W

wait function: Allows a thread to block its own execution. Wait functions do not return until the specified criteria have been met. The type of wait function determines the set of criteria used. When a wait function is called, it checks whether the wait criteria have been met. If the criteria have not been met, the calling thread enters an efficient wait state, consuming very little processor time while waiting for the criteria to be met. Windows CE supports only single object wait functions.
warm boot: Restarting a running computer without first turning off the power. Also called soft boot, warm start. Compare cold boot.
.wav file: A Microsoft standard file format for storing waveform audio data.
Web Browser ActiveX control: An ActiveX control that programmers can use to add Internet browsing capabilities to applications.
whole word match: In text searching, a process that matches all occurrences of a text string not preceded or followed by an alphanumeric character or an underscore.
Win32: The application programming interface in Windows 95, Windows NT, and Windows CE that enables applications to use the 32-bit instructions available on 80386 and higher processors.
window: A rectangular area on the screen where an application displays output and receives user input. On a Windows CE–based device that supports a graphical display, a window—rather than the screen itself—is the primary output device. Windows are also the means by which applications send and receive messages to the operating system. Therefore, all Windows CE–based applications—even those that lack a visual interface—need to create and manage windows.
window class: A set of attributes that Windows CE uses as a template to create a window. Each window class has a window procedure that processes messages for all windows of that class. Every window in a Windows CE–based application is a member of a window class.
window control: A predefined child window used in conjunction with another application window to provide a standardized way for users to make selections, carry out commands, and perform input and output tasks. Windows controls typically send WM_COMMAND messages.
window coordinate: The position of a window in relation to the upper-left corner of the screen or, for a child window, the upper-left corner of the parent window's client area.
window handle: A 32-bit value, assigned by Windows CE, that uniquely identifies a window.
window procedure: A function, called by the operating system, that controls the appearance and behavior of its associated windows. The procedure receives and processes all messages to these windows.
Windows CE–based platform: An operating system that contains core Windows CE operating system components, an OEM adaptation layer (OAL), and device drivers.
Windows CE Services: A set of technologies that makes Windows CE–based devices Web-enabled. Its architecture is based on a multilayered client/server model that provides the functionality to deliver Web content information to Windows CE–based devices from a wireless network or by desktop synchronization.
window shortcut: A desktop icon on a development workstation that opens a command prompt build window and calls the Windows CE Build Environment tool, Wince.bat, to set the environment variables that are used to build an operating system. Platform Builder includes window shortcuts for the Minshell configuration and for each microprocessor. See also command prompt build window.
Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS): A distributed database for registering and querying dynamic name-to-IP address mappings in a routed network environment. When dynamic addressing through DHCP results in new IP addresses for computers that move between subnets, the changes are automatically updated in the WINS database.
Windows Sockets (Winsock): A programming interface used to provide a protocol-independent transport interface. Windows CE supports most of the common Winsock functions.
window style: A named constant that defines an aspect of the window's appearance and behavior not specified by the window's class.
WinInet: An API that provides Internet access to applications using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
WINS: See Windows Internet Naming Service.
Winsock: See Windows Sockets.
Wireless Push Server (WPS): See Wireless Services server component.
Wireless Services client component: Decodes and processes messages from the Wireless Push Server (WPS). The client architecture allows for new decoding components to be installed at any time.
Wireless Services server component: Allows a content provider or carrier to configure and schedule any number of information acquisition/encoding/transmission components to create a data stream to be transmitted by a carrier to the device. The server component builds on an open architecture to allow new server components to be installed in any part of the stream at any time.
wizard: 1. An interactive Help utility within an application that guides the user through each step of a task. 2. In Platform Builder, wizards are dynamic-link libraries (DLLs). They set up a project for a particular type of application, querying you for the features you want in your program, then generating source files in which much of the mundane coding has been done. See application wizard.
WizardBar: A tool in Platform Builder that gives you visual access to the classes and members in your project, including interfaces and dialog resources. WizardBar tracks and displays your current location in code.
workspace: A container for all the files that make up a project or platform. A workspace can contain multiple projects, including subprojects, but only one platform.
WPS: See Wireless Services server component.
wrapper function: A function that provides a simplified interface to another function, for example by changing the order of some parameters or by interpreting the return code.
writeable section: A data section in a module, such as a .data section containing a module's global variables, which can be written to at run time.