Installation Instructions | Sample Projects | FAQ's

Methods

AddToRecentDocs AlwaysOnTopOff AlwaysOnTopOn Beep CreateShortcut GetHwnd GetShortcutTarget InputBox MemoryStatus MsgBox ObjectStore PlayWaveFile

PowerStatusRegCreateKey RegDeleteKey RegDeleteValue RegGetValue RegSetValue SendMessageLong SendMessageString Shell (Enhanced) Sleep WaitCursor

AddToRecentDocs

Purpose:

The AddToRecentDocs method adds a specified document/file to the document menu under the Start button.

Syntax:

control.AddToRecentDocs Filename

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
Filename	Required. A valid filename.

Return Value:

None.

Example Code:

vbce.AddToRecentDocs "\doc1.txt"

AlwaysOnTopOff

Purpose:

The AlwaysOnTopOff method sets the style of a window back to normal after the AlwaysOnTopOn method has been used to place the window on top of all other windows.

Syntax:

control.AlwaysOnTopOff hwnd

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
hwnd	Required. A valid handle to a window, usually a form

Return Value:

None.

Example Code:

VBCEUtil1.AlwaysOnTopOff Form2.hwnd

AlwaysOnTopOn

Purpose:

The AlwaysOnTopOn method places a window on top of all other windows. When the window is no longer needed to be on top, use the AlwaysOnTopOff method to turn it off.

Syntax:

control.AlwaysOnTopOn hwnd

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
hwnd	Required. A valid handle to a window, usually a form

Return Value:

None.

Remarks:

This method can be used to simulate a modal form. Disable the first form be setting its Enabled property to false and then show the second "fake modal" form. In the Form_Load event of the second "fake modal" form use the code sample below.

Example Code:

VBCEUtil1.AlwaysOnTopOn Form2.hwnd

Beep

Purpose:

The Beep method will play a specified tone.

Syntax:

control.Beep Type

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
Type	Required. A constant representing a specified tone.

Return Value:

None.

Example Code:

'-- MessageBeep Constants
Const MB_ICONHAND = &H10&
Const MB_ICONQUESTION = &H20&
Const MB_ICONEXCLAMATION = &H30&
Const MB_ICONASTERISK = &H40&
Const MB_OK = &H0&
Const MB_SYSTEM_DEFAULT = 255

VBCEUtil1.Beep MB_ICONEXCLAMATION

CreateShortcut

Purpose:

The CreateShortcut method allows you to create a shortcut to a file.

Syntax:

control.CreateShortcut Shortcut, AppName

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
Shortcut	Required. Shortcut location and name.   Must have the extension .lnk
Appname	Required. The file that the Shortcut will point to.

Return Value:

None

Example Code:

vbceutil1.CreateShortcut "\Windows\Desktop\Hearts.lnk", "\Windows\Hearts.exe"

GetHwnd

Purpose:

Retrieves the handle of a control.

Syntax:

control.GetHwnd

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.

Return Value:

Long vale indicating the HWND of the control which has focus.

Remarks:

None

Example Code:

command1.SetFocus
msgbox vbceUtil1.GetHwnd

GetShortcutTarget

Purpose:

Retrieves the filename that a Shortcut points to.

Syntax:

control.GetShortcutTarget Shortcut

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
Shortcut	Required. Name of a shortcut.

Return Value:

String Expressions representing the filename the shortcut points to.

Remarks:

None

Example Code:

MsgBox vbceutil1.GetShortcutTarget("\Windows\Desktop\Hearts.lnk")

InputBox

Purpose:

Display standard VB InputBox for PPC devices.

Syntax:

control.InputBox Prompt, Title

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
Prompt	Message to appear in InputBox.
Title	InputBox Title

Return Value:

String value entered into InputBox textbox

Remarks:

None

Example Code:

msgbox vbce.InputBox("What is your name", "Name")

MemoryStatus

Purpose:

Method to determine the total amount of memory and the amount of memory used.

Syntax:

control.MemoryStatus Type

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
Type	Required. Constant specifying what type of memory status to query

Return Value:

Specified memory value

Remarks:

None

Example Code:

Const MEMORY_PERCENTAGE_USED = 0
Const MEMORY_PHYSICAL_TOTAL = 1
Const MEMORY_PHYSICAL_AVAIL = 2
Const MEMORY_VIRTUAL_TOTAL = 3
Const MEMORY_VIRTUAL_AVAIL = 4

Dim lPhysTotal As Long

lPhysTotal = CLng(vbce.MemoryStatus(MEMORY_PHYSICAL_TOTAL)) / 1024
MsgBox "Phy Total: " & iPhysTotal

MsgBox

Purpose:

Displays a message in a dialog box, waits for the user to click a button, and returns an Integer indicating which button the user clicked.

The MsgBox function is identical to that of the standard VBCE MsgBox function, except that the message box displayed will be modal to the application unlike the VBCE function.

Syntax:

control.MsgBox (prompt [, buttons] [,title])

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
prompt	Required. String expression displayed as the message in the dialog box. The maximum length of prompt is approximately 1024 characters, depending on the width of the characters used. If prompt consists of more than one line, you can separate the lines using a carriage return character (Chr(13)), a linefeed character (Chr(10)), or carriage return – linefeed character combination (Chr(13) & Chr(10)) between each line.
buttons	Optional. Numeric expression that is the sum of values specifying the number and type of buttons to display, the icon style to use, the identity of the default button, and the modality of the message box. If omitted, the default value for buttons is 0.
title	Optional. String expression displayed in the title bar of the dialog box. If you omit title, the application name is placed in the title bar.

Return Value:

Constant	Value	Description
vbOk	1	OK
vbCancel	2	Cancel
vbAbort	3	Abort
vbRetry	4	Retry
vbIgnore	5	Ignore
vbYes	6	Yes
vbNo	7	No

Remarks:

The message box is not modal in the emulator, only on the handheld devices.

Example Code:

Dim myResult
myResult = VBCEUtil1.MsgBox("Are you sure you wish to exit?", vbQuestion + vbYesNo, "My App")
if myResult = vbYes then
    App.End
else
    'return to normal program operation
End If

ObjectStore

Purpose:

Determines the total amount and free space in object store.

Syntax:

control.ObjectStore Type

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
Type	Required. Constant specifying what type of ObjectStore status to query

Return Value:

Value indicating object total space or free space

Remarks:

None

Example Code:

Const FREE_SPACE = 0
Const TOTAL_SPACE = 1

MsgBox vbce.ObjectStore(FREE_SPACE)
MsgBox vbce.ObjectStore(TOTAL_SPACE)

PlayWaveFile

Purpose:

Plays a *.wav file.

Syntax:

control.PlayWaveFile filename

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
filename	Required. A path and filename of a wav file.

Return Value:

None

Remarks:

Check that the file exists before calling this function.

Example Code:

VBCEUtil1.PlayWaveFile "\windows\alarm1.wav"

PowerStatus

Purpose:

Determine power status of CE device

Syntax:

control.PowerStatus Type, Cache

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
Type	Required. Integer Constant specifying what status to query.
Cache	Required. Boolean value.  True = Query driver directly.   False = Use cached data.

Return Value:

Power Status Requested

Remarks:

None

Example Code:

'-- ===============
'-- Power Constants
'-- ===============
Const POWER_CACHED_DATA = False
Const POWER_DRIVER_DATA = True

'-- Return Values
Const AC_LINE_OFFLINE = 0
Const AC_LINE_ONLINE = 1
Const AC_LINE_BACKUP_POWER = 2
Const AC_LINE_UNKNOWN = 255
Const BATTERY_FLAG_HIGH = 1
Const BATTERY_FLAG_LOW = 2
Const BATTERY_FLAG_CRITICAL = 4
Const BATTERY_FLAG_CHARGING = 8
Const BATTERY_FLAG_NO_BATTERY = 80
Const BATTERY_FLAG_UNKNOWN = 255
Const BATTERY_PERCENTAGE_UNKNOWN = 255
Const BATTERY_LIFE_UNKNOWN = -1
Const BACKUP_BATTERY_LIFEPERCENT_UNKNOWN = 255
Const BACKUP_BATTERY_LIFETIME_UNKNOWN = -1
Const BACKUP_BATTERY_FULL_LIFETIME_UNKNOWN = -1

'-- Query Constants
Const POWER_AC_LINE_STATUS = 0
Const POWER_BATTERY_FLAG = 1
Const POWER_BATTERY_LIFEPERCENT = 2
Const POWER_BATTERY_LIFETIME = 3
Const POWER_BATTERY_FULLLIFETIME = 4
Const POWER_BACKUP_BATTERYFLAG = 5
Const POWER_BACKUP_BATTERYLIFEPERCENT = 6
Const POWER_BACKUP_BATTERYLIFETIME = 7
Const POWER_BACKUP_BATTERYFULLLIFETIME = 8

MsgBox vbce.PowerStatus(POWER_BATTERY_LIFETIME, True)

RegCreateKey

Purpose:

Creates a registry key

Syntax:

control.RegCreateKey Section, Key

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
Section	Required. Registry folder - LOCAL_MACHINE, LOCAL_USER, etc...
Key	Required. The sub-folder to be created in the registry.

Return Value:

None

Remarks:

None

Example Code:

vbce.RegCreateKey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, "Software\Dice"

RegDeleteKey

Purpose:

Deletes a registry key.

Syntax:

control.RegDeleteKey Section, Key

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
Section	Required. Registry folder - LOCAL_MACHINE, LOCAL_USER, etc...
Key	Required. The sub-folder to be deleted in the registry.

Return Value:

None

Remarks:

None

Example Code:

vbce.RegDeleteKey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, "Software\Dice"

RegDeleteValue

Purpose:

Deletes a registry value.

Syntax:

control.RegDeleteValue Section, Key

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
Section	Required. Registry folder - LOCAL_MACHINE, LOCAL_USER, etc...
Key	Required. The sub-folder + value name to be deleted in the registry.

Return Value:

None

Remarks:

None

Example Code:

vbce.RegDeleteValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, "Software\Dice\NickName"

RegGetValue

Purpose:

Retrieves a registry value.

Syntax:

control.RegGetValue Section, Key, ValueName

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
Section	Required. Registry folder - LOCAL_MACHINE, LOCAL_USER, etc...
Key	Required. The sub-folder(key) in the registry.
Value Name	Required. Name of value to retrieve

Return Value:

Reg Data

Remarks:

None

Example Code:

MsgBox "Return Value: " & vbce.RegGetValue(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, "Software\Dice", "NickName")

RegSetValue

Purpose:

Sets a registry value.

Syntax:

control.RegSetValue Section, Key, Type, ValueName, Value

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
Section	Required. Registry folder - LOCAL_MACHINE, LOCAL_USER, etc...
Key	Required. The sub-folder(key) in the registry.
Type	Required. Data Type of value
Value Name	Required. Name of value to set
Value	Required. Actual value to set

Return Value:

None

Remarks:

None

Example Code:

vbce.RegSetValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, "Software\Dice", REG_SZ, "NickName", "The DiceMan"

SendMessageLong

Purpose:

Sends a message to a window. This can be used for multiple purposes.

Syntax:

control.SendMessageLong(Hwnd, Msg, wParam, lParam)

Parameters:

 

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
hwnd	Required. A valid Window Handle.
Msg	Required. Msg constant to send to window
wParam	Required. wParam for message
lParam	Required. lParam for message (long value)

Return Value:

Depends on the message sent.

Remarks:

Consult the SDK documentation on the use of the SendMessage API.

Example Code:

Const EM_SCROLLCARET = &HB7
'Works around the SelStart scrolling Bug
'Scrolls the text box so that the
'caret (cursor) is in view
Call VBCEUtil1.SendMessageLong( _
     Text1.hwnd, EM_SCROLLCARET, 0, 0)

SendMessageString

Purpose:

Sends a message to a window. This can be used for multiple purposes.

Syntax:

control.SendMessageString(Hwnd, Msg, wParam, lParam)

Parameters:

 

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
hwnd	Required. A valid Window Handle.
Msg	Required. Msg constant to send to window
wParam	Required. wParam for message
lParam	Required. lParam for message (string value)

Return Value:

Depends on the message sent.

Remarks:

Consult the SDK documentation on the use of the SendMessage API.

Example Code:

Const CB_FINDSTRING = &H14C
Dim MyIndex
Combo1.AddItem "Item1"
Combo1.AddItem "Item2"

'Get the position of "Item1"
MyIndex = VBCEUtil1.SendMessageString( _
          Combo1.hwnd, CB_FINDSTRING, -1, "Item1")

If myIndex >= 0 then
    VBCEUtil1.Msgbox "Item is at position " & MyIndex
else
    VBCEUtil1.Msgbox "Item is not in combo box."
end if

'Get position of "This Item is not there"
MyIndex = VBCEUtil1.SendMessageString( _
          Combo1.hwnd, CB_FINDSTRING, -1, "This Item is not there")

If myIndex >= 0 then
    VBCEUtil1.Msgbox "Item is at position " & MyIndex
else
    VBCEUtil1.Msgbox "Item is not in combo box."
end if

Shell

Purpose:

Runs an executable program

Syntax:

control.Shell PathName [, Arguments]

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
PathName	Required. A valid Filename of an executable to run.
Arguments	Optional. Command line arguments to be passed to the executable.

Return Value:

True if the executable was launched, otherwise False.

Remarks:

Enhanced to work on HPC/Pro's.  Windows CE searches the following directories for the executable (in order):

• The root of the PC Card if it exists.
• The Windows (\windows) directory
• The root directory (\ ) of the device.

Example Code:

if VBCEUtil1.Shell("peghelp.exe", "soltr.hlp") then
    MsgBox "Solitare help was launched."
else
    MsgBox "Solitare help was not launched."
End If

Sleep

Purpose:

Causes the application to pause processing for a set amount of time

Syntax:

control.Sleep Seconds

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
Seconds	Required. Number of seconds in thousands to pause.  Ex. 5000 = 5 seconds

Return Value:

None

Remarks:

None

Example Code:

vbce.Sleep 5000
MsgBox "Done sleeping for 5 seconds"

WaitCursor

Purpose:

Shows the WaitCursor (hourglass).

Syntax:

control.WaitCursor WaitCursorOn

Parameters:

Part	Description
control	A valid reference to a VBCEUtil control placed on a form.
WaitCursorOn	Required. Boolean (true or false) whether the cursor should be on.

Return Value:

None.

Remarks:

WaitCursor does not work in the emulator, only on the device.

Example Code:

VBCEUtil1.WaitCursor True ' Hourglass On
VBCEUtil1.WaitCursor False ' Hourglass Off

Distribution

Installation

Methods
AddToRecentDocs
AlwaysOnTopOff
AlwaysOnTopOn
Beep
CreateShortcut
GetHwnd
GetShortcutTarget
InputBox
MemoryStatus
MsgBox
ObjectStore
PlayWaveFile
PowerStatus
RegCreateKey
RegDeleteKey
RegDeleteValue
RegGetValue
RegSetValue
SendMessageLong
SendMessageString
Shell (Enhanced)
Sleep
WaitCursor