how to determine if a WM5 Pocket PC is natively oriented "Landscape" ?

Hi,

New WM5 Pocket PC's will have 2 soft-keys, under the display, mapped to the
functions displayed in the blue bar at the bottom of the display.

Most Pocket PC's will use the Portrait as their Native orientation, i.e. the
2 soft-keys will be under the display when in Portrait orientation.

But from what I heard, some Pocket PC's will use the Landscape as their
Native orientation, in which case the 2 soft-keys will be under the display
when in Landscape orientation (not in Portrait).

How can I determine if a Pocket PC uses Landscape for its native screen
orientation?

Thanks!

Peter
Tue Aug 16 02:31:19 CDT 2005

Without having such a device to confirm on I can't be 100% sure but there
are two registry values of interest
under:-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\GDI\Rotation
The first LandscapeMode will indicate if the current screen dimensions are
wider than they are tall. The second - Angle should give the angle from
normal orientation. So for a landscape native device I would expect
LandscapeMode to be 1 when Angle was 0 (or 0 when Angle is 90 etc).

Peter

--
Peter Foot
Windows Embedded MVP
http://www.inthehand.com | http://www.peterfoot.net |
http://www.opennetcf.org

"The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
news:O6kLN2foFHA.2180@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> New WM5 Pocket PC's will have 2 soft-keys, under the display, mapped to
> the functions displayed in the blue bar at the bottom of the display.
>
> Most Pocket PC's will use the Portrait as their Native orientation, i.e.
> the 2 soft-keys will be under the display when in Portrait orientation.
>
> But from what I heard, some Pocket PC's will use the Landscape as their
> Native orientation, in which case the 2 soft-keys will be under the
> display when in Landscape orientation (not in Portrait).
>
> How can I determine if a Pocket PC uses Landscape for its native screen
> orientation?
>
> Thanks!
>

The
Tue Aug 16 03:30:08 CDT 2005

"Peter Foot [MVP]" <feedback@nospam-inthehand.com> wrote in message
news:%23XeUASjoFHA.3316@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> Without having such a device to confirm on I can't be 100% sure but there
> are two registry values of interest
> under:-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\GDI\Rotation
> The first LandscapeMode will indicate if the current screen dimensions are
> wider than they are tall.
> The second - Angle should give the angle from normal orientation. So for a
> landscape native device I would expect LandscapeMode to be 1 when Angle
> was 0 (or 0 when Angle is 90 etc).


Angle is the current screen orientation, which can be changed by the user,
so it gives little information. The angle if from the NATIVE PORTRAIT
orientation, not from the default orientation of the device.

So Angle is useless for determining if the default screen orientation is
Landscape.

LandscapeMode is completely undocumented and apparently set to random values
depending on the devices (sometimes 0, sometimes 1), regardless of their
default or current screen orientation. Apparently LandscapeMode was defined
at one point but never actually used/implemented by MSFT.

So this does not seem to answer my question.

BTW, the reason why I am looking for this info is simple: I want to know the
physical location of the hardware softkey buttons.

On devices where Landscape is the default orientation, the softkey buttons
are under the display when it is in Landscape orientation, and on devices
where Portrait is the default orientation, the softkey buttons are under the
display when it is in Portrait orientation.

And I want to know that.

> --
> Peter Foot
> Windows Embedded MVP
> http://www.inthehand.com | http://www.peterfoot.net |
> http://www.opennetcf.org
>
> "The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
> news:O6kLN2foFHA.2180@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>> Hi,
>>
>> New WM5 Pocket PC's will have 2 soft-keys, under the display, mapped to
>> the functions displayed in the blue bar at the bottom of the display.
>>
>> Most Pocket PC's will use the Portrait as their Native orientation, i.e.
>> the 2 soft-keys will be under the display when in Portrait orientation.
>>
>> But from what I heard, some Pocket PC's will use the Landscape as their
>> Native orientation, in which case the 2 soft-keys will be under the
>> display when in Landscape orientation (not in Portrait).
>>
>> How can I determine if a Pocket PC uses Landscape for its native screen
>> orientation?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>
>

Thom
Tue Aug 16 07:58:40 CDT 2005

Given three labels, the following will display the orientation. Note that
it does not work for a square screen. I am still looking for that solution
...

private void Test_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
this.Orientation( );
}

private static int SM_CXSCREEN = 0 ;
private static int SM_CYSCREEN = 1 ;

[DllImport( "CoreDll.DLL", EntryPoint="GetSystemMetrics",
SetLastError=true )]
private extern static int GetSystemMetrics( int nIndex );

private void Orientation( )
{
int iX = GetSystemMetrics( SM_CXSCREEN );
int iY = GetSystemMetrics( SM_CYSCREEN );
lblX.Text = iX.ToString( );
lblY.Text = iY.ToString( );
if ( iX > iY )
this.lblOrientation.Text = "Landscape" ;
else
this.lblOrientation.Text = "Portrait" ;
}


--
-- Thom Little -- www.tlanet.net -- Thom Little Associates, Ltd.
--

"The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
news:O6kLN2foFHA.2180@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> Hi,
>
> New WM5 Pocket PC's will have 2 soft-keys, under the display, mapped to
> the functions displayed in the blue bar at the bottom of the display.
>
> Most Pocket PC's will use the Portrait as their Native orientation, i.e.
> the 2 soft-keys will be under the display when in Portrait orientation.
>
> But from what I heard, some Pocket PC's will use the Landscape as their
> Native orientation, in which case the 2 soft-keys will be under the
> display when in Landscape orientation (not in Portrait).
>
> How can I determine if a Pocket PC uses Landscape for its native screen
> orientation?
>
> Thanks!
>

Alex
Tue Aug 16 14:46:08 CDT 2005

This will detect the current orientaion. OP needs *native* orientation

--
Alex Feinman
---
Visit http://www.opennetcf.org
"Thom Little" <thom@tlanet.net> wrote in message
news:OhkA7ImoFHA.3256@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> Given three labels, the following will display the orientation. Note that
> it does not work for a square screen. I am still looking for that
> solution ...
>
> private void Test_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
> {
> this.Orientation( );
> }
>
> private static int SM_CXSCREEN = 0 ;
> private static int SM_CYSCREEN = 1 ;
>
> [DllImport( "CoreDll.DLL", EntryPoint="GetSystemMetrics",
> SetLastError=true )]
> private extern static int GetSystemMetrics( int nIndex );
>
> private void Orientation( )
> {
> int iX = GetSystemMetrics( SM_CXSCREEN );
> int iY = GetSystemMetrics( SM_CYSCREEN );
> lblX.Text = iX.ToString( );
> lblY.Text = iY.ToString( );
> if ( iX > iY )
> this.lblOrientation.Text = "Landscape" ;
> else
> this.lblOrientation.Text = "Portrait" ;
> }
>
>
> --
> -- Thom Little -- www.tlanet.net -- Thom Little Associates, Ltd.
> --
>
> "The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
> news:O6kLN2foFHA.2180@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>> Hi,
>>
>> New WM5 Pocket PC's will have 2 soft-keys, under the display, mapped to
>> the functions displayed in the blue bar at the bottom of the display.
>>
>> Most Pocket PC's will use the Portrait as their Native orientation, i.e.
>> the 2 soft-keys will be under the display when in Portrait orientation.
>>
>> But from what I heard, some Pocket PC's will use the Landscape as their
>> Native orientation, in which case the 2 soft-keys will be under the
>> display when in Landscape orientation (not in Portrait).
>>
>> How can I determine if a Pocket PC uses Landscape for its native screen
>> orientation?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>
>

Alex
Tue Aug 16 14:48:27 CDT 2005

Don't have a native landscape device, but does GAPI GXGetDefaultKeys work
for you? If it does, it can be researched further

--
Alex Feinman
---
Visit http://www.opennetcf.org
"The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
news:Oe7U1yjoFHA.468@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> "Peter Foot [MVP]" <feedback@nospam-inthehand.com> wrote in message
> news:%23XeUASjoFHA.3316@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>> Without having such a device to confirm on I can't be 100% sure but there
>> are two registry values of interest
>> under:-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\GDI\Rotation
>> The first LandscapeMode will indicate if the current screen dimensions
>> are wider than they are tall.
>> The second - Angle should give the angle from normal orientation. So for
>> a landscape native device I would expect LandscapeMode to be 1 when Angle
>> was 0 (or 0 when Angle is 90 etc).
>
>
> Angle is the current screen orientation, which can be changed by the user,
> so it gives little information. The angle if from the NATIVE PORTRAIT
> orientation, not from the default orientation of the device.
>
> So Angle is useless for determining if the default screen orientation is
> Landscape.
>
> LandscapeMode is completely undocumented and apparently set to random
> values depending on the devices (sometimes 0, sometimes 1), regardless of
> their default or current screen orientation. Apparently LandscapeMode was
> defined at one point but never actually used/implemented by MSFT.
>
> So this does not seem to answer my question.
>
> BTW, the reason why I am looking for this info is simple: I want to know
> the physical location of the hardware softkey buttons.
>
> On devices where Landscape is the default orientation, the softkey buttons
> are under the display when it is in Landscape orientation, and on devices
> where Portrait is the default orientation, the softkey buttons are under
> the display when it is in Portrait orientation.
>
> And I want to know that.
>
>> --
>> Peter Foot
>> Windows Embedded MVP
>> http://www.inthehand.com | http://www.peterfoot.net |
>> http://www.opennetcf.org
>>
>> "The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
>> news:O6kLN2foFHA.2180@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> New WM5 Pocket PC's will have 2 soft-keys, under the display, mapped to
>>> the functions displayed in the blue bar at the bottom of the display.
>>>
>>> Most Pocket PC's will use the Portrait as their Native orientation, i.e.
>>> the 2 soft-keys will be under the display when in Portrait orientation.
>>>
>>> But from what I heard, some Pocket PC's will use the Landscape as their
>>> Native orientation, in which case the 2 soft-keys will be under the
>>> display when in Landscape orientation (not in Portrait).
>>>
>>> How can I determine if a Pocket PC uses Landscape for its native screen
>>> orientation?
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

Thom
Tue Aug 16 14:56:11 CDT 2005

If it is done when the application loads (as in the example provided) won't
that tell what the "native" orientation is?

--
-- Thom Little -- www.tlanet.net -- Thom Little Associates, Ltd.
--

"Alex Feinman [MVP]" <public_news@alexfeinman.com> wrote in message
news:etVKgrpoFHA.3696@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> This will detect the current orientaion. OP needs *native* orientation
>
> --
> Alex Feinman
> ---
> Visit http://www.opennetcf.org

The
Tue Aug 16 16:29:09 CDT 2005

"Thom Little" <thom@tlanet.net> wrote in message
news:eXdyOypoFHA.3984@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> If it is done when the application loads (as in the example provided)
> won't that tell what the "native" orientation is?

No, this gives you the current orientation that is set when the application
loads. This is not the same as the "native" (or should I say "prefered")
orientation of the device.

This is the orientation that the device has by default (i.e. after a HARD
reset). This is the orientation for which the soft-keys hardware buttons
are located right under the soft-keys on the screen.

In most cases, this is Portrait, but from what I heard, in some devices,
this will be Landscape.

That's the information I am looking for.

Or course, I can try to guess the Manufacturer's name and model from the
registry and look-up a table of known models, but I would hope that this
information can be determined programmatically.

The
Tue Aug 16 16:31:07 CDT 2005

GXGetDefaultKeys does not allow you to determine the initial (default)
orientation that the screen has after a HARD reset.

"Alex Feinman [MVP]" <public_news@alexfeinman.com> wrote in message
news:envnyspoFHA.3760@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> Don't have a native landscape device, but does GAPI GXGetDefaultKeys work
> for you? If it does, it can be researched further
>
> --
> Alex Feinman
> ---
> Visit http://www.opennetcf.org
> "The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
> news:Oe7U1yjoFHA.468@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>> "Peter Foot [MVP]" <feedback@nospam-inthehand.com> wrote in message
>> news:%23XeUASjoFHA.3316@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>>> Without having such a device to confirm on I can't be 100% sure but
>>> there are two registry values of interest
>>> under:-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\GDI\Rotation
>>> The first LandscapeMode will indicate if the current screen dimensions
>>> are wider than they are tall.
>>> The second - Angle should give the angle from normal orientation. So for
>>> a landscape native device I would expect LandscapeMode to be 1 when
>>> Angle was 0 (or 0 when Angle is 90 etc).
>>
>>
>> Angle is the current screen orientation, which can be changed by the
>> user, so it gives little information. The angle if from the NATIVE
>> PORTRAIT orientation, not from the default orientation of the device.
>>
>> So Angle is useless for determining if the default screen orientation is
>> Landscape.
>>
>> LandscapeMode is completely undocumented and apparently set to random
>> values depending on the devices (sometimes 0, sometimes 1), regardless of
>> their default or current screen orientation. Apparently LandscapeMode
>> was defined at one point but never actually used/implemented by MSFT.
>>
>> So this does not seem to answer my question.
>>
>> BTW, the reason why I am looking for this info is simple: I want to know
>> the physical location of the hardware softkey buttons.
>>
>> On devices where Landscape is the default orientation, the softkey
>> buttons are under the display when it is in Landscape orientation, and on
>> devices where Portrait is the default orientation, the softkey buttons
>> are under the display when it is in Portrait orientation.
>>
>> And I want to know that.
>>
>>> --
>>> Peter Foot
>>> Windows Embedded MVP
>>> http://www.inthehand.com | http://www.peterfoot.net |
>>> http://www.opennetcf.org
>>>
>>> "The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
>>> news:O6kLN2foFHA.2180@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> New WM5 Pocket PC's will have 2 soft-keys, under the display, mapped to
>>>> the functions displayed in the blue bar at the bottom of the display.
>>>>
>>>> Most Pocket PC's will use the Portrait as their Native orientation,
>>>> i.e. the 2 soft-keys will be under the display when in Portrait
>>>> orientation.
>>>>
>>>> But from what I heard, some Pocket PC's will use the Landscape as their
>>>> Native orientation, in which case the 2 soft-keys will be under the
>>>> display when in Landscape orientation (not in Portrait).
>>>>
>>>> How can I determine if a Pocket PC uses Landscape for its native screen
>>>> orientation?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks!
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>

hel
Tue Aug 16 20:02:47 CDT 2005

Let the user pick, then. Don't guess.
If he can't choose the correct one from
a few presented diagrams, let 'im eat cake!

--
40th Floor - Software @ http://40th.com/
iPlay : the ultimate audio player for mobiles
parametric eq, xfeed, reverb; all on a mobile

Alex
Tue Aug 16 20:22:19 CDT 2005

Right, but you are looking for the positioning of the keys relative to the
*current* orientation

--
Alex Feinman
---
Visit http://www.opennetcf.org
"The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
news:%2386zOnqoFHA.3656@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> GXGetDefaultKeys does not allow you to determine the initial (default)
> orientation that the screen has after a HARD reset.
>
> "Alex Feinman [MVP]" <public_news@alexfeinman.com> wrote in message
> news:envnyspoFHA.3760@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>> Don't have a native landscape device, but does GAPI GXGetDefaultKeys work
>> for you? If it does, it can be researched further
>>
>> --
>> Alex Feinman
>> ---
>> Visit http://www.opennetcf.org
>> "The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
>> news:Oe7U1yjoFHA.468@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>>> "Peter Foot [MVP]" <feedback@nospam-inthehand.com> wrote in message
>>> news:%23XeUASjoFHA.3316@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>>>> Without having such a device to confirm on I can't be 100% sure but
>>>> there are two registry values of interest
>>>> under:-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\GDI\Rotation
>>>> The first LandscapeMode will indicate if the current screen dimensions
>>>> are wider than they are tall.
>>>> The second - Angle should give the angle from normal orientation. So
>>>> for a landscape native device I would expect LandscapeMode to be 1 when
>>>> Angle was 0 (or 0 when Angle is 90 etc).
>>>
>>>
>>> Angle is the current screen orientation, which can be changed by the
>>> user, so it gives little information. The angle if from the NATIVE
>>> PORTRAIT orientation, not from the default orientation of the device.
>>>
>>> So Angle is useless for determining if the default screen orientation is
>>> Landscape.
>>>
>>> LandscapeMode is completely undocumented and apparently set to random
>>> values depending on the devices (sometimes 0, sometimes 1), regardless
>>> of their default or current screen orientation. Apparently
>>> LandscapeMode was defined at one point but never actually
>>> used/implemented by MSFT.
>>>
>>> So this does not seem to answer my question.
>>>
>>> BTW, the reason why I am looking for this info is simple: I want to know
>>> the physical location of the hardware softkey buttons.
>>>
>>> On devices where Landscape is the default orientation, the softkey
>>> buttons are under the display when it is in Landscape orientation, and
>>> on devices where Portrait is the default orientation, the softkey
>>> buttons are under the display when it is in Portrait orientation.
>>>
>>> And I want to know that.
>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Peter Foot
>>>> Windows Embedded MVP
>>>> http://www.inthehand.com | http://www.peterfoot.net |
>>>> http://www.opennetcf.org
>>>>
>>>> "The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:O6kLN2foFHA.2180@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> New WM5 Pocket PC's will have 2 soft-keys, under the display, mapped
>>>>> to the functions displayed in the blue bar at the bottom of the
>>>>> display.
>>>>>
>>>>> Most Pocket PC's will use the Portrait as their Native orientation,
>>>>> i.e. the 2 soft-keys will be under the display when in Portrait
>>>>> orientation.
>>>>>
>>>>> But from what I heard, some Pocket PC's will use the Landscape as
>>>>> their Native orientation, in which case the 2 soft-keys will be under
>>>>> the display when in Landscape orientation (not in Portrait).
>>>>>
>>>>> How can I determine if a Pocket PC uses Landscape for its native
>>>>> screen orientation?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>

The
Fri Aug 19 00:35:15 CDT 2005

No.

i want to know the PHYSICAL location of the hardware soft-key buttons.

i want to know if they are at a location that assumes PORTRAIT screen
orientation (as default in most cases), or LANDSCAPE (i.e. soft-key buttons
are under the display when looking in LANDSCAPE orientation).

Basically I want to know the "prefered" orientation of the device, which
might not be Portrait.

I don't know if I am clear enough... apparently not?

"Alex Feinman [MVP]" <public_news@alexfeinman.com> wrote in message
news:uT69WnsoFHA.2080@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> Right, but you are looking for the positioning of the keys relative to the
> *current* orientation
>
> --
> Alex Feinman
> ---
> Visit http://www.opennetcf.org
> "The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
> news:%2386zOnqoFHA.3656@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>> GXGetDefaultKeys does not allow you to determine the initial (default)
>> orientation that the screen has after a HARD reset.
>>
>> "Alex Feinman [MVP]" <public_news@alexfeinman.com> wrote in message
>> news:envnyspoFHA.3760@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>>> Don't have a native landscape device, but does GAPI GXGetDefaultKeys
>>> work for you? If it does, it can be researched further
>>>
>>> --
>>> Alex Feinman
>>> ---
>>> Visit http://www.opennetcf.org
>>> "The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
>>> news:Oe7U1yjoFHA.468@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>>>> "Peter Foot [MVP]" <feedback@nospam-inthehand.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:%23XeUASjoFHA.3316@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>>>>> Without having such a device to confirm on I can't be 100% sure but
>>>>> there are two registry values of interest
>>>>> under:-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\GDI\Rotation
>>>>> The first LandscapeMode will indicate if the current screen dimensions
>>>>> are wider than they are tall.
>>>>> The second - Angle should give the angle from normal orientation. So
>>>>> for a landscape native device I would expect LandscapeMode to be 1
>>>>> when Angle was 0 (or 0 when Angle is 90 etc).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Angle is the current screen orientation, which can be changed by the
>>>> user, so it gives little information. The angle if from the NATIVE
>>>> PORTRAIT orientation, not from the default orientation of the device.
>>>>
>>>> So Angle is useless for determining if the default screen orientation
>>>> is Landscape.
>>>>
>>>> LandscapeMode is completely undocumented and apparently set to random
>>>> values depending on the devices (sometimes 0, sometimes 1), regardless
>>>> of their default or current screen orientation. Apparently
>>>> LandscapeMode was defined at one point but never actually
>>>> used/implemented by MSFT.
>>>>
>>>> So this does not seem to answer my question.
>>>>
>>>> BTW, the reason why I am looking for this info is simple: I want to
>>>> know the physical location of the hardware softkey buttons.
>>>>
>>>> On devices where Landscape is the default orientation, the softkey
>>>> buttons are under the display when it is in Landscape orientation, and
>>>> on devices where Portrait is the default orientation, the softkey
>>>> buttons are under the display when it is in Portrait orientation.
>>>>
>>>> And I want to know that.
>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Peter Foot
>>>>> Windows Embedded MVP
>>>>> http://www.inthehand.com | http://www.peterfoot.net |
>>>>> http://www.opennetcf.org
>>>>>
>>>>> "The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
>>>>> news:O6kLN2foFHA.2180@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> New WM5 Pocket PC's will have 2 soft-keys, under the display, mapped
>>>>>> to the functions displayed in the blue bar at the bottom of the
>>>>>> display.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Most Pocket PC's will use the Portrait as their Native orientation,
>>>>>> i.e. the 2 soft-keys will be under the display when in Portrait
>>>>>> orientation.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But from what I heard, some Pocket PC's will use the Landscape as
>>>>>> their Native orientation, in which case the 2 soft-keys will be under
>>>>>> the display when in Landscape orientation (not in Portrait).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> How can I determine if a Pocket PC uses Landscape for its native
>>>>>> screen orientation?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks!
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>

The
Fri Aug 19 00:39:08 CDT 2005

> Let the user pick, then. Don't guess.
> If he can't choose the correct one from
> a few presented diagrams, let 'im eat cake!

No, the user cannot pick the physical location of the hardware button. The
manufacturer decides that. In most cases, the manufacturer will place the
hardware soft-key buttons under the display when oriented Portrait, but some
devices will be natively oriented Landscape, i.e. the hardware soft-key
buttons will assume a Landscape orientation.

When you change the screen orientation, the hardware soft-key buttons will
not be close to the "SOFT" soft-key buttons on the display. So I want to
know if that's the case of not, depending on the orientation.

in other words, i want to know the PHYSICAL location of the hardware
soft-key buttons.

i want to know if they are at a location that assumes PORTRAIT screen
orientation (as default in most cases), or LANDSCAPE (i.e. soft-key buttons
are under the display when looking in LANDSCAPE orientation).

Basically I want to know the "prefered" orientation of the device, which
might not be Portrait.

I don't know if I am clear enough... apparently not?

Chris
Sat Aug 20 01:47:23 CDT 2005

No one suggested to have the user alter the hardware. The suggestion was
that if you are having trouble determining the information programmatically,
then you could make your app _ask_ the user what the native physical
orientation is.


"The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
news:%23SHJSBIpFHA.3084@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
>> Let the user pick, then. Don't guess.
>> If he can't choose the correct one from
>> a few presented diagrams, let 'im eat cake!
>
> No, the user cannot pick the physical location of the hardware button.
> The manufacturer decides that. ... <snipped> ...
> in other words, i want to know the PHYSICAL location of the hardware
> soft-key buttons.

The
Sat Aug 20 02:24:57 CDT 2005

> No one suggested to have the user alter the hardware. The suggestion was
> that if you are having trouble determining the information
> programmatically, then you could make your app _ask_ the user what the
> native physical orientation is.

ah ok... :) yes, of course i know i can do that, naturally, but i wanted to
get the info programmatically. but apparently there is no way to get it (at
least for now).

then a better solution would be to have a table of the known devices known,
and only ask if the device is unknown.

Chris
Sat Aug 20 11:58:16 CDT 2005

What if company A makes a device Quux, and you teach your app to know about
the Quux device. And then later company A makes a device Zim which has
different native physical orientation than Quux, but unfortunately Zim and
Quux both appear to be Quux devices as far as your app is concerned.

Maybe a better solution would be to have a table of known devices, which
determines the default that your app will assume, but always have the UI
available for the user to override that setting even if the device appears
to be a known device.


"The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
news:O9kiEhVpFHA.3568@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>> No one suggested to have the user alter the hardware. The suggestion was
>> that if you are having trouble determining the information
>> programmatically, then you could make your app _ask_ the user what the
>> native physical orientation is.
>
> ah ok... :) yes, of course i know i can do that, naturally, but i wanted
> to get the info programmatically. but apparently there is no way to get
> it (at least for now).
>
> then a better solution would be to have a table of the known devices
> known, and only ask if the device is unknown.
>

The
Sat Aug 20 17:51:48 CDT 2005

We have been using device tables for a long time to get information not
available from the OS, like the physical color depth of the device
(sometimes 12-bit while the OS says that it is 16-bit), or the method that
needs to be used to keep the back-light on (until recently it there was no
API for that) and we never had serious problems with this approach.

If a new device comes out and the manufacturer mistakely identifies it with
a OEM string similar to that of an older device (which would be a bug from
the manufacturer), then we release a new version of our software that
determines the new model correctly using alternate means. This has never
been an issue in the past.


"Chris Antos" <chrisant@premier1.net> wrote in message
news:e2$KehapFHA.3516@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> What if company A makes a device Quux, and you teach your app to know
> about the Quux device. And then later company A makes a device Zim which
> has different native physical orientation than Quux, but unfortunately Zim
> and Quux both appear to be Quux devices as far as your app is concerned.
>
> Maybe a better solution would be to have a table of known devices, which
> determines the default that your app will assume, but always have the UI
> available for the user to override that setting even if the device appears
> to be a known device.
>
>
> "The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
> news:O9kiEhVpFHA.3568@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
>>> No one suggested to have the user alter the hardware. The suggestion
>>> was that if you are having trouble determining the information
>>> programmatically, then you could make your app _ask_ the user what the
>>> native physical orientation is.
>>
>> ah ok... :) yes, of course i know i can do that, naturally, but i wanted
>> to get the info programmatically. but apparently there is no way to get
>> it (at least for now).
>>
>> then a better solution would be to have a table of the known devices
>> known, and only ask if the device is unknown.
>>
>
>

GB
Wed Sep 07 17:09:58 CDT 2005

I think I had that happen once. Memory is failing but I think Dell
re-issued a device with the same model number/name but the
device itself had been upgraded to a newer OS (I think to WM2003).
In any event, this new device had difference COM port assignments
than the original.

Other than that one instance I have had no issue using device
tables.

GB

"The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
news:unWG$mdpFHA.1996@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> We have been using device tables for a long time to get information not
> available from the OS, like the physical color depth of the device
> (sometimes 12-bit while the OS says that it is 16-bit), or the method that
> needs to be used to keep the back-light on (until recently it there was no
> API for that) and we never had serious problems with this approach.
>
> If a new device comes out and the manufacturer mistakely identifies it
with
> a OEM string similar to that of an older device (which would be a bug from
> the manufacturer), then we release a new version of our software that
> determines the new model correctly using alternate means. This has never
> been an issue in the past.
>
>
> "Chris Antos" <chrisant@premier1.net> wrote in message
> news:e2$KehapFHA.3516@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> > What if company A makes a device Quux, and you teach your app to know
> > about the Quux device. And then later company A makes a device Zim
which
> > has different native physical orientation than Quux, but unfortunately
Zim
> > and Quux both appear to be Quux devices as far as your app is concerned.
> >
> > Maybe a better solution would be to have a table of known devices, which
> > determines the default that your app will assume, but always have the UI
> > available for the user to override that setting even if the device
appears
> > to be a known device.
> >
> >
> > "The PocketTV Team" <support@pockettv.com> wrote in message
> > news:O9kiEhVpFHA.3568@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
> >>> No one suggested to have the user alter the hardware. The suggestion
> >>> was that if you are having trouble determining the information
> >>> programmatically, then you could make your app _ask_ the user what the
> >>> native physical orientation is.
> >>
> >> ah ok... :) yes, of course i know i can do that, naturally, but i
wanted
> >> to get the info programmatically. but apparently there is no way to
get
> >> it (at least for now).
> >>
> >> then a better solution would be to have a table of the known devices
> >> known, and only ask if the device is unknown.
> >>
> >
> >
>
>