Bundled Applications for a Palm-size PC

Bundled applications are separate from the Windows CE operating system and that come with every Palm-size PC. The following list describes the bundled applications on a Palm-size PC that expose APIs or contain controls that are discussed in other sections of this book:

• Channels

  The Channels application is an implementation of the Mobile Channels technology. Mobile Channels is an extension of the Internet Explorer architecture for offline browsing. Mobile Channels allows a user to synchronize Web content between a Palm-size PC and a desktop computer.

• Help for Windows CE

  Help for Windows CE lets users access your HTML Help files on a Palm-size PC. Because screen space is crucial on a Palm-size PC, do not enable the Help button on your applications. Instead, the user accesses your Help files through the Help menu item on the Start menu. Palm-size PC software sends a WM_HELP message to the current application when the Help menu item is selected. Create a new process in your application’s WinProc function for PegHelp.exe, which is the Help for Windows CE application. The following code example shows how you can call a specific Help page using CreateProcess.

  CreateProcess(TEXT("PegHelp.exe"), TEXT("my_topic3.htp"),NULL, NULL, FALSE, 0, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL);
  

  Palm-size PC software uses the same technique to access Help files for dialog boxes. Place CreateProcess in your dialog procedure, with the text set to the appropriate Help file.

  Note Be sure that the HTML links within your Help file work properly. Because a Palm-size PC is so compact, there is no error message for broken Help links. Instead, the links simply do not work.

  The following list describes HTML in Help for Windows CE as it differs from HTML 3.0:

  • Files must include the <!-- PegHelp --> tag in the header. This tag must also separate Help topics within the same file.
  • Anchor tags must have an .htm extension.
  • Images must use an IMG SRC tag.
  • Images must have a .2bp extension.
  • Help for Windows CE files must have an .htm extension.
• Pocket Outlook

  Microsoft® Pocket Outlook® provides the primary PIM features for the Palm-size PC, including a calendar, a task sheet, ontacts, a database, and Inbox, an e-mail application. In Pocket Outlook, Inbox and Contacts have been changed from their original Windows CE versions to meet Palm-size PC software requirements. Most changes concern field placement to fit on a Palm-size PC screen. The other changes concern how these applications transfer data; because Palm-size PC software does not enable the Windows CE Explorer, both Contacts and Inbox implement their own file-transfer capabilities.

  In addition to providing PIM functionality, Pocket Outlook exposes the Inbox and Contacts APIs.

• Voice Recorder

  Voice Recorder enables allows users to record and play back sounds through the Voice Recorder control. For more information on the Voice Recorder control, see Palm-size PC Controls.

Palm-size PC software also includes Active Desktop. Active Desktop provides summary information from a variety of applications, including Pocket Outlook and Channels. Your application can create Desktop Components to display data on the Active Desktop of a desktop computer.