Database Develop

Microsoft to free up its software codes

Microsoft to free up its software codes
BY RICHARD J. DALTON JR | [email protected]
February 22, 2008
Local software developers can more easily develop products that work with Vista, Office and other Microsoft products now that the software giant will release free documentation for developers, executives said.
Microsoft, which previously released such information only under a trade-secret agreement, charging licensing fees and royalties, said yesterday it would release the information free online.
The change comes a month after the European Union launched an antitrust investigation on suspicions Microsoft blocked developers of competing software from gaining access to its products.
The European Union expressed skepticism at Microsoft's shift, saying the "announcement follows at least four similar statements by Microsoft in the past on the importance of interoperability."
Microsoft also has been forced to open its software because of the growing open-source movement, which makes software code freely available so others easily can integrate applications with it.
Microsoft said it would immediately release 30,000 pages of documents on Windows software that runs PCs and centralized computer servers, followed by similar information on Office 2007.
Dan Galvez, managing partner of Hedgehog Development Llc, a software and technology consulting company in Holbrook, said the release is "a huge benefit."
Hedgehog recently created customized software to allow an international bank based in Manhattan to manage and share research documents using Microsoft Office.
"We weren't able to take advantage fully of Word," Galvez said. "We had to build our own functionality."
But with Microsoft's documentation, Hedgehog would have been able to use built-in tools from Microsoft Office to design the software for the bank, speeding up the development time, Galvez said.
It's like seeing "the secret recipe of grandma's homemade sauce," said Bob Venero, president and chief executive of software developer Future Tech Enterprise Inc., based in Holbrook. "They're giving those ingredients that help make Microsoft what it is." Recently, Future Tech installed software that allows health-care personnel to instantly view X-rays on PCs. But the software remains separate from Office.
With the upcoming release of the Office documentation, Future Tech would be able to seamlessly integrate the software with Office, making it easier to e-mail the X-rays via Outlook software or place it in a Word document.
"I call it 'open-source day,'" Venero said of yesterday's announcement. "I think it's a huge deal."
Newsday. 22 February 2008. Microsoft to free up its software codes . 22 February 2008 <http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/friday/business/ny-bzleft5586831feb22,0,4125204.story>.

and this means what???

It has to refer to the API's, which have always been closed

OMG!!! the end of the world is near.

Sweet! Lots in internal Windows APIs have already been discovered & documented by others like Russinovich in his famed Windows Internals books, but as far as I know no one has done the same for Office. Be a huge boon for me developing document processing software.

The European Union expressed skepticism at Microsoft's shift, saying the "announcement follows at least four similar statements by Microsoft in the past on the importance of interoperability."
SHOW ME THE MONEY...SHOW-ME-THE-MONEY...sHOW MEEEE THE MO-NEY

Wanting to develop my own software

Right...I’ve been using xda-dev for a while and decided its about time I contribute something back....especially as its my uni holidays and I have nothing to do my software idea is basically something to tell you prices of near by fuel outlets. Unless something like this already exists (a quick search of fuel prices on the xda-dev of fuel prices shows nothing)
Firstly I have no previous programming experience but we all have to start somewhere right?
Secondly what would I use to write the program in?
Thirdly how difficult would such a project be?
Sorry if questions I ask don’t make sense, I am a total noob.

I'm a noob aswell, but from what I can see to be able to do this your going to have to have access to all the necessary fuel prices, which are going to be updated how and from where?
Unless you could get access to an existing sql database, i cant see it being practical, well not for a noob anyway.
Anyone Correct me if i'm wrong.

Hmm i guess its best to learn programming before you attempt to write a software. Visual Studio is probably the best one to write in, and i believe the phone uses .NET. (Which can open up more languages and its pretty damn easy to program in)
Too lazy to write a program myself for PPC, but i recommend Visual C++
Video Tutorials -For programming in windows mobile
http://www.cplusplus.com/ -Good place to learn stuff
As for the difficulty, it depends.
Getting the gas info is the easy part, (ie some gas websites have easy URLS such as www.gasblahblah.com/index.aspx&?area=ZIPCODE
then parsing the page is trivial.
As for the functionality, try looking on sourceforge for some sample coding you can use, such as a skeleton for a today plugin etc.
Its not gunna be easy but goodluck!

good luck
As hirst89 said, it will be difficult. First of all, you need to build an up to date database (go check mysql or sqlite on google which are truly wonderful database softwares). Then, about the program itself, you have to learn how to develop in .NET with visual studio and .NET framework 2.0 (license fees are awfully expensive for the whole solution but you could try light versions don't know if they are trustable go check http://msdn.microsoft.com/fr-fr/express/aa975050.aspx). After that, you'll need a good server with an average bandwith (depends on the country you live in, for france go check www.ovh.com).
Good luck, you'll need it!!!!​
goorht

Yeh I think my post only touched on the difficulties of it. How would you go about collecting data from presumably the majority of fuel stations? Especially on a low budget, I presume from the fact that your a student.
And as for the programming, I wouldnt like to guess how much of an in depth knowledge you would need of .net for it to be basically functional.
Hope this all helps....but hope it doesnt squash your ideas and aspirations

Thank you for your quick responses...can you think of any more practical or easier to implement which I could start with?

well you could use c# which is use alot for software running on the windows mobile environment. there is Visual C# express version for free if you odnt want to shell out the money for visual studio.

zeezee said:
well you could use c# which is use alot for software running on the windows mobile environment. there is Visual C# express version for free if you odnt want to shell out the money for visual studio.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think i'll start with express and if i enjoy it and get some interest in wat i'm doing then give something else a try.
I'm really worried going into this...i have no idea wat to expect
*just waiting for Visual basic to download and install*

Humz said:
i think i'll start with express and if i enjoy it and get some interest in wat i'm doing then give something else a try.
I'm really worried going into this...i have no idea wat to expect
*just waiting for Visual basic to download and install*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a brief look at creating my own software but my programming and coding knowledge doesn't stretch that far, I think I'll just stick with what im good at CSS, XHTML & Graphic Design

visual studio is easy, VS8 is free but it doesn't do much, if i'm not mistaken and i believe it was mentioned above that visual studio works in .NET but first you should try a couple easy things, try writing a small game like idk SKI FREE!!!! i haven't gotten around to it, but writing a game or other such is one of my projects for the summer while school is out. but that feul idea is fantastic, but windows live already tried it and it is extremely out of date. start small and work into the bigger stuff.
p.s. if you write ski free and get it to work on the phone let me know

Visual Studio Express doesn't allow you to develop mobile applications. Students from selected countries can grab a free copy of VS2008 Professional from here. Otherwise, the next best free solution would be the outdated eVC++ or eMbedded Visual Tools, which only support up to Pocket PC 2003 SDK. However, those apps will still work on WM5/WM6, etc. The main limitation is that the you don't have access to the APIs in the newer OS.

Humz said:
(a quick search of fuel prices on the xda-dev of fuel prices shows nothing)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are some programs that retrieve current and local gas prices. Windows Live Search is one.
I don't want to discourage you from writing your own, sounds like it would be good practice to start with. I wish I had the time to learn how to do it.

GWelker62 said:
There are some programs that retrieve current and local gas prices. Windows Live Search is one.
I don't want to discourage you from writing your own, sounds like it would be good practice to start with. I wish I had the time to learn how to do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was gonna mention that.

This is a wery good book to start whit. Introduction to Programming Using Visual Basic 2008.

Help me help you

I would like to start programming for my Fuze and I would love to share what I end up making. The problem is that all my research has led me to the following facts:
-I need Visual Studio 2005 Standard with Windows Mobile 6.1 SDK
-Visual Studio 2005 Standard costs money that I don't have (and no I'm not asking anyone for handouts)
Does anyone know of an IDE and SDK that I can use that will not empty my bank account? There just HAS to be one out there for people like me who just want to put something together without making money off it.
I would like to program in C++, but I suppose Java ME would be fine also.
I am continuing to search for myself as well, if I find anything I'll update the thread. As soon as I find out the best way to accomplish my goals I will write up a tutorial on the wiki.

Just a suggestion, if you attend/work at a university or know someone who does, educational versions of software are often much more affordable. And the software is usually the same as the retail copy, with an annotation somewhere "Education Edition" or similar.

Alas, my school days are far behind me... perhaps I should take my company up on their Master's program...

I know this is only my first post, but I patrol this board a lot. I might be able to get Visual Studio 2005 Standard for $20 since I work for the Government, and Microsoft has the Home Use Program. Let me check with my IT department and see what I can do. I will call them today and see what the code is.

Does the same apply to defense contractors? Also, I'm sending you a PM.

If you're willing to use a student or "home use program" license from someone else, why not just pirate it? It's not like you're in compliance either way.

I never said I would use someone else's home use program (in fact I told him in PM in clear language I would not use non legit copies). I just wanted to know how he goes about finding out if he can get a cheap copy so I could do the same through my company, a defense contracting company.
I never said I would use the student copy unless I was a student. If I started my master's, I would be a student. I won't be doing that most likely.
Please keep responses in this thread useful.

Jeez, I was merely addressing Da_G's suggestion. He's the only one who suggested it, and that was the topic of my post.
If I really wanted to be "useful", I would've told you to check with your IT department. Any type of business can have SA status and be eligible for said Home Use Program.

Web site creators?

Hey-
A friend of mine wants to build a website for his small business. He has a domain name registered and he has a host. He just needs to build the site. He asked me if I could help/knew of any good programs that help make the job easier.
Neither of us have much code writing experience, but we both have a lot of experience using computers at a higher level than the "norm".
He would prefer something he could run on his linux box, but would settle for something on Windows XP.
Any suggestions?

Hi, i would use: Microsoft Expressions 3
another good program is: Serif Webplus X2 / X4

wordpress is also an option it's easy for users to update themselves even if they are not
good at html or j-scripts and php

Thanks for the responses guys! We will take a look at those programs. I have heard good things about wordpress for us html deprived folk that have good overall skills. It looks like a good match to me(free, easy, good support community and powerful enough for what we are doing). Of course, we are going to take a look at the other suggestions, Expressions 3 is something I am familiar with, but we are not looking to spend any money if possible (not pros, just helping a friend). Not real familiar with Serif other than I know the name and I know it is a solid option.

If you go to
Students4Software you can get:
Microsoft Expressions Studio 3 for £20 / 50
all ligit

I'd look at e107.
It's a bit technical to setup, but there's a wiki and a IRC Channel, for help.
Requires, virtually no coding (unless you need to fix bugs), and offers a lot of features.
Dave

Well it all depends on the complexity of the website in question. Is it mostly just content or will you need database interactions involved? Will the site have a member base?
If it's just mostly content, any html editor (Visual Web Developer, Dreamweaver) should work. IF you are needing a more complex solution it's best to get a book and learn ASP.NET or PHP.. Cheaper then paying someone! =)

depends on what you want .. Wordpress is a great choice for blogs .. Drupal / Joomla if you are after a CMS.

Simon_WM said:
If you go to
Students4Software you can get:
Microsoft Expressions Studio 3 for £20 / 50
all ligit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not legit if your not a student, luckily im a student so can use that but if your not a student you don't have a right to use that site, and as a matter of fact u can get expressions studio free (if your a student) from the dreamspark project.

[Q] How to start development

Hi,
I would like to just for the fun of it look into development for wp8.
now i would like to know.. what tools do i need to get started and what tutorials you could recommend.
I have access to a Dreamspark account and a Windows phone 8 device

Visual studio
Sent from my Sensation XL with Beats Audio X315e using xda premium

First, visual studio 2012 then...
You need the SDK
http://dev.windowsphone.com/en-us/downloadsdk
You may also find Expression design (not web design) useful for creating textures and graphics.
You find all these on your dreamspark account for free.
Then you have samples on MSDN.

Got VS2012 ultimate already. Expression design is in dreamspark as well?
Didnt find the SDK in the newest version though - had to get the webinstall from wp.com
hoped to get the fullsize image without hthe need of downloading to much at home lines
edit:
this one? Microsoft Expression Studio 4 Ultimate

Yes, that one.

for some reason i didn't get the secure download manager to work on w8 or w2012.
on w2012 install prevention of msi files?
had it installed on w2008R2 already and it showed a "has to be updated" page. Same on W8.
need to find a way around that problem.
do you have any forums or blogs that would help for development?

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-us/category/wpapps
The secure download manager worked fine for me in most cases (except for download SQL server). It has something to do with the remote dreamspark server. keep trying.

Hi,
just wondering what language I would use best to develop for w8 and wp8.
anything I should put my focus on?
And what can I do with my Dev activated device?

If you developer unlock your phone you can deploy your own Apps to the device to test them on real hardware.
As far as I remember Blend gets installed along with VS2012 and is no longer a separate download. It is being discontinued anyway so I would not get into it too deep.
As for the language of choice: it depends on what you want to do. If it's 3D games you won't get around C++ but otherwise I would suggest C#. If you already have knowledge of VB.Net or VB that might be worth a look but for a total beginner I believe C# is the best way to go.

well my knowledge reduces itself on java and abap - so I guess c# would be my choice.
what is blend if I may ask? Just saw the icon but did not check it out.
and how do I "port" easily between w8 and wp8?
thanks anyways so far.

Java and C# are rather similar so that should be rather easy for you to learn. The libraries are different of course and there is some additional syntactic sugar in C#.
Expression Blend is the Interface Designer. It is tailored towards designers more than programmers. It makes creation of Interface animations a lot easier than Visual Studio.
As for W8/WP8 portability - that is quite a difficult topic. The UI will have to be done separately anyway.

If you want to develop a Windows Phone 8 app you don't need / should use Expression Studio 4 Ultimate.
You should install Visual Studio 2012 (Ultimate if Dreamspark offers it).
Then you should install the latest update, Update 2 CTP 4 for Visual Studio. microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36833[/url]
And then Use Expression Blend For Visual Studio to do your UI, and Visual Studio for all your C#.
To get you started there is a ton of help and samples at the developer site for Windows Phone: dev.windowsphone.com/en-u
Should u have any questions, you are always welcome to ask. I'm available at twitter.com/deanihansen
Happy coding!

The regular Dreamspark only offers VS2012 Professional as far as I can see. You could check though wether your university is part of the Dreamspark Premium program. I have VS2012 Ultimate through Dreamspark Premium.

StevieBallz said:
The regular Dreamspark only offers VS2012 Professional as far as I can see. You could check though wether your university is part of the Dreamspark Premium program. I have VS2012 Ultimate through Dreamspark Premium.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes .. Ultimate is part of Dreamspark premium for academy alliances. dream spark for student is necessary for the developers account and just provides Professional

deani said:
If you want to develop a Windows Phone 8 app you don't need / should use Expression Studio 4 Ultimate.
You should install Visual Studio 2012 (Ultimate if Dreamspark offers it).
Then you should install the latest update, Update 2 CTP 4 for Visual Studio. microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=36833[/url]
And then Use Expression Blend For Visual Studio to do your UI, and Visual Studio for all your C#.
To get you started there is a ton of help and samples at the developer site for Windows Phone: dev.windowsphone.com/en-u
Should u have any questions, you are always welcome to ask. I'm available at twitter.com/deanihansen
Happy coding!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You still need expression design(rocks at creating XAML images) and maybe encoder as well, if he wants rich media stuff. And it is much better to get expression than other solutions which are like 8 times more expensive.
Blend is nice sometimes, but not really needed. You can use it to edit styles for various UI elements, but other than that, I found no real usage for it.
Professional Visual Studio is more than enough for what you need to do. In fact, most features from the Ultimate edition do not even work with phones.