Visual Basic 2008 Express

[roadhouse]

Hi,

I am new to VB and am having a lot of difficulty in getting the demo programs to run in vb2008 Express. Its probably my lack of understanding but does the WCL .NET or .COM versions run under VB2008 Express (think it uses .NET 3.5 too)?

When I try to run the demos I generally get unhandled exceptions errors.

Is there any 'quick start for dummies' type of guide to using the libraries ? how do i load them into VB2008 ? is it just adding a reference or is there something else i need to do ?

How would i go about running a small program to indicate if the BTdevice can be seen by the program ?

I'm certain its my fault but I could really do with some guidance from you experts, just a couple of pointers would be great.

Cheers

[Mike Petrichenko]

Hi,

Unfortunatly we have no VB 2008 express, but on full Visual Studio 2008 you can simple open any WCL demo (after WCL installed). For your project you have to add references to wcl.dll and to Microsoft.VC80.CRT.manifest (both files are located in <WCL_INSTALL_DIR>\redist).

You can try Bluetooth Discovery Demo to find out how to discover devices around your PC.

[roadhouse]

Hi Mike,

Many thanks indeed for your quick reply. I loaded the two files and the demo now works. Once again, many many thanks.

When I loaded the project, i received two errors shown in a 'to prevent possible data loss when loading the designer...' banner. there were

Warning   1   Could not find type 'wcl.wclAPI'.  Please make sure that the assembly that contains this type is referenced.  If this type is a part of your development project, make sure that the project has been successfully built.      0   0   

and...

Warning   2   Could not find type 'wcl.wclBluetoothDiscovery'.  Please make sure that the assembly that contains this type is referenced.  If this type is a part of your development project, make sure that the project has been successfully built.      0   0   

I ignored them and ran the demo which seemed to work ok (although I get 'error 4' for 'connectable' and discoverable').

what could be the cause of the two warnings ?

Thanks again Mike.

Cheers

[Mike Petrichenko]

Hi,

Yes, I have been noticed about such problem in Visual Studio 2008 (even in full). Unfortunatly do not know why it happens. On some PCs it works without any problem on others it shows such warnings and does not allow to change demo. Will try to fix it. Unfortunatly it works perfect on my side and I need some time to reproduce the problem.

However, it does not appear if you create new your own project.

Error 4 means WCL_E_FEATURE_NOT_SUPPORTED. It just indicates that you Bluetooth driver does not support such features as reading Connectable/Discoverable states (it is possible with MS, Toshiba and latest BlueSoleil, changing those states possible with MS and latest BlueSoleil only). However, it is not so important thing. This properties (Connectable and Discoverable) shows (and manages when set) the state of your local dongle.

Connectable - if True dongle (local, cannected to PC) accepts incomming connections
Discoverable - If True dongle (local one) is visible to other devices.

If connectable == True and Discoverable == False - a remote device can connect to your PC only if it knows your PC's MAC.
If connectable == True and Discoverable == True - a remote device can find and connect to your PC
if connectable == False and Discoverable == False - a remote device can't connect and can't find your PC
if Connectable == False and Discoverable == True - invalid state

[roadhouse]

Hi Mike,

I see. I wont worry too much about them in future then.

Thanks for your help and guidance. Very much appreciated.

Cheers
Shaun