Windows Driver Kit (WDK) Documentation Blog : WDK Feedback

Do You Have the Very Latest WDK Documentation?

wdkblog — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:57:00 GMT

Hopefully you've already downloaded the new Windows 7 version of the WDK, which has all the latest Windows 7 headers, libraries, samples, and test applications: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/DevTools/WDK/WDKpkg.mspx.

We've also released an even later version of the documentation. It has additional topics that we wrote after the rest of the Windows 7 WDK was frozen. A few examples:

· Device and Driver Installation: Device Metadata Packages (three new topics)

· Display: Installing Display Drivers Optimized for Windows 7 and Later

· Network: Wake-on-Wireless LAN

Grab this latest documentation at: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/DevTools/WDK/WDKdocs.mspx#.

To view all the new Windows 7 material, in the Table of Contents click on New Information -> New for Windows 7.

－ Mark Lawler [MSFT], WDK Programming Writer

Send us feedback on any WDK Help topic - 24/7

wdkblog — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:54:00 GMT

Go ahead. We are ready. We want to hear from you. As we mentioned in a previous blog post, starting with the MSDN update in May, we have added a new feedback link to the bottom of our online WDK pages. When you click this new link the e-mail you send is directed to the writer of the topic. Sure, we might not be able to get to it right away, not all of us are awake at 3:00 am in the morning, but we will get your message.

Along with the new feedback link is a system that we use to guarantee your privacy. When you send e-mail about a topic, a special feedback bug is created. We only keep your e-mail for a short time. When we have read and responded to your e-mail or the issue is resolved (within 90 days), your e-mail and all personal identifying information is automatically removed from the database. You are free and clear, and you won’t end up on some mailing list.

Where is that feedback link again? How does it work?

The link is in the footer at the bottom of the page. Here is a screenshot of the DriverEntry topic on MSDN. Notice the circled Send feedback on this topic link at the bottom of the page.

Also make note of the “Built on” date. This is your guarantee of freshness. We are now able to do more frequent updates to our MSDN documentation (about once a month). So when you report errors or have suggestion for improvements there is a good chance that we will be able to respond to your feedback and update topics in a relatively short time. If you don’t like what you see, send us some feedback. If you like what you see, that’s even better. Send us your feedback and let us know and we will try to do more of the same.

Stars upon thars

For our online MSDN documentation, the new Send feedback on this topic link is a supplement to the existing MSDN page rating. You can rate a page by clicking the Click to Rate and Give Feedback link at the topic of the page. Unlike the Sneetches in the Dr. Seuss story, the stars ultimately do matter to us. They make a difference. When you rate the page it helps us know what is working and what is not. The star ratings help us find those topics that are causing you the most headaches. And they also help us find topics that are making your tasks a little easier. Using the star ratings and the statistics on the volume of traffic the topics receive on MSDN, we can locate the bottlenecks and traffic jams. This gives us a better map of where we need to apply our efforts.

Confused? What’s up with the multiple feedback links?

Options. That’s all. We are just giving you options. There are multiple ways you can send ups feedback and this is a good thing. If you primarily work with our offline documentation, available when you download the WDK Kit or download the WDK Documentation, you can send us feedback from the Send feedback on this topic link at the footer of every topic. With the release of the WDK kit for Windows 7, our offline documentation will be using the same feedback mechanism we rolled out on MSDN. Use these links when you want to send e-mail with your comments, corrections, or suggestions. If you are reading a WDK topic on MSDN and feel particularly moved (positively or negatively), click the Click to Rate and Give Feedback link. It’s quick, anonymous and relatively painless. Unlike political elections, with page ratings you can vote early and vote often. Let us know how we are doing.

We look forward to hearing from you.

－Dave Hagen [MSFT], WDK Technical Writer

Windows 7 RC WDK Documentation Refresh with Improved Feedback Link

wdkblog — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:18:00 GMT

The WDKUA team is pleased to announce that we have refreshed the WDK documentation for Windows 7 RC on MSDN. You can view the documentation at: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa972908.aspx

We have also provided an improved feedback mechanism with this documentation refresh. Near the bottom of each WDK documentation topic is a “Send feedback on this topic” link. You can use the link to provide targeted topic feedback to the WDK documentation team. Please note that while we attempt to address relevant submissions in a timely manner, it may take awhile for us to update any given topic.

The Windows 7 RC WDK documentation has also been posted on WHDC. You can download it at: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/DevTools/WDK/WDKdocs.mspx

－Kevin Shirley [MSFT], WDK Programming Writer

Have You Followed a Roadmap Lately?

wdkblog — Wed, 06 May 2009 05:37:00 GMT

For the past year we have been posting “developer roadmaps” for many driver technologies. Like any map, they are intended to help you get from a starting point to a destination. We’ve tried to focus roadmaps on helping you, if you are new to a technology, to learn about the available driver models, architectural considerations, and nuts-and-bolts of installation and testing to finally complete a working driver that can be provided to customers.

So, we’re wondering how these roadmaps have been working. We’re looking for ways to improve procedures, links, and information in the roadmaps so that you can most efficiently complete typical development tasks.

Can you take a few minutes to help us improve the roadmaps? Just add a comment to this blog post, or send us an email at ddksurv1@microsoft.com. This is what we're looking for:

1. Name any roadmap(s) that you have used—see the list below.

2. Rate the usefulness of the roadmap, from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).

3. What was your level of driver development knowledge before you read the roadmap--beginning, intermediate, or expert?

4. Explain how the roadmap helped you (or not) to complete a driver development project or to learn about a technology.

5. Provide any real-world examples of what caused you difficulty, or what worked well.

6. Add any other thoughts about the roadmap, or about topics that it links to, or suggest other types of roadmaps that you’d like to see.

If you can suggest better ways to get developers up to speed and pointed in the right direction, we’d love to hear your opinions!

Here are the WDK roadmap topics currently available on MSDN:

Roadmap for Developing WDM Audio Drivers

Roadmap for Developing Biometric Drivers

Roadmap for Developing Drivers for the Windows Vista Display Driver Model

Roadmap for Developing Drivers for the Windows 2000 Display Driver Model

Roadmap for Developing Native 802.11 Wireless LAN Drivers

Roadmap to Develop MB Miniport drivers

Roadmap for Developing WFP Callout Drivers

Roadmap for Developing Network Drivers with Winsock Kernel

Roadmap for Developing Streaming Minidrivers

－ Mark Lawler [MSFT], WDK Programming Writer

WDK Documentation Survey - We Need Your Opinion!

wdkblog — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 21:33:00 GMT

What do you think about the WDK documentation? Does it totally stink or do you think it’s pretty good as-is? Do you want more sample drivers, or not? Just what do and don’t you like about the WDK in general?

Well now you have another opportunity to let us know.

Simply reserve about 8 to 10 minutes to complete the following anonymous survey about the current release of the WDK. With your help, we will continue to improve the quality of the WDK and its documentation:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=2I4RZU_2fFLaUEfE1UMKlpuQ_3d_3d

Your honest feedback is important, and I very much appreciate it.

-- Karlito Bonnevie [MSFT], Installable File Systems Programming Writer

Should we keep the MSDN Wiki on WDK doc pages?

wdkblog — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 19:55:00 GMT

If you view WDK docs on MSDN, you probably know that a Wiki feature is available at the bottom of each WDK doc page. This MSDN-provided feature, under the green “Community Content” heading, is meant to encourage MSDN readership to post added value to any MSDN topic.

We enabled this Wiki feature in the WDK docs on MSDN about a year and a half ago. Frankly, at this point we’re questioning the value of this feature to our driver developer audience. So, we’d like your feedback.

Here’s the issue. In theory, MSDN community content is supposed to be a tool by which our customers can add value to our documentation. If you click on the little question mark next to the green “Community Content” heading, you’ll get a pop-up that cites “code samples, tips, undocumented scenarios, links to additional resources” as likely types of contributions.

In reality, what do the community content posts in the WDK docs consist of? In January of 2009, 18 new wiki entries were created:

· Two identified possible doc errors. We opened doc bugs to track these. I’ll leave these comments in place until the docs are fixed, even though wiki guidelines explicitly tell customers that the wiki is not meant for bug reports.

· Four contained managed signatures that one person provided for structures that CDROM storage drivers use when receiving IOCTLs. Here’s an example: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms808137.aspx. I left those in place, assuming someone might conceivably write a managed app that sends IOCTLs to a CDROM.

· Six were questions from Windows users (such as “my Drive Ethernet Adapter is not korect is A SiS 9 -- is not prebaring in windows drive so i cannot working with it”) I deleted those because the WDK doc team does not have the resources or mandate to provide free user assistance to the non-driver-development Windows user community.

· Three contained nonsense, which I deleted.

· One contained just a long list of bugcheck codes. I deleted this.

· Two contained entries in a foreign language that I was unable to translate. I deleted these.

January was a pretty typical month. Based on this information, and your own observation of wiki posting in the WDK docs, do you think that wiki posts are adding value to driver developers?

Tell us what you think.

Do you think the WDK doc wiki is useful to the driver writing community?
Are there ways in which we could make the wiki more useful?
Should we get rid of the wiki, or should we keep it?

You can answer these questions by adding a comment to this blog post or by sending us an email at ddksurv1@microsoft.com.

Please know that we definitely want to receive feedback about our documentation from the driver development community. We want to know about documentation errors and holes. The best ways to send us feedback include:

The “Send Feedback” link at the bottom of each doc topic in downloadable docs (not on MSDN).
The “Rate and Give Feedback” link at the top of each MSDN page.

If your answers to the three questions above indicate that you’d like us to continue to provide the WDK doc wiki, we will do so.

— Richard Brown [MSFT], Senior Programming Writer

Open Request for Windows Drive Kit Documentation Feedback

wdkblog — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:59:00 GMT

A recent post on one of the OSR forums (http://www.osronline.com/cf.cfm?PageURL=showLists.cfm?list=ntdev) detailed some of the issues the driver development community has with the documentation. I'd like to invite anyone that has feedback to use this thread to let us know how we're doing... Specifically:

What are we doing well, that you'd like to see more of?
What we could do better?
What's completely broken -- impairing your ability to write great device drivers?

I commit to reading every response, and if you leave an email alias I'll be happy to acknowledge your feedback, and if actionable, create a tracking bug that we'll use to track the issue to completion.

Thanks in advance for any and all feedback, no matter how critical. I look forward to a lively discussion.

Keith Boyd, Sr. Content Publishing Manager [MSFT]