yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Windows Mobile Software Development] TeDeV:
i am using vb.net

i haven't got to the "retrieve sms" thing yet. and i don't know c++ .

vb.net and c# are kinda "not good enough" for this kind of things. (stupid microsoft devs)

i will keep on looking tomorrow for more fixes on this thing, even though i am SURE i will stack somewhere because of coding language problems.

i am sure that i can read, send sms with vb.net but i am not sure if i can retrieve the already existing ones.

if anyone is willing to help or has the experience feel free to contribute :)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] ajskhan:
The file has been downloaded the maximum amount of times.

If you would like, I can host the file for you. It's the least I can do. Shoot me a PM.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] bstylz911:
so who will get the money???
[Windows Mobile Software Development] josh_boyd90:
yah can we somehow get the link uploaded again?
[Windows Mobile Software Development] dickenz:
I'm sure we can all be grown up enough to diligently split the money up between those that work on the project.

I personally don't want any. I'd just be happy with a decent SMS app.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] longice:
We need to get TeDev's graphics-alpha-version available for download again ASAP! Anyone got the file? Upload it and pass it on to ajskhan, please!
[Windows Mobile Software Development] JukEboXAuDiO:
Doesn't work on QVGA? Also this graphics alpha isn't functional? Also will this make texting on slide keyboards as fast as VITO SMS? VITO SMS is the fastest one out there.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] ace10134:
If Vito SMS is soo fast, then why are we even bothering ourselves with creating another SMS app? I personally love Vito SMS, the only problem is the loading screen when you initally start it up, but since we can multitask, there's no problem with that. Idk, vito sms might be a little heavy on the RAM usage. But honestly, I bet our "light" sms app with be just as resourse intense as the others.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] JukEboXAuDiO:
Thats good insight but I use VITO SMS because its quick and easy and it doesn't cause in issue when I slide my keyboard on my Titan. When I use teh straight messager it freezes all the time to process. Its a pain. I want to know if this light one will be smooth like VITO SMS with less loading screens and Resource hogging.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] aidandj:
What if the red and green matched the red and green from htc's s2a because those look really nice
[Windows Mobile Software Development] longice:
The idea was that they were gonna match... but I haven't seen what has been done in the graphics-only-alpha release, since I'm not one of the 10 lucky ones that got to download it;)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] TeDeV:
i am uploading it again guys just a sec

here it is. i uploaded it to my account so u should be ok without the 10 times download

http://rapidshare.com/files/241779260/s2s.rar
[Windows Mobile Software Development] Kraize:
Holy ****! Very nice Proof of concept! I know you can go further :) We'll definitely get new apps up like this by posting concepts and accumulating bounty :)

[Suggestions]

Think you could replace windows messaging later on? Like when you click Messaging, it leads to this app instead (I don't mean change shortcut, but actually make it call upon S2S instead of regular Messaging)

Instead of having received, sent, and unread symbols on the side, you only need the received and sent. In a threaded message, it'd be awkward to do unread :P

Have the typing box expand as you type more, just like Messaging does in the new wm6.5 builds.

I think instead of having it like S2A and doing a Cancel and a Send, Just have a slide to answer because you already have a back button. It might get redundant after a while and it wouldn't make much sense to have the Sent, Received, Unread texxt above the message when you have the icons on the side, you should not add those. It'll save space as well :)

Like:

MyTXT is a better name then S2S.

Make sure it integrates with the messaging notification and regular popup notifications, or have your own popup notifications that has something like slide to reply/cancel, but that might get annoying after a while.

Make sure the slider is bigger than the one in the screenshot, because people like me have big fingers lol

Have the picture next to the contact sync with the contact picture in the contact app.

Make the S2S optional! I would also just love a new SMS app that is skinnable and more customizable than the regular threaded sms! More people would be interested if you go this route

Biggest suggestion: Backup/Restore Threaded SMS in chronological order! If it's possible for you, Add a backup/restore option. I do this with PIM Backup, but the only problem, it does it in a way that it restores Received then sent messages, not in chronological order. This would be helpful :)

[Questions]

How do you plan on making this skinnable?

How do you plan on integrating MMS?

Is it possible to show a preview of the MMS?

Would this be possible with e-mail?

Could this fully replace the internal SMS? Like all sms and mms would be directed towards this app rather than messaging and you cannot access messaging unless you uninstall this app (or include an option to switch between them).

I know all this may not be possible for you to do and it might be asking a lot, but I'm hoping some other developer gets interested in this.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] dancano:
Please don't forget WQVGA.

The Interface isn't aligned right. the concept itself looks good though :)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] TeDeV:
thank u guys, for ur replies, i am working right now on making it fully orientation aware, as for the QVGA and the WQVGA don't worry, as u can see, the messages work correctly, except the pictures. All we have to do is create smaller pics for the qvga :) so this is a "theme-problem", not coding problem :)

as for the windows messaging, i didn't get it. what is wrong with pressing a different button to open S2S instead of the original icon?
[Windows Mobile Software Development] longice:
Man, this is just

beautiful

!!!!!!!! It looks so great, I'm in love with it already!! We just gotta get this up and running :D:D:D
[Windows Mobile Software Development] Kraize:
Why not make it muti resolution compatible? Like let it scale to device size maybe? That would be easier. Just start with a base vga and wvga and svga. They can then be scaled to qvga, wqvga and sqvga. :)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] TeDeV:
because this will make the application even slower. it will need to resize all the time the pictures as you move inside the application, and this is not smart :) or quick
[Windows Mobile Software Development] longice:
Don't know if this helps, but FingerMenu has quite a nice UI for the menus... anything to pick from this? Check out the thread here..
[Windows Mobile Software Development] odyssey96:
Cool in that case I shall download your app and work on one aswell, although I code in C#, and maybe we can collaborate?
[Windows Mobile Software Development] dickenz:
We don't need to skin menu's. I prefer it to be handled by the system menus. Some people use finger menu, some use Rhodium menu enhancement and some prefer 6.5 default. So let's cater for everyone.

Great work TeDeV. Looks great on the device, appreciate the effort.

EVERYONE please note this is just a graphical preview to see how it would look on a VGA device. The goal is not to fit on your other screens yet or have any UI changes, features/functions etc - it's merely a preview and not an application that is ready for multidevice use. We're only just beginning. Layout changes may happen, design choices may change, we'll see. There is a long way to go yet :)

This is by no means a final product in my mockups. It's just an insipiration if you will, a base to start with and fine tweak until we have a lovely SMS app that is more than good enough to replace WM messaging.

@Kraize:

I'm sure we ca replace WM messaging somehow. VITO does right?
[Windows Mobile Software Development] ajskhan:
In case that link goes down:

http://charleysburleson.com/other-files/s2s.rar

if there is a problem hosting it, please do let me know and it will be taken down ASAP.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] magicalan:
what is this i open the s2s.exe on my computer and at picture came out xD
[Windows Mobile Software Development] longice:
Please read the posts carefully. You are supposed to open this on your device, not on your computer:p

And be aware that this is NOT a functional app, it is just a graphics preview. The app doesn't do anything. It's just a preview, so that you can see what the app will look like when it gets done.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] sinoo:
Looks awesome... Amazing...
[Windows Mobile Software Development] TeDeV:
ok guys, here are the "today's fixes". it might seem as a little bit of work, but trust me. i am dealing with all the crapy disadvantages i am getting from the language.

http://rapidshare.com/files/241991047/s2s.rar

as u might notice again, i haven't include the "circle-type" message, as i don't know what that is, and i can't think of any usage for that. i have also thought about the slide bar (which is not included in this version), and my opinion is that it shouldn't exist since it takes space (enough space), which we could use to display more of a new typing message, or of an existing one.

that's my opinion :) tell me what u think. i have also a problem that i don't know how to solve yet. as u might notice, when u open the keyboard.... the textbox doesn't move up so the keyboard goes above it. i need to find a way to over come this.

if this goes well, i might start finding a way to import the already existing sms and make this app kinda working (as a VERY alpha version, don't start me on mms etc)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] ace10134:
I second that. No slide2send necessary, it's just an extra hassle to use, really.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] d4nii:
I love the idea of the sidebar =( haha
[Windows Mobile Software Development] Kraize:
That's why one of my suggestions was to make it optional because some people would prefer it.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] Touchmypro:
Ok so I have a question for everyone.

The main concern surrounding this application seem to be how to add features while keeping the memory footprint down correct?

Now I no NOTHING about programing at all,but "in theory" wouldn't it be possible to make a larger file that has all these options compiled mainly into one executable file then compress it with an executable compression program like this one >>http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=493628&highlight=squeezer

I use this program on applications installed on my phone all the time and it works very nicely,it just cant be used on .Net files(it prefers c languages)

This program IS NOT to compress files to a RAR,Zip,ARC type format,but rather to compress *.exe files internally so they are smaller. The result is always a dramatically different memory footprint and faster loading times.

YotaContacts.exe: Original - 3,379 kb \Compressed - 883 kb

Opera9.exe: Original - 6,475 kb \Compressed - 2,484 kb

GoogleMaps.exe: Original -1,689 kb \Compressed - 598 kb

(SPB) MobileShell.exe: Original -1,689 kb \Compressed - 581 kb

So if there were as little as possible additional files and the main *.exe program was built around the idea that it was going to be compressed before distribution,wouldn't this help when it came to adding more features that may have otherwise been left out?

also for real estate space if the S2S bar was made smaller so there wasnt so much of a glide distance it may make the feature less annoying in the long run,so if you were to actually locate that bar about a half inch form the edge and end it a half inch early it would achieve two things, one place your thumb at a more natural position naturally when reaching for it,and secondly give you space on each side of the slide to place function buttons.

Just thoughts, Cheers everyone!

:)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] dickenz:
Guys as an alternative to the Slide bar - What about a thumbable 'Send' button on the right hand side of the input box? Big enough to touch with a thumb but maintain maximum input space? That way we cater for all?
[Windows Mobile Software Development] d4nii:
Good for me =)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] longice:
Hey guys!

TeDeV, this newest graphics alpha looks really great! I think this is going the right way! I'm impressed by you work! Do you have an option to remove the scroll bar at the right? It's really not needed, as thumb scrolling is easy by just dragging in the list.

Regarding the Slide-button: I think this is one of the most important features of this app. I understand that it might be a challenge to develop, but still it's my opinion that this just be included. If not for the alpha versions, then at least for the betas. The Slide2 is -- together with the graphical UI - what is gonna separate this app from everything else, and make it so much better!

Now, I'm no programmer, so I don't know what challenge it would be, but I think that we should look into it. Others has made it work (S2U2). If we move the message history up as the on screen keyboard pops out, there will still be plenty of room for the new message.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] kly:
Haven't had the chance to start on this one yet.

Looks like others will be in front :-)

Nevertheless, it's never a bad idea to have some different developers working on the same thing and exchanging ideas, to obtain the best result with the best ideas as possible.

I've been working on my HTC weekly Calendar for the Topaz and it's almost finished.

Development for this project will start this weekend at the latest.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] longice:
Sounds great, kly, looking forward to getting you on board! :)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] TeDeV:
thank u guys for ur replies. i have included the Thumb Send button as a soft-key.

as for the thing to remove the bar in the sms history, it is a good idea, but i think that some devices can't finger scroll. correct me if i am wrong.

and sorry but the Slide button is not the most important thing in this app :). easy-to-use is the key word. i know that by taking the slide bar out there is no reason to call this app "Slide2Send" but still :). i might find a way to include it.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] kly:
Might be interesting ;-)

http://sourceforge.net/projects/mapidotnet

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/mobile/PocketPCandSmartphone.aspx

It's written in c#, but with the little information I could find, I think the best option is to go with c# at the moment.

I know it's slower (not 10 times as mentioned before, but more in the region of 5 to max 10 percent) compared to c++.

I think if we really take care with memory usage and such, we can build a fast application in c#.

I would be happy to code in c++, if somebody finds some useful information on how to retrieve all existing messages.

I don't have Visual Studio here at work (only the express editions), so I can't try these out for myself at the moment :-)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] TeDeV:
c# is the same as vb
[Windows Mobile Software Development] larbke666:
C# is definately not the same as VB, VB requires much more text to define something and is slower imo.

C# is imo the way to go, it's easy to work with, normally fast enough...
[Windows Mobile Software Development] TeDeV:
haha ok whatever u say..... some people know vb, some know c#. but in the end the differences are too few. c# can also be compared with java to the coding style they have. if u know java u can EASILY know c# too. if u are used to vb.net (which is more easy to understand for a human) then c# seems stupid in some cases like when u have to use ";" or "{ }" instead of a simply end sub or somthing. so don't tell me that it's easy to work with.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] larbke666:
Lol i've done plenty of projects in C# and VB so i know what it is...

It's not that it's easy to work with (if you don't know it), there are few things you should know indeed.

Every programming language is actually almost the same: Java, C#, C++, VB, MortScript. If you know 1, it isn't hard to learn the other. :)

But in what i've seen in my projects, C# really is easier than VB, and it's much less typing work, e.g.: Int X (C#), Dim X As Integer (VB)

It are small things, but it are differences. I don't care in which language this program will be written, as long as I can use it :p and it's not to slow :p
[Windows Mobile Software Development] :
Furthermore C# has the ability to code in unmanaged ("unsafe") mode. This makes C# way more performant than VB. For example: you'd never want to code a motion detection program (where there is a need for very-fast bitmap analyzation) in VB; though in C# unmanaged mode, it's no problem.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to critisize VB.NET, it's a great language, but imho more suit for learning purposes. If you want more advanced stuff, and wannt to stay with .NET, then C# is your best choice.

For this project, the choice of C# vs VB probably wouldn't make much of a difference. C++ vs .NET (C#/VB) would have a greater impact.

Anyway, on-topic. These are great concepts! When I'm done with finals, and I might find the time beside my other projects, I'll see if I can help hack this application together. Otherwise count me in for a $10 donation to the project.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] longice:
Thnx for sharing, heazky! I'm putting you up for a $10 donation, but I hope that you can contribute on development, if you have the time;)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] l3v5y:
C++ would be my language of preference, since it's much faster than C#/VB etc and doesn't need any thing like .Net CF 3.5 to run...
[Windows Mobile Software Development] stylez:
Looks awesome :) Folowing thread and looking forward to what youz programmers come out with as a product.

Sorry can't help as no programming language infact my English is bad too :rolleyes:

Good luck all :cool:
[Windows Mobile Software Development] odyssey96:
True, but I see a lot of ROMS being cooked with .Net CF 3.5 anyway, and it is a free distribution so it is not like the user base will be limited.

Also, from the community point of view, c# is far more accessible, therefore as an open source application bug fix and feature implementation would be more frequent.

I think the fundamental design approach is of equal interest, for example in a little mock up I was designing I created a class for the item list which would draw button information to its own bitmap which was used to draw directly to the form background during the OnPaint event, as user controls do not seem to fully support transparent backgrounds in .NET CF. This way, it avoids having the user control capturing the background image of the form within its region and drawing to the background of the user control, therefore saving precious processing time :) As there seems to be a number of people with programming experince with interest on this project, collecting the best practice "how to's" to handle each component of the application would be an idea, i.e. this would be the best way to incorporate message interception handling, this would be the best way to incorporate message store access, this would be the best way to incorporate animations, etc.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] TeDeV:
well as i see it, we all have different opinions on this, so we should all combine to get this right.

i am developing this app just for fun and not for any money or something. if it comes up good, then it's ur choise to keep it or not :)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] nihawk:
Lovely GUI

very very lovely
[Windows Mobile Software Development] Sean D.:
Options..?

Alright, this is just like Pocket CM. Which isn't really a bad thing... but why put in this much input and effort to essentially mimick another app? :confused:

I have no problem with the button, but maybe it can be made as an option. Either choose the slide bar, or the send button...?

if for no other reason, bu to differentiate it from anything else out there.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] digiblur:
If it doesn't have the keyboard lag like the MS one does I'm all for it!
[Windows Mobile Software Development] longice:
Couldn't agree more, Sean (except that PocketCM looks like ****:p). The app needs to be something different than everything else. Of course a sweet design and fast to work with, but I believe that the Slide-button is what will make this app famous :)
[Windows Mobile Software Development] dickenz:
Because PocketCM replaces your contacts, call history etc. And not to mention it doesn't even

replace

the Windows messaging just adds its own messaging function. This will be a COMPLETE REPLACMENT for SMS/MMS.

Yes the idea out there at the moment is for an option, either a button or the slide bar if preferred. But you're looking at this project from the wrong angle... The idea is not to differentiate but create a base app that is ten-fold more smooth, slick and finger friendly that the current WinMo SMS app that people can then add their own personalised flare to.

That way everyone has an SMS app they love and aren't like 'ARGH' waiting for and looking at WinMo's current SMS app.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] ace10134:
Not sure if that can be done. You can intercept messages and everything, but you can't remove the traditional Windows Mobile Messaging program.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] dickenz:
Doesn't VITO SMS Chat replace it?

I didn't mean to removing poutlook/tmail, but replace it's links etc in the system. Just like the TF3Dv2 SMS app does. Cover it up, blanket it. Hide it so no one ever knew it was there ;) :p
[Windows Mobile Software Development] Sean D.:
If this is the case, than I'm ALL for it. Even more so than I was at the outset.

:D
[Windows Mobile Software Development] k1sr:
I just gotta say: AWESOME...!!!

But pretty pretty please add some email interface into this too...

It's a funny world we live in: I love WM because of the development community, but I hate WM because of the crappy ugly interface, but I love WM because of the community that fixes the ugly interfaces, and then I love WM again...
[Windows Mobile Software Development] ace10134:
Yea I say what we need is a Pre-like messaging app! Combine texts, emails, and IM's in one thread! That would be new and necessary on WinMo, compared to just another SMS app. If we made that, then we would be the first, and the app would be necessary, not just another option.
[Windows Mobile Software Development] k1sr:
Question... I downloaded this to my device through here:

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=3914827&postcount=219

And it's really really really slow, plus the new SMS, etc. don't work... I know it's proof of concept, so I'm not expecting to send/read my SMS's, but I'm not even getting 'concept'

Cheers

BTW - I was reading up on integration with email, and it doesn't look like it's too hard, If I was a little better at programming, I'd love to lend a hand and get that bit in...
[Windows Mobile Software Development] k1sr:
'Slide' to Reply/Forward/Delete

Just a thought for those who like the 'slide' part of slide to send, which I think is a little cumbersome - you really just want to say 'ok'...

How about a little function where if you tap and hold the sender's contact image, then either: drag back to delete, drag up to reply, or drag down to forward...

Anyway, just an idea...
[Windows Mobile Software Development] dickenz:
It's not meant to do anything yet. It's just a graphical alpha preview to show how it would look on VGA devices. To test if things are finger friendly enough etc or if there were some more changes to be made to the mockups.

We're hoping to incorporate email also with this app, completely replacing the messaging functions, email, SMS, MSS, the whole sha-bang. But for now we're focussing on SMS then bringing email to the table later, once we have SMS sorted.