Tag: Windows phone

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Enterprise Mobility on STL Tech Talk CodeCast

STLTechTalk

I was thrilled to join Gus Emery (@n_f_e) and JJ Hammond (@jjhammondmusic) for a lively discussion of the past and future of Microsoft enterprise mobility on CodeCast Episode 12 of @STLTechTalk.

These guys are doing great work in the developer community! Go check out their site!

Sharing my knowledge and helping others never stops, so connect with me on my blog at https://robtiffany.com , follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RobTiffany and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/robtiffany

 

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//build/ : Wrap a Mobile API around your Enterprise and take Data Offline with NoSQL on Windows Phones and Tablets

BuildSession

For those of you who couldn’t make it to San Francisco, here’s my session on Wrapping a Mobile API around your Enterprise and taking Data Offline with NoSQL on Windows Phones and Tablets from //build/.

Enterprise mobility is a top priority for Chief Information Officers who must empower employees and reach customers by moving data from backend systems out to apps on mobile devices. This data must flow over inefficient wireless data networks, be consumable by any mobile device, and scale to support millions of users while delivering exceptional performance. Since wireless coverage is inconsistent, apps must store this data offline so users can be productive in the absence of connectivity.

In this video you’ll learn how to build fast and scalable REST + JSON APIs using the ASP.NET Web API while employing techniques such as data sharding and in-memory caching. On the device, you’ll learn how your apps can work with offline data via in-memory NoSQL tables that use LINQ to support the same CRUD operations as relational databases. You’ll walk away from this session with the ability to deliver flexible server solutions that work on-premise or in Azure and device solutions that work with Windows Phones and Tablets.

Download the two Visual Studio projects and associated source code from GitHub:
https://github.com/robtiffany/build-2014-mobile-api

Sharing my knowledge and helping others never stops, so connect with me on my blog at https://robtiffany.com , follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RobTiffany and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/robtiffany

 

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HTML5 and CSS3 on Windows Phone: Simple Geolocation

Geolocation Page

Now that I’ve spent the last two articles helping you to get your Metro user experience foundation created with CSS3 and Media Queries, it’s time to jump into one of the features of HTML5.  Geolocation is perfectly suited for smartphones because location awareness is something they all have in common.  Most people are under the impression that only native mobile apps have the power to reach into the platform APIs and retrieve a device’s current location.  Luckily, with modern HTML5 browsers like Internet Explorer 9, web pages can use JavaScript to gather this same information.  This API finds your location via the following methods:

  • GPS:  This is the most accurate method but it requires you to be outdoors and has a reputation for draining batteries.
  • IP Address:  There’s a location database that maps IP addresses to locations which may or may not be accurate depending on how far away your DHCP server is from your current location.
  • Wi-Fi:  This also maps IP addresses to locations but also triangulates between Access Points.  It works indoors and may be relatively accurate.
  • Cell Tower Triangulation: This also works indoors and can be fairly accurate depending on how far apart the closest cellular towers are.

Let’s take a look at a simple page containing HTML and JavaScript:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang=”en”>
<head>
    <meta charset=”utf-8″ />
    <meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes” />
    <meta name=”MobileOptimized” content=”width” />
    <meta name=”HandheldFriendly” content=”true” />
    <link rel=”stylesheet” href=”MetroLight.css”>
    <title>Geolocation</title>
    </head>
<body>
<p>CONTOSO TRACKER</p>
<h4>Simple Geolocation</h4>
<form>
<fieldset>
<legend>Track</legend>
<button type=”button” id=”locationButton” onclick=”getPosition()”>Get Location</button>
</fieldset>
</form>
<script>
function getPosition() {
if (navigator.geolocation) {
navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(displayLocation);
}
else {
alert(“No Geolocation Support”);
}
}
function displayLocation(position) {
var latitude = position.coords.latitude;
var longitude = position.coords.longitude;
alert(“You’re at Latitude: ” + latitude + “, Longitude: ” + longitude);
}
</script>
</body>
</html>

As you can see, I’ve taken our HTML5 + Mobile Web boilerplate and included the Light Metro stylesheet to get started.  Beyond that, it’s just a simple button designed to call a JavaScript function via the onclick event.  For the sake of this example, I’ve done the unthinkable and have included the JavaScript inside the web page.  Please never to this in production.

The onclick event calls the getPosition() function.  The first thing you should notice is a bit of defensive coding where I test to see if the navigator.geolocation capability exists.  If the target browser allows me to pass that test, I then call the getCurrentPosition() method and pass in a single arguement for the successCallback parameter.  Don’t worry, I’ll dive into the other two parameters in the next article.

The displayLocation callback function is called once the device passes the coordinates back to the web page.  After that, it’s a simple matter of retrieving the latitude and longitude values.

This first image below shows you what the mobile web page should look like when you run it on Windows Phone 7.5:

Geolocation Page

You should see the now-familair Light Metro UX.  When you click the Get Location button, IE9 will popup a dialog asking your permission to allow the web page to access your location from Windows Phone as shown below:

Geolocation Allow

This should give you comfort in knowing the Big Brother cannot anonymously track you.  You can say Yes or No for each Geolocation request and you can check the checkbox to remember your choice for this particular web page.  Once you’ve said Yes, the device will give you a lat/long as shown in the image below on the left:

Geolocation Coordinates

In order to more easily test this on my PC with Visual Studio 2010 running, I used the Windows Phone emulator, plus the additional tools you get with the Windows Phone 7.1 SDK.  By clicking on the Location tab, you can then click on the Bing map to get a Pushpin in a particular location.  The coordinates for the pushpin are displayed in the Current Location section which should match what you see in the emulator.  That’s all there is to it!

Congratulations!  You can now get lat/long coordinates without building an app.

Keep coding,

-Rob

Sharing my knowledge and helping others never stops, so connect with me on my blog at https://robtiffany.com , follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RobTiffany and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/robtiffany

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HTML5 and CSS3 on Windows Phone: Dark and Light Styles

In my last article covering HTML5 and CSS3 on Windows Phone, I got you started with a simple boilerplate.

It just so happened that the style I presented you with was Dark.  Since we know that Windows Phone also has a light theme, I think it’s important that your mobile web site have one as well.  Below is an enhanced version of the boilerplate HTML5 file that displays many commonly used Form elements:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang=”en”>
    <head>
        <meta charset=”utf-8″ />
        <meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes” />
        <meta name=”MobileOptimized” content=”width” />
        <meta name=”HandheldFriendly” content=”true” />
        <link rel=”stylesheet” href=”MetroDark.css”>
        <title>Web Storage</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <p>CONTOSO FRUIT COMPANY</p>
        <h4>Enter Products</h4>
        <form>
            <fieldset>
                <legend>Add</legend>
                <label id=”ValueLabel”>Product Name:</label>
                <br />
                <input id=’ValueInput’ type=’text’ />
                <br /><br />
                <label id=”StateLabel”>States:</label>
                <br />
                <select name=”states”>
                   <option value=”Washington”>Washington</option>
                   <option value=”Florida”>Florida</option>
                   <option value=”California”>California</option>
                </select>
                <br /><br />
                <label id=”RefLabel”>Refrigerate:</label>
                <br />
                <input type=”radio” name=”refrigerate” value=”yes” /> Yes
                <input type=”radio” name=”refrigerate” value=”no” /> No
                <br /><br /><br />
                <button id=’insertButton’>  Add Product  </button>
            </fieldset>
        </form>
    </body>
</html>

Here is the Dark CSS file that accompanies the above HTML5 file:

@media screen and (max-width:480px) {
    body {
        font-family: “Segoe WP”, Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana;
        background-color: #000000;
        color: #ffffff;
        padding: 5px;
    }
    h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
    font-family:”Segoe WP Semibold”;
    margin-bottom:5px;
    }
    h1 {
    font-size: 48pt;
    }
    h2 {
    font-size: 40pt;
    }
    h3 {
    font-size:32pt;
    }
    h4{
    font-size:24pt;
    }
    h5 {
    font-size:20pt;
    }
    h6 {
    font-size:18pt;
    }
    p {
    font-size: 14pt;
    }
    input, select, button {
        color: #ffffff;
        background-color: #000000;
        border: 2px solid white;
        vertical-align: baseline;
        font-size: 17pt;
        min-width: 40px;
        min-height: 40px;
    }
    label {
    vertical-align:baseline;
    font-size:17pt;
    }
    input.hasfocus {
    background-color:white;
    color:black
    }
    fieldset, legend {
    font-family:”Segoe UI Semibold”;
    font-size:12pt;
    }
    fieldset {
    padding:12pt;
    border: 1px solid white;
    }
    legend {
        color: #ffffff;
    }
}

The combination of a mobile-optimized HTML5 page and a Dark Metro CSS3 stylesheet results in a familiar UX designed for AMOLED displays:

But what if you want to display a light mobile website?  Luckily, you get to use the same HTML5 page and just point to a new, Light Metro CSS stylesheet as shown below:

<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”MetroLight.css”>

So what does this new CSS file look like?  A lot like the dark one with some subtle changes:

@media screen and (max-width:480px) {
    body {
        font-family: “Segoe WP”, Tahoma, Geneva, Verdana;
        background-color: #ffffff;
        color: #000000;
        padding: 5px;
    }
    h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
    font-family:”Segoe WP Semibold”;
    margin-bottom:5px;
    }
    h1 {
    font-size: 48pt;
    }
    h2 {
    font-size: 40pt;
    }
    h3 {
    font-size:32pt;
    }
    h4{
    font-size:24pt;
    }
    h5 {
    font-size:20pt;
    }
    h6 {
    font-size:18pt;
    }
    p {
    font-size: 14pt;
    }
    input, select, button {
        color: #000000;
        background-color: #ffffff;
        border: 2px solid black;
        vertical-align: baseline;
        font-size: 17pt;
        min-width: 40px;
        min-height: 40px;
    }
    label {
    vertical-align:baseline;
    font-size:17pt;
    }
    input.hasfocus {
    background-color:white;
    color:black
    }
    fieldset, legend {
    font-family:”Segoe UI Semibold”;
    font-size:12pt;
    }
    fieldset {
    padding:12pt;
    border: 1px solid black;
    }
    legend {
        color: #000000;
    }
}

With the Light Metro stylesheet, you now have a look and feel that’s reminiscent of the Outlook experience on Windows Phone.  With the black and white colors reversed, you get the following:

So there you have it!  You started with a simple HTML5/CSS3 boilerplate and now you’re building mobile web apps with both a Dark and Light Metro UI.  All the touchable elements are large enough for big fingers and the separation between controls ensures that users won’t hit two at the same time.  Consider this your foundation for a new HTML5 journey that you’ll be taking with Me, Internet Explorer, and Windows Phone.

Keep coding!

Rob

Sharing my knowledge and helping others never stops, so connect with me on my blog at https://robtiffany.com , follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RobTiffany and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/robtiffany

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HTML5 and CSS3 on Windows Phone: A Simple Boilerplate

Mobile Web on Windows Phone

Internet Explorer 9 running on Windows Phone 7.5 has seriously raised the HTML5 mobile web profile of Microsoft’s latest phone operating system.

Up until recently, it’s been all about the apps written in Silverlight.  With hardware-accelerated video, text rendering, canvas drawing, and the high-speed “Chakra” JavaScript engine, IE9 compiled for ARM processors means business.  But diving into HTML5 without considering the differences in characteristics of mobile web browsers is a mistake.  Therefore, I’m going to show you some HTML5 and CSS3 that you can use as a starting point for your mobile web apps.

Below, you can see the simplified DOCTYPE, html, charset, and stylesheet tags that are the hallmark of HTML5.  In order to be accomodate small screens on Windows Phones, I’ve added the viewport, mobile optimized, and handheld friendly tags to keep the browser from trying to render a desktop web site.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html lang=”en”>

    <head>

        <meta charset=”utf-8″/>

        <meta name=”viewport” content=”width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes”/>

        <meta name=”MobileOptimized” content=”width”/>

        <meta name=”HandheldFriendly” content=”true”/>

        <link rel=”stylesheet” href=”wp.css”>

        <title>Mobile Web Title</title>

    </head>

    <body>

           <h3>Mobile Web</h3>

           <script></script>

   </body>

</html>

You probably also noticed that I placed the script tags just before the closing body tag instead of inside the head tags.   This ensures that the mobile page fully renders in the browser before the JavaScript parsing begins.

Along with this simple HTML goes an equally simple stylesheet that provides a basic, Windows Phone Metro look and feel:

@media screen and (max-width:480px) {

body {

    font-family: “Segoe WP”,Tahoma,Geneva,Verdana;

    background-color: #000000;

    color: #ffffff;

    padding: 18px;

}

h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {

    font-family:“Segoe WP Semibold”;

    margin-bottom:7px;

}

h1 {

    font-size: 48pt;

}

h2 {

    font-size: 40pt;

}

h3 {

    font-size:32pt;

}

h4 {

    font-size:24pt;

}

h5 {

    font-size:20pt;

}

h6 {

    font-size:18pt;

}

p {

    font-size: 14pt;

}

input, select, button {

    color: #ffffff;

    background-color: #000000;

    border: 2px solid white;

    vertical-align: baseline;

    font-size: 17pt;

    min-width: 40px;

    min-height: 40px;

}

label {

    vertical-align:baseline;

    font-size:17pt;

}

input.hasfocus {

    background-color:white;

    color:black

}

fieldset, legend {

    font-family:“Segoe UI Semibold”;

    font-size:12pt;

}

fieldset {

    padding:12pt;

    border: 1px solid white;

}

}

I’ve included a simple media query in the CSS to only apply the style to devices with a maximum width of 480 pixels.  Additionally, this will definitely give you the Segoe fonts, black background, and white borders that you’re accustomed to in Windows Phone Silverlight apps.  You’ll also notice that I set minimum heights and widths for some of the UI elements to give mobile users a larger hit target.

Mobile Web on Windows Phone

Good luck with your next HTML5 + CSS3 mobile web site!

Sharing my knowledge and helping others never stops, so connect with me on my blog at https://robtiffany.com , follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RobTiffany and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/robtiffany