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Windows Mobile: Searching the docs with Google/MSN Search

  • Artikkeli

So be honest: when you look for Windows Mobile documentation while you are programming, what do you do? I’m guessing you probably type something into Google or MSN Search – and that often that brings you right back to MSDN.

 

I’m interested in knowing what you text type into search engines. Are you looking for a particular API, or are you looking for information on a particular technology? Or are you looking for more information on what technologies or APIs you might actually need to solve your particular problem?

 

Do your searches mostly look like:

 

  1. SHGetUIMetrics,
  2. Windows Mobile Bluetooth,
  3. Access a database on Pocket PC, or
  4. Something else?

We’re working on the documentation for Windows Mobile SDKs right now, and the more input we can get, the better. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    July 16, 2006
    Software / Hardware 

    msmobiles.com has a review and some nice photos of the HTC TyTN  I...
  • Anonymous
    July 16, 2006
    It varies a lot. As I'm in the middle of switching from evb to evc for Pocket PC development, I'm generally searching in B or C format - that is, I've an idea of the subject, but no idea of what the API functions are called. Once I have found that part of it, I would perhaps revert to form A to get more information on the functions that an article or sample code might just mention in passing. Sometimes it's a combination - for example "waveOutClose hangs" or something like that.
  • Anonymous
    July 21, 2006
    I frequently search on the name of a function, struc, driver, etc. if I know it.  I generally include text to narrow the results.
    Example searches:
    1) "IOCTL_HAL_GET_UUID"
    2) "how to detect network availability"
    3) "application domain clr"
    4) "touchcalibrate" and "calibration data"

    Regards,
    Thomas
  • Anonymous
    July 25, 2006
    Thanks for your comments!

    Searching is hard to implement properly - often you need to know the name of the thing you want to find in advance! For example, an API.

    Our next doc releases will focus more on "How to do stuff", and point to the APIs you need. So for example, if you want to make a Home Screen, you can search for "Home Screen" rather than the obscure APIs required to create it...
  • Anonymous
    July 28, 2006
    We google mostly class names (.NET usually differs enough from Java or other libraries) or "msdn" + class name. For answers to technical questions it's usually faster to google the respective newsgroup.