Retrieving MAC Address in Compact Framework

Recently I have seen that getting the MAC address of a Pocket PC network card using the .Net Compact Framework requires calling to the API 'iphlpapi.dll'. This is because the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) classes are not in Compact Framework. Otherwise you should have used WMI to get the MAC address.
But believe me that the process involved in Compact Framework to get the MAC address is complex. So as a suggestion I would say to use the OpenNETCF class libraries. You have to use OpenNETCF.Net and OpenNETCF to successfully get the MAC address. If you want to know what is happening underneath you also can download the OpenNETCF source code too.

OpenNETCF web site is http://www.opennetcf.com/, visit them and see.

The code for getting the MAC address of the first adapter using OpenNETCF would be,

' Creating a variable to hold all the retrieved adapters.
Dim adpcol As OpenNETCF.Net.AdapterCollection = OpenNETCF.Net.Networking.GetAdapters
If adpcol.Count = 1 Then
' adpcol.Item(0).MacAddress will be returning in Byte stream, you have to use Bit Converter to convert the stream to string.
GetDeviceMAC = BitConverter.ToString(adpcol.Item(0).MacAddress)
Else
GetDeviceMAC = "No Adapters Fetched"
End If

(You have to refer OpenNETCF.Net and OpenNETCF to make this code run.)

Yahoo! Go 2.0


Have you tried Yahoo Go 2.0? It has many new additions than the earlier version of Yahoo Go. In supported areas you can even get the traffic reports and maps.

Also note that Yahoo Go 1 service will be stopped on 27th of August 2007.

Try it out at http://mobile.yahoo.com/go.

I am sure that you will like the new version with many new features.

Analyzing Device Application Performance


Recently I tried analyzing my applications' performance running on a Pocket PC. This can be achieved using .Net Compact Framework (.Net CF) Remote Performance Monitor (RPM). .Net CF RPM provides facility to monitor applications which run on devices that are connected to the computer using Active Sync or by general network.

To monitor your device application performance you have to have at least .Net CF SP1 since .Net CF RPM will come with .Net CF Service Pack 1. If you have not yet installed .Net CF SPs then download the SP2 from Microsoft using the following link.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=aea55f2f-07b5-4a8c-8a44-b4e1b196d5c0&DisplayLang=en


RPM consists of 3 main files.
1. NetCFRPM.exe - This is the application file which will run on your computer. This will show performance related data of the device application. This file can be found at C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\SDK\CompactFramework\v2.0\bin if you installed the Service Packs to the default location.

2. netcflaunch.exe - This will give you the connection parameters to the device. The details provided will be in handy if the device is not connected to the computer using Active Sync.

3. netcfrtl.dll - This dll facilitates the connection between the computer and the device.

You have to copy both above files to the device Windows folder (\Windows).


If you need more information on how to use .Net CF RPM visit Steven Pratschner's .Net CF weblog articles.
http://blogs.msdn.com/stevenpr/archive/2006/04/17/577636.aspx
http://blogs.msdn.com/stevenpr/archive/2007/03/08/finding-managed-memory-leaks-using-the-net-cf-remote-performance-monitor.aspx

Installing Office 2007 Ultimate on Windows Vista Ultimate

As it always happens, last few days I was busy with a curious error while trying to install Office 2007 Ultimate edition on my newly installed Windows Vista.

The errors I got were.

I have seen many posts on the internet but many were regarding upgrading to the released version from beta. But my case was different because it was a fresh copy of Vista and it was a DVD received from Microsoft.

After some struggle I got Office installed and would like to share how I succeeded. What I suspect was that it was having a problem copying files from source to destination at a stretch. The way I did was like this.

The first advice I give is, If you are installing office to some other directory than default given directory, please create that exact directory in your hard disk and point the setup to that directory.

Then try normal installation of Office 2007. If you are in my category it will fail after giving one of the above errors. Let it fail by pressing Abort button because we have no other option.

Again start the installation, this time select the top node, right click and select "Install on first use" (This will make all the software's install at the first attempt made to use them.) and continue with the setup.

In our earlier setup, it failed saying that one of the cabinet file was corrupt so cannot continue with the setup. This time because we used the option install on first use this error will not appear.

After successfully completing the setup. Try running Word for the first time. This will start the setup process. Sometimes you may be required to insert or point to the installation source during setup. If the same above mentioned error comes click Abort. Even you click Abort Word will start. Then after closing Word do the same on PowerPoint and let PowerPoint also start.

Now you have Word and PowerPoint up and running. Close all opened software's and insert you Office installation source and start the installation again. This time select "Run from Computer" option (or what ever options you want to select). Then start the installation. When Office setup starts the progress bar remove your installation source (CD, DVD,...). Because the new installer will keep the required files for the setup, it will run normally for sometime. If any files for the selected options are missing then installer will ask at that place to point to the source.

After sometime the setup will request for the files which are missing (My case it asked for ExcelLR.cab). This time it will allow you to browse for the file. Be careful this will allow you only once to browse, if you select the wrong location then it will give setup fail message and you have to restart setup after pressing Abort. When browsing for the file remember to just point to the folder above the actual file not to the actual file it is requesting. (In my case I directed to the folder CD:\English\OfficeSystem2007\ULTIMATE2007\Excel.en-us.)

If you properly followed everything setup will now continue without errors.

If you are still having problems then I recommend you to find another edition of Office 2007 (Enterprise, Professional) and try installing Excel with that edition. After successfully completing that setup run the Ultimate setup again. Then when the progress bar starts remove the installation source. You may have to browse for the installation source after sometimes. After you installed ultimate edition successfully remove the other edition using add remove programs. And perform a repair operation on the ultimate setup. This will fix any edition clashes and will configure ultimate edition properly.

Automating Actions in Photoshop

Recently I had to edit several hundred images. The point was that I had to do the same thing to all the images. So I struggled a bit to find a way to automate the process. In this way Adobe Photoshop will do the same actions to all the images without my involvement. Cool right, Ok then before explaining the way to do this I'll explain what I am going to do.


To make things simple, just imagine that you need to put some text to some images and needs to save the images as Jpeg. First things first, so open one image from your image set after starting Adobe Photoshop (Please note that I am using Adobe Photoshop CS2).

1. We need to record our actions to make Photoshop repeat them on other images.

Open the Actions pane by clicking on Window -> Actions or pressing Alt + F9.

Now create a new Set by clicking on the folder like icon at the bottom of the actions pane. When new set window comes put a name that you want. I kept the default name which was Set 1.

Then create a new Action by clicking on the small icon located little right to the New Set icon.

In the New Action window you can specify a name (Action 1), a set which this action will belong, a key combination to initiate the action and a color for the action if you want.

Now you are ready to record the actions. After double checking whether the Begin Record button (Circuler button as the second button from the left in the Action pane.) is activated, use the Horizontal Type Tool (T) to insert the required text into the image. Format the text as you want.

Since now we are done with the required actions, stop the Recording by clicking on the Stop Playing/Recording button (The left most button [rectangular] on the Action pane.) Note that not only putting text, you can do many things available in Photoshop at this point and record to Automate later.

2. Now you have successfully created the repitative tasks. What you have to do now is to perform all these tasks on the images you have.

If all the images you want to change are not in the same folder put all of them to one folder. Having images inside sub folders are ok.

Then Click on File -> Scripts -> Image Processor.


In Image Processor select the second radio button at Step 1 and click on Select Folder... button and select the folder where your images are.

Select the Step 2 as you like. (What I choose is to save the images on a folder named New Folder under my original folder)

Select the Save as Jpeg check box and type appropriate quality in Step 3 (5 in my case).

In the Step 4 select the set (Set 1) and action (Action 1) you have created above.

If you want any Copyright information you can enter them also.
After selecting everything click on Run to start the batch process.

You will be able to see Photoshop automating. How helpful is this? Was a lot to me.
Happy playing with images.

Installing Visual Studio 2005 SP1


Did you try installing SP1 for Visual Studio without any errors? If not or if you are still did not start the installation some of the following details will help.

The list of things that Microsoft had fixed in Visual Studio 2005 SP1 is located at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=918526.

Most of the time the setup will fail due to the insufficient disk space. So before trying to install the SP1 check whether you have at least 6.3 GBs of free disk space. If you have installed VS in other partition than Windows I recommend to check for free disk space in both partitions.
Another common error which can happen when installing this is,

Error 1718. File FileName was rejected by digital signature policy.

This error is due to the Software Restriction Policies (also known as SAFER) that exist in the operating systems that came after Windows XP. This was introduced to help users avoid running unsafer files. SAFER will be used by Windows Installer to check the file signatures to confirm that the files were not tampered. Note that this error can happen when installing any large Windows installer package or Windows installer patch.

This error occurs when there is no contiguous piece of virtual memory to accommodate the file. Then the Windows installer will fail to validate the file and result in this error.

There are few things you can do to fix this,

1. You can edit the registry to make the PolicyScope value to 1 before you install the package.

2. By changing the SAFER settings to allow administrators to install the package.

3. Installing the hotfix if you are running Windows 2003,

For any of this you can get more information from Microsoft by visiting http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=925336.

Apart from that Visual Studio SP1 release note can be found at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=928957.

Also I suggest that you refer Heath Stewart's articles for more installation tips. Heath is Technical Lead working at Microsoft http://blogs.msdn.com/heaths/archive/tags/VS+2005+SP1/default.aspx.

Even though I had no luck recovering the applications without formatting the system which crashed with the failed installation of Visual Studio SP1, I guess you will have much more luck after reading these articles.

Have you tried Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a free tool provided by Google which will analyze your web site usage. It will monitor your site and will generate reports such as
* number of users visited
* number of minutes spent on the site
* peak times
* place where users came
* what explorer used, etc.
This list is simply a short list of features. See for your self by visiting,

https://www.google.com/analytics/home.

You can log in using your GMail Id and password. Then you have to add your site to analytics and it will give you a script file which you needs to put in to your site. That's all to worry then Google will do the reporting to you.
Happy analysis.

World's Smallest Mobile Phone - WatchPhone

Have you seen the cool gadget SMS M 500. This is a watch with basic phone functionalities. This will include facilities and features such as

* Full SMS and MMS functionality

* MP3 Support AAC/MP3 and MP4 Support Video Playing

* Touchscreen with Built-in Stylus

* Memory: 128MB Built-in Memory

* Battery: 400mAh, Talk Time 200 Minutes, Standby Time 80 Hours

* USB: For Data Transfer and Recharging

* Bluetooth 2.0

* Date/Time

* Last Number Redial

* Recent Calls

* Missed Calls

* File Manager

* 199 Contacts

* Multi Languages

* Flight Mode

* Email

Roughly this will be priced around A$ 1000 (Australian Dollar 1000).

For the full details please visit the manufacturer SMS Australia at http://www.mymobilewatch.com/watch_specification.php.

Clearing Windows History


Have anyone tried removing items in Windows history as in Run window history items, most recent documents, web browser history, most recent applications like stuff?
As usual, a bizzare requirement of deleting the Run window history came to me.

After some wondering here and there I found that there is a registry position where the Run window history is recorded. You can find that entry at

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU

in the registry editor. (To open Registry Editor go to Run window and type RegEdit.)
All the history entries dropped in the Run window will be in the list. If you wants to edit or delete an entry you can edit or remove them using the registry editor.
In some scenarios this list will be empty even though there are items in the Run history. In such a case there is an option you can set so that the next restart will erase all the history items. This method is really good if you want to start fresh removing al history items. This will remove Run history, recent programs, recent documents, internet browser history, etc by one shot.
Interested, ok so to do this first open the registry editor. Then go to the following location

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Now you need to add a Binary Value named ClearRecentDocsOnExit (Edit -> New -> Binary Value), then make the binary value of that to 1 (Edit -> Modify Binary Data).
The next time you shutdown or restart Windows it will take little longer to shutdown because it is clearing the history items. After you start again you will be free of your history items.

If you always want to start fresh at each restart keep the setting as it is. If you just needed to clear the history at that point like me you have to either delete the value we made or have to make the binary vale 0 so it will not clear the history at each restart. If you needs to change this find the ClearRecentDocsOnExit value and modify the value to read 0 so windows will keep your activity history.

Back in Sri Lanka

Came back to home sweet home. Even though the country is having problems at the moment it feels nice to be here in my motherland.
On my way back I enjoyed Singapore little bit.
If you would like to know more please see my photo album named Singapore. I think Singapore airport is one of the best airports in the world providing great facilities to travellers. From the airports which I have been I can say Singapore is the best. Their idea of having themed parks inside the airport is a brilliant idea. Also I heard that they are building there new terminal (Terminal 3) with much more features. So I guess anyone going to Singapore won't be disappointed.

Watched Spider Man 3 on IMAX

Spider Man 3 was released 3rd of May 2007. I had a chance to watch it in Melbourne IMAX theater. This was my first IMAX experience. I feel great to watch Spider Man on its release day.

It was a great movie experience. The speciality in IMAX is it is having very large screen and also the sounds system is also complicated and powerful. The screen is made out of tiny holes so that sound can come through the screen. When you watch you will feel as if you are in the movie. I think the experience is worth the extra money spent.

If you would like to know more about IMAX, pay a visit to their site www.IMAX.com.

Adding and Auto Sizing the background image of a MDI Form in .NET

Some months back I faced a problem of resizing an image on one of my tablet PC device applications. The image was on a Multiple Document Interface (MDI) form. Recently only I remembered this and did some research on this, and thought that better to put an entry.
People who have tried should be knowing that we cannot simply add an image to a form and make it automatically re size when the form changes it's size.
In a normal form we can put a picture box and make it fill the entire screen and can set the image properties to always stretch the image. This will re size the background image when ever you re size the form.
But in MDI forms this is not possible. Whatever control you put on a MDI form will appear on top of all other controls, hiding even the child forms that are open. I have found two elegant methods which can be used.

Method 1 -
Insert the following code into the MDI form code. Here we are using Paint event of the MDI form.

Private Sub frmMDI_Paint(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs) Handles MyBase.Paint
' Always the MDI form will be the last control in the control collection. The following will take the MDI forms reference so we can access the properties of it.
Dim varControl As Control = Me.Controls(Me.Controls.Count - 1)
' Loading the background image required to place on the MDI.
Dim varImage As Image = Image.FromFile("E:\Projects\Tablet\Arjuna\Images\Background-Landsc.jpg")
' Resize the image and assign it to the MDI form background.
varControl.BackgroundImage = New Bitmap(varImage, Me.Width, Me.Height)
End Sub


Method 2 -
Insert the following code into the MDI form code. Here we are using Resize event of the MDI form.

Private Sub frmMDI_Resize(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Resize
' Loading the background image required to place on the MDI.
Dim varImage As Image = Image.FromFile("E:\Projects\Tablet\Arjuna\Images\Background-Landsc.jpg")
' If there are no space, no point of drawing so exit the sub procedure.
If Me.ClientSize.Width = 0 OrElse Me.ClientSize.Height <= Me.StatusBar1.Height Then Exit Sub
' Creating the bitmap image which is used as the background image.
Dim varBitmap As New Bitmap(Me.ClientSize.Width, Me.ClientSize.Height - Me.StatusBar1.Height, Imaging.PixelFormat.Format24bppRgb)
' Getting the drawing surface of the bitmap (varBitmap).
Dim varGraphics As Graphics = Graphics.FromImage(varBitmap)
' Sets the interpolation mode of the graphics object. Interpolation mode determines how intermediate values between two endpoints are calculated
varGraphics.InterpolationMode = Drawing2D.InterpolationMode.HighQualityBicubic
' Draw the image on the bitmap.
varGraphics.DrawImage(varImage, 0, 0, varBitmap.Width, varBitmap.Height)
' Assign the bitmap as the background image of the MDI form.
Me.BackgroundImage = varBitmap
End Sub

If you don't have a status bar in your MDI form just remove the codes that are coloured Magenta.

Method 1 does have some problems like, it is visible when the background image re sizes and also I found that if you make the form small sometimes the background image will not be re sized.
So I prefer Method 2.