any and all details are subject to change.

Visual Studio 2008 / .NET Framework v3.5 / .NET Compact Framework v3.5 Beta 2

DavidKlineMS — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 21:19:44 GMT

It seems like everyone is talking about the release of Visual Studio 2008 Beta 2. :) And rightfully so, it is a very exciting release. Not only do you get the latest Visual Studio 2008 beta, you also get .NET Framework 3.5, .NET Compact Framework 3.5 betas and more.

Highlights for mobile application developers include

.NET Compact Framework v3.5

Windows Communication Foundation
Store and Forward Messaging
Language Integrated Query

Visual Studio 2008

Device Emulator v3.0
Unit Testing for Devices
Security-aware IDE

I encourage you all to download the beta either as ISO or Virtual PC images and send us your feedback.

Take care!
-- DK

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
The information contained within this post is in relation to beta software. Any and all details are subject to change.

.NET Compact Framework v2 SP2 is here!

DavidKlineMS — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 20:21:49 GMT

Last week, we released Service Pack 2 for version 2 of the .NET Compact Framework. This release contains fixes for customer issues and adds some cool new features to our diagnostic tools. Complete details on the changes, as well as links to the downloads can be found on the .NET Compact Framework Team weblog.

Thanks to everyone who provided feedback on this and our previous releases, please keep it coming.

Take care,
-- DK

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

.NET Compact Framework v2 Service Pack 1 is now available

DavidKlineMS — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 00:46:00 GMT

It's finished! Service Pack 1 for version 2 of the .NET Compact Framework has just been posted and can be downloaded from here. This release contains customer driven fixes, features and tools. Full details on the changes and additions in SP1 can be found on the .NET Compact Framework Team weblog.

Thanks to everyone who gave us feedback on version 2 and the sp1 beta, please keep it coming.

Enjoy!
-- DK

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Come and get it! (.NET Compact Framework Version 2 Service Pack 1 BETA)

DavidKlineMS — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 00:07:00 GMT

Today we posted the beta release of Service Pack 1 for version 2 of the .NET Compact Framework. This release is especially cool because we have added some new tools, my favorite being the Remote Performance Monitor.

For details, check out the announcement post on the NetCFTeam weblog. The beta can be downloaded from here.

Please be sure to send us any and all feedback on this beta via the Product Feedback Center.

Enjoy!
-- DK

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Some of the information contained within this post may be in relation to beta software. Any and all details are subject to change.

Error #4 when installing .NET Compact Framework version 2?

DavidKlineMS — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 20:46:00 GMT

If you are seeing error #4 when installing version 2 of the .NET Compact Framework, we have updated the install package to address the issue. Please see Mark Prentice's post describing the update.

Take care,
-- DK

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

.NET Compact Framework v2 is now available!

DavidKlineMS — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 21:59:00 GMT

Happy Halloween everyone! Today, I thought I'd add my voice to the excitement surrounding the Visual Studio 2005 / .NET Framework v2 / .NET Compact Framework v2 release.

On the subject of version 2 of the .NET Compact Framework, I have to say that this is the finest release ever. This release provides improved performance, an expanded feature set (ex: Direct3D Mobile, MSMQ, etc) and compatibility with version 1 applications.

There are a number of ways to get the new release:
End-User Redistributable (English): http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9655156b-356b-4a2c-857c-e62f50ae9a55&displaylang=en
Platform Builder 5.0 Update: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=90c1a19f-1210-4557-a000-74f8d5b4e1d0&DisplayLang=en
Visual Studio 2005: Standard and above
.NET Framework SDK v2: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=fe6f2099-b7b4-4f47-a244-c96d69c35dec&DisplayLang=en

Enjoy!
-- DK

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

.NET Compact Framework v2 Beta 2 is Now Available!

DavidKlineMS — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 08:31:00 GMT

Just a note that the .NET Compact Framework v2 Beta2 release is now available! You can either get it as part of Visual Studio 2005 Beta 2 or the .NET Framework SDK Beta 2. The version number for Beta 2 is 2.0.5056.

If you are using Visual Studio 2005, you will get the .NET Compact Framework installed if you have the Smart Devices option selected for either the Visual C# or Visual Basic.NET languages.

For .NET Framework SDK users, you will need to run netcfsetupv2.msi from the \Program Files\Microsft.NET\SDK\v2.0\CompactFramework directory. By default, setup will deploy the .NET Compact Framework runtime to your device (via ActiveSync). If your device is not connected, the deployment will occur the next time you sync.

Please be sure to send us your feedback (use Product/Technology == "Smart Devices" for .NET Compact Framework reports) and happy installing!
-- DK

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Some of the information contained within this post may be in relation to beta software. Any and all details are subject to change.

.NET Compact Framework Version 1.0 Service Pack 3 now available

DavidKlineMS — Thu, 06 Jan 2005 04:28:00 GMT

Today, the NetCF v1 SP3 redistributable has been posted to the Microsoft download center.

Once installed, calls to System.Environment.Version.ToString() will return 1.0.4292.0.

Exceprts from the download page:

The Microsoft® .NET Compact Framework 1.0 SP3 Redistributable includes everything you need to run .NET Compact Framework applications, including the Common Language Runtime and the .NET Compact Framework class library.

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This package uses ActiveSync to update the device. Make sure to dock your device before running NETCFSetup.msi. You can run the ActiveSync setup later by going to your install folder and running NCFSetup.exe once the device is docked. Those not using ActiveSync can run the CAB files which match the device found in the install folder directly on the device.

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System Requirements

Supported Operating Systems: Windows 2000, Windows 2000 Server, Windows 2000 Service Pack 2, Windows 2000 Service Pack 3, Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Windows NT, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP

Supported Device Operating Systems: Pocket PC 2000, Pocket PC 2002 and Windows Mobile Software for Pocket PC 2003, Windows CE .NET 4.1 and higher.

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.NET Compact Framework 1.0 Service Pack 3 details:

Fixed Issues:
- Transitions between managed and native code can cause memory leaks on ARM platforms.
- A NullReferenceException is thrown when a Web Method returns an empty array using the xsi:Nil attribute.
- Modifying the SoapClientMessage.ContentType property does not modify the Http requests ContentType header.
- Stack corruption can occur on SH, MIPS and x86 platforms when local variables are created but never used.
- Invoking a multicase delegate from a catch handler throws a MissingMethodException on SH, MIPS and x86 platforms.
- Command line arguments containing double byte characters are truncated to a single byte.
- An ObjectDisposedException is thrown when a asynchronous web request is aborted before the response is received.
- Invoke on a disposed control hangs the application.
- Any array containing one or more elements is not sent to the Web Service correctly.
- An application may hang when invoking a Web Method that uses multiple XmlElementAttributes on a single argument, member or property.
- Memory corruption can occur on devices that have the native security model enabled and both .NET CF V1 SP3 and a pre-release version of .NET CF V2 installed.
- Deadlocks can occur when running under severe resource constraints.
- Tool Bar's on Windows Mobile 2003 SE no longer lose their images when removed from the form.
- An uncatchable ObjectDisposedException is thrown when the server closes the socket connection.
- Setting the Minimum and Maximum properties of a progressbar no longer crashes the application.
- Unexpected exception while adding an image to an imagelist on an Hx4700 and hx4705.
- Data Misalignment occurs on Decimal fields in MIPSIV devices.

Happy downloading!
-- DK

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

[Edit: Add version]

Got feedback for the .NET Compact Framework?

DavidKlineMS — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 18:28:00 GMT

We're looking for feedback on the .NET Compact Framework from the developer community. Please send your input to sdwish@microsoft.com (details on what we're looking for can be found here).

As mentioned on the NetCF Team page post, we value all your submissions, but unfortunately won't be able to respond directly.

Thanks for your feedback!
-- DK

Disclaimer(s):
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Where do I get the NetCF v2 beta?

DavidKlineMS — Tue, 03 Aug 2004 21:54:00 GMT

I've recently been asked where the .NET Compact Framework version 2 beta is availble for download. The NetCF beta is part of the .NET Framework SDK version 2.0 beta (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=916EC067-8BDC-4737-9430-6CEC9667655C&displaylang=en) or as part of the Visual Studio 2005 beta (http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/vs2005/get/default.aspx). Please note that if you wish to use the Visual Studio 2005 beta to build NetCF applications, you will need to order the full beta product -- smart device programmability are not available in the Visual Studio 2005 Express beta products.

If you use the Visual Studio 2005 beta, you can install the NetCF v2 beta to your device by building and deploying a simple project. If you use the .NET Framework beta, you will need to copy the appropriate .cab file to your device. To install, double tap on the .cab file name in the device's file explorer. The cab files are located in <drive>:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\SDK\v2.0\CompactFramework\WindowsCE and are arranged by operating system version (PocketPC 2003 -- wce400).

-- DK

Disclaimers:
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Some of the information contained within this post may be in relation to beta software. Any and all details are subject to change.

.NET Compact Framework V1.0 SP3 Beta Release

DavidKlineMS — Fri, 09 Jul 2004 21:40:00 GMT

For those who may have missed the announcement from Jonathan Wells....

The NetCF team invites you to test drive the V1.0 SP3 beta release. Jonathan's page has the details on how to get the beta and the issues addressed. Please give this a spin and send us your feedback.

Thanks!
-- DK