WIN CE 5.0 ActiveSync Connect/Disconnect?

Question

I'm having to back port some software from Windows Mobile 6.5 to Windows CE 5.0, the software currently detects when the unit is in the base unit (ActiveSync running).

I need to know when ActiveSync is running on the unit so that I can prepare the unit to send and receive files.

I've found an article on using PINVOKE methods such as CeRunAppAtEvent but I am clueless on how that would work.

    bool terminateDeviceEventThreads = false;
    IntPtr handleActiveSyncEndEvent;

    while (!terminateDeviceEventThreads)
        {
        handleActiveSyncEndEvent = NativeMethods.CreateEvent (IntPtr.Zero,
                                            true, false, "EventActiveSync");
        if (IntPtr.Zero != handleActiveSyncEndEvent)
            {
            if (NativeMethods.CeRunAppAtEvent ("\\\\.\\Notifications\\NamedEvents\\EventActiveSync",
                         (int) NOTIFICATION_EVENT.NOTIFICATION_EVENT_RS232_DETECTED))
                {
                NativeMethods.WaitForSingleObject (handleActiveSyncEndEvent, 0);

                //

                NativeMethods.ResetEvent (handleActiveSyncEndEvent);
                if (!NativeMethods.CeRunAppAtEvent ("\\\\.\\Notifications\\NamedEvents\\EventActiveSync",
                                 (int) NOTIFICATION_EVENT.NOTIFICATION_EVENT_NONE))
                    {
                    break;
                    }
                handleActiveSyncEndEvent = IntPtr.Zero;
                }
            }
        }

So what is the question here? The code you posted sets a named event when the device is cradled, so you could presumably wait on it elsewhere in the app. — ctacke, Jun 03 '11 at 14:07
Hi, this is the problem, I don't understand the code that I've found, what I need is a trigger that fires when the unit is put into the cradle and when it is taken out, much like SystemState in WM6 — Paul Talbot, Jun 03 '11 at 14:15

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 03 '11 at 14:50

The code you have here is waiting on the system notification NOTIFICATION_EVENT_RS232_DETECTED. By using CeRunAppAtEvent (a bit of a misnomer, as it's not going to run an app but instead set an event) they've registered a named system event with the name "EventActiveSync" to be set when the notification occurs.

In essence, when the device is docked, the named system event will get set.

Your code has got some of the wait code in there, but not fully - it's calls WaitForSingleObject, but never looks at the result and then unhooks the event. I'd think it would look more like this

event EventHandler OnConnect = delegate{};

void ListenerThreadProc()
{
    var eventName = "OnConnect";

    // create an event to wait on
    IntPtr @event = NativeMethods.CreateEvent (IntPtr.Zero, true, false, eventName);

    // register for the notification
    NativeMethods.CeRunAppAtEvent (
           string.Format("\\\\.\\Notifications\\NamedEvents\\{0}", eventName),
           (int) NOTIFICATION_EVENT.NOTIFICATION_EVENT_RS232_DETECTED);

    while(!m_shutdown)
    {
        // wait for the event to be set
        // use a 1s timeout so we don't prevent thread shutdown
        if(NativeMethods.WaitForSingleObject(@event, 1000) == 0)
        {
            // raise an event
            OnConnect(this, EventArgs.Empty);
        }
    }

    // unregister the notification
    NativeMethods.CeRunAppAtEvent (
           string.Format("\\\\.\\Notifications\\NamedEvents\\{0}", eventName),
           (int) NOTIFICATION_EVENT.NOTIFICATION_EVENT_NONE);

    // clean up the event handle
    NativeMethods.CloseHandle(@event);
}

Your app would create a thread that uses this proc at startup and wire up an event handler for the OnConnect event.

FWIW, the SDF has this already done, so it would be something like this in your code:

DeviceManagement.SerialDeviceDetected += DeviceConnected;
...
void DeviceConnected()
{
    // handle connection
}

Great explanation, I've managed to trigger an event on the connect. — Paul Talbot, Jun 03 '11 at 15:30

Phil Murray · Answer 2 · 2011-06-03T13:54:22.153

1

Here's an ActiveSync document on MSDN. A little old but should still be relevant. Also take a look at this

As for the CeRunAppAtEvent you need to create a wrapper to the Native method as below

[DllImport("coredll.dll", EntryPoint="CeRunAppAtEvent", SetLastError=true)]  
private static extern bool CeRunAppAtEvent(string pwszAppName, int lWhichEvent);

You can find PInvode resources here and on MSDN

edited Jun 03 '11 at 13:54

answered Jun 03 '11 at 13:48

Phil Murray

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I've already been down that route, I have code to capture the disconnect but the trouble is I don't understand the code, I'll extend the question above with what I found. – Paul Talbot Jun 03 '11 at 13:56

WIN CE 5.0 ActiveSync Connect/Disconnect?

2 Answers2