Shell and User Interface Changes
Effective with version 4.2, the following changes have been made to the shell and the user interface (UI):
- The Null Speech-recognition Engine (SYSGEN_NULLASR) and Null Text-to-Speech Engine (SYSGEN_NULLTTS) are no longer supported.
- The replaceable skin feature (SYSGEN_REPLACESKIN) is no longer shown in the Catalog; however, support is still available in version 4.2. Replace all occurrences of SYSGEN_REPLACESKIN in your Windows CE .NET 4.0 and 4.1 based platforms with __SYSGEN_REPLACESKIN.
- LNK files, which are used for creating shortcuts and for linking application help files to the HTML Help engine, must now provide the full path to the application they launch when selected. In earlier versions you could omit a path and the shell would search in several known locations to try to find the application. This behavior was changed because it posed a security risk.
- The Input Method Selection Sample Application (Sipselect) code has been made into an integral part of the shell, in part to support QVGA devices, which are likely have input methods (IMs). This means that the Sipselect component no longer appears in the Catalog or in the Platform Builder Japanese localization Help topics. The Sipselect code is still available in the Samples folder for developers who want to understand how the IMs interact with the SIP. The SIP icon itself is now moved and is in the taskbar, which is reserved for the shell. The tray is now reserved for the applications.
- The Taskman sample shell is no longer shown in the Catalog; however, support is still available in version 4.2. Replace all occurrences of SYSGEN_TASKMAN with __SYSGEN_TASKMAN.
- The Sysgen flag for the Control Panel, Portrait orientation, has changed. Replace all occurrences of SYSGEN_CPLMAIN_LP=P with SYSGEN_QVGAP. Landscape orientation is the default and does not require a Sysgen flag.
- The behavior of CSIDL_DESKTOP is now equivalent to CSIDL_DESKTOPDIRECTORY. For more information, see SHGetSpecialFolderPath.
- TB_SETTOOLTIPS now supports passing a handle to the parent window. The original behavior, using both wParam and lParam, is still supported for backward compatibility. For more information, see TB_SETTOOLTIPS.
- The following table shows the Control Panel property sheets that have moved to a different dialog box.
Control Panel element Legacy dialog box New dialog box Device Name tab Communications Properties SystemProperties PC Connection tab CommunicationsProperties PCConnectionProperties Identification tab NetworkConfiguration OwnerProperties Adapters tab NetworkConfiguration No longer in Control Panel
See Also
Creating a Custom Shell | Creating a Shortcut File and Adding It to the OS | Control Panel Components | Shell and User Interface | Shell Reference
Last updated on Wednesday, April 13, 2005
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