Files and Registry

Articles at Pocket PC Developer Network

• QA: How do I read from and write to an ini file?
  February 9, 2004. I want to read from a ini file and write back any changes. Is there an API for this?
• QA: How to get file system change notification?
  May 16, 2003. I want my application to be notified about all changes in the file system. How can I do this?
• Working with language dependent folders on Pocket PC
  May 31, 2002. There is a number of "standard" folders on Pocket PC (such as \Windows, \Program Files etc.). The problem is, many of these folders are named differently on localized Pocket PCs. So it's not recommended to hard-code their names in your program. Instead you should determine the name of standard folder "on the fly". This article describes how to do this.
• Working with registry on Pocket PC
  January 21, 2002. Working with registry on Pocket PC is very similar to working in desktop Windows. Nevertheless there are some differences. Registry in Pocket PC is not stored in a file. There are some undocumented possibilities to change settings of built-in application that are Pocket PC specific. Also third-part libraries and controls will simplify working with registry in your eVC++ and eVB programs.
• QA: How can I know what is a full path to my program that is running?
  September 07, 2001. Some my files are located in the same folder as the main executable file. Because Pocket PC does not support local file names I need to know a full path to my executable file to find full path to my other files. How can I do it?
• QA: How to copy registry key recursively?
  April 30, 2002. How to copy registry key recursively with all subkeys and values?

MSDN Technical Articles

• Using the OSI Utility Library from eMbedded Visual Basic
  August 14, 2001. You can add registry and collection support in your applications using eMbedded Visual Basic and the free OSIUtil library component from Odyssey Software.
• File I/O in a C++ Application on the Pocket PC
  June 14, 2001. Using either the Win32 API or the MFC class libraries, performing file I/O in a C++ application on the Pocket PC is simple.
• Using the Registry in a C++ Application
  May 8, 2001. The Windows system registry provides a powerful, fast hierarchical database to store application settings and preferences, which can be accessed using the Win32 application programming interface.
• Shortcut Placement
  Nov 29, 2000. Make your most common tasks easy to get to!
• Creating Shortcuts to Feature Settings
  Nov. 28, 2000. Do you often adjust one or more settings? Save yourself time. Make settings easy to get to!
• Creating Shortcuts to Your Apps and Files
  Nov. 27, 2000. Make your most often-used files easy to get to!

MS Knowledge base

• Q212884 - INFO: How to Use the EmpFile Utility
  1/24/2001. Windows CE developers might need to manipulate files that exist in the Windows CE emulation environment. This article describes the EmpFile utility and how to use it to copy, delete, verify the existence of, synchronize, or run emulation f

Questions and Answers at www.cegadgets.com

• Windows CE Registry FAQ
  10-Oct-99. In here you will find answers to common (and not so common) Windows CE registry questions. This FAQ tries to avoid basic user registry issues (what is a registry, how do I back up my registry) and instead serves as a technical document describing registry key functionality.
• RegFileCopy - make an instant copy of the registry
  27-Mar-01.

CodeProject

• CCeFileFind - a File Find class for Window CE
  22 Aug 2001. This Class was orignally posted by Waseem Anis on CodeGuru . However after mis-understanding how the class works and finding (and subsequentily fixing) several bugs, I decided that Waseem's article and code althought excellant needed some clarification. As most Windows CE programmers know, Microsoft has not provided a FindFile MFC class to wrap the Windows CE FindFile Api's. This functionality lacking in the Windows CE SDK is provided in the CCeFileFind.

DEVBUZZ.COM

• eVB File Access through the WinCE API
  12 Jun 2002. File access in eVB is typically done with the File control. Unfortunately, the control has distinct limitations when binary or ASCII files need to be handled, plus the File control takes up more resources and is slower than using the API.
• eVB sample accessing the Pocket PC Windows CE Registry.
  Once you have downloaded the code above - fire up eVB and load the project. Very simply this code demonstrates how to create Windows CE registry keys, set their values and then retrieve those settings. The first screen you will see when you run the project will be the following blank screen:
• Edit Pocket PC Windows CE Registry using eVB (eMbedded Visual Basic) and Windows CE API calls.
  All modern desktop applications save and retrieve settings using the Windows registry. Storing settings in the registry saves the user the trouble of re-entering application settings like database paths etc. In VB 5 and later we have two functions (GetSetting and SaveSetting) that let us easily save settings to the registry. A significant drawback with these functions is that they save the setting under the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive. When a different user logs onto the PC they need to establish their own settings. The only way around this is to use the Windows API to create your own functions to ...

Misc

• Using the Windows CE Registry
  10/29/2003. From an application developers' point of view, the Registry is the place where application-specific state information is stored between executions. Predictably, the Windows CE Registry is a leaner version of its desktop cousin. This means that you may want to re-evaluate the kind and amount of data your application stores in the Registry.

Libraries

• Registry Settings Control
  ActiveX control. The Registry Settings control provides functionality to store common definitions for your application in the Windows CE registry.
• ZLib (MIPS, SH3)
  C++ library. This 'zlib for WindowsCE' is a general purpose data compression library ported to WindowsCE.
• VORegistry
  C++ library. Encapsulate registry access with this extremely easy to use registry class. Key enumeration, DWORD and String values are all supported.
• Sapphire Encrypt
  C++ library. This DLL gives the eVB developer the ability to encrypt and decrypt any type of file with a specified password from within an eVB application.
• Sapphire GZip
  C++ library. This DLL gives the eVB developer the ability to compress and uncompress any type of file to gzip format from within an eVB application.
• libbzip2 for WinCE
  C++ library. bzip2 is a freely available, patent free (see below), high-quality data compressor. It typically compresses files to within 10% to 15% of the best available techniques (the PPM family of statistical compressors), whilst being around twice as fast at compression and six times faster at decompression. All the functionality and algorithms of bzip2 are wrapped up in a library called libbzip2. The bzip2 program itself is a client of the library. You can use the library in your own programs, to directly read and write .bz2 files, or even just to compress data in memory using the bzip2 algorithms.
• CryptoTextCE
  ActiveX control. CryptoTextCE is an ActiveX / COM component written in ATLCE for the PocketPC. It provides simple access to the CryptoAPI in Windows CE from embedded Visual Basic and embedded Visual C++.