This section describes the basic steps you follow when building an application for deployment to a Windows CE device. After completing step 1, you can work in any order, defining the objects used in your application as you need them.
To build an application for deployment to a Windows
CE device:
Create the application using a target wizard from the New dialog box and specify the library list for the application.
When you use a target wizard, you create the Application object, which is the entry point into the application. The Application object contains the name of the application and specifies the application-level scripts.
See Chapter 3, “Working with PowerScript Targets,” and Part 3, “Coding Fundamentals.”
Create windows.
Place controls in the window and build scripts that specify the processing that will occur when events are triggered.
Create menus.
Menus in your windows can include a menu bar, drop-down menus, cascading menus, and pop-up menus. You define the menu items and write scripts that execute when the items are selected.
Create user objects.
If you want to be able to reuse components that are placed in windows, define them as user objects and save them in a library. Later, when you build a window, you can simply place the user object on the window instead of having to redefine the components.
Create functions, structures, and events.
To support your scripts, you define functions to perform processing unique to your application and structures to hold related pieces of data. You can also define your own user events.
See Chapter 7, “Working with User-Defined Functions,” Chapter 8, “Working with User Events,” and Chapter 9, “Working with Structures.”
Create DataWindow objects.
Use these objects to retrieve data from the database, format and validate data, analyze data through graphs and crosstabs, and update the database.
See Part 5, “Working with Databases and DataWindows.”
Test and debug your application.
You can run your application on the desktop at any time. If you discover problems, you can debug your application on the desktop by setting breakpoints, stepping through your code, and looking at the values of variables during execution.
See Chapter 25, “Testing and Debugging Applications.”
You can also create a trace file when you run your application and use PocketBuilder’s profiling tools to analyze the application’s performance and logical flow.
Prepare an executable.
When your application is complete, you prepare an executable version to deploy to handheld devices and distribute to your users.
See Chapter 27, “Packaging and Distributing an Application.”
