Ben S. Stahlhood II's Blog : Windows Forms

C# Telematics/Infotainment HTPC Pimp My Ride Take 3!

bstahlhood — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 19:07:00 GMT

So my C#/.NET based software Mobile Media Center has now been used in 3 Pimp My Ride vehicles. It was used in the ice cream truck this season, a Pontiac Solstice for GM based on a James Bond theme, and a Lincoln Navigator with motorized Wine Rack in the back :) The Lincoln Navigator was at the SEMA show this past week in the Gaplin booth. Mad Mike just called us and said he now wants MMC in his personal SUV :) We are doing a totally unique skin and some custom stuff for him to show off. We will be doing OBDII integration and CAN Bus / HVAC control for him, which is some of the new modules I have been working on... cool stuff. A lot going on too that I can not talk about here... yet.

It is being designed to run on Mono, so MMC will eventually be a complete HTPC / Digital Lifestyle / Home Automation software that runs seamlessly on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux flavors. I have been testing with Mac OS X in Kiosk mode on the new Apple Intel Mac Mini's with a Xenarc touch screen and it's hot! I will keep you guys posted. I will need a lot of beta testers.

We are still looking for investors too ;)

Later!

C# Telematics/Infotainment HTPC Pimp My Ride SEMA Show

bstahlhood — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 14:02:00 GMT

The framework I designed for telematics/htpc is being used in some more Pimp My Ride episodes and now it will be featured at the 2006 SEMA Show. We just finished a Pontiac Solstice that had a James Bond theme going. It ran my framework with a touch screen computer that controlled machine guns, smoke screen, GPS, etc.

I did the Ice Cream truck shown off at the beginning of this season. The Pontiac was just finished. I am now working on a Lincoln Navigator that will be shown off at the SEMA Show GAS/Pimp My Ride booth. If any of you happen to be out there check it out. It was written in C#//NETFX 2.0. My company is Hybrid Mobile Technologies. I know, the site sucks. I am working on getting a good web designed to redo it for me.

Cheers

Mac OS X Leopard, Windows Vista, Flamewars... Oh My!

bstahlhood — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 02:13:00 GMT

I have to say that the last few days have been interesting to say the least. I have been reading all the diarrhea of the mouth that has been spewing back and forth between Mac's and PC's ;)

This post is in response to many post I have been reading. I happen to pick 3 out of the bunch, but there are more where these came from, trust me.

http://www.internet-nexus.com/2006/08/leopards-ten-new-features-dissected.htm

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/08/mac_os_x_leopard_preview/

http://www.wired.com/news/columns/cultofmac/0,71557-0.html

I have to say that it all comes down to ignorance. I have been part of the Windows world ever since I can remember and been doing development on Windows since I was 17. I have always had my likes and dislikes about Windows. I think everyone does. I started using a Mac when they released Mac OS X version 10.0. I am a technology freak. I love reading about new OS releases. I remember reading about NeXT and their technologies. I knew that what was being released was part of what came out of the Apple purchase of NeXT.

Once I started using Mac OS X, I started getting familiar with that user base. Their big expo shows, the keynote speech, and all the hype. It was like waiting for your birthday or Christmas. I remember saying to my self I have become one of these fanatics. So knowing what I do about their shows. The WWDC is held every year for the developers that support the Mac OS X platform. Everything presented and announced at these shows are for the benefit of the developer.

So I wanted to touch on the things that Steve Jobs announced and throw in my .02. First of all, Steve and company did not keep using the term of innovation for everything they were showing off. Innovation is creating something new, even if that means utilizing something that already exist and making it better or easier to use. The iPod is innovative. It the whole idea something new? No it is not. There were MP3 players out before the iPod. The iPod just was an innovative way to store and play your music. The way you interacted with it and retrieved your music was a major part of what was innovative with the iPod. With that said, I will continue on with my comments.

In general, when Steve and company say something is new in this keynote, they really mean it's new for the Mac community. So the new Mail features are new to Mac users. They were not claiming that it was some new thing that no one else has in there Mail application. This conference was for Mac developers. This was not a consumer show. Everything was relative to Mac OS X, the development of Mac OS X, and the developers of Mac OS X. The fact that he had others come out and help... maybe, just maybe, he is allowing the people that had a huge hand in developing these technologies present them so they feel like they have a part. It's called being a team. Maybe you never heard of that?

Time Machine; This is based on a technology that is seen in many other places. One of the places mentioned a lot was Windows Server 2003. This is all true. So what is innovative about this? The interface. The way that they made it easy enough to use and understand so that the average consumer can use it. My mother could use Time Machine. My mother could not use the Restore Point system and Previous Versions that Windows Server 2003 contains. It has an SDK that developers can use so that their applications can utilize the same functionality. That is the difference.

Spaces; Yes it is virtual desktops for Mac OS X. Yeah we all know that KDE, GNOME, et al have had Virtual desktops since before the man was here. Once again it is new to Mac OS X and has a very easy and clean interface. The thing I liked was the monitor panel like view, where you see all 4 desktops at once and interact with them while there zoomed out. This is just a start of something they can expand on. I think it is a great addition... FOR MAC OS X.

CoreAnimation; This is strictly for developers. All the Core "pillars" that Apple has provided are for developers so they can provide great technologies to the developers. Once again this is new for developers. Animation is not something Apple invented and they are not claiming that!

Universal Access; I think you would have to be a drooling invalid to not see this is way better then Windows Vista and not innovative. That voice is one of the best I have heard in text to speech systems.

Mail; The features were new to Mac OS X users. The other features like notes and to-do's are just the start of a system wide set of services that will allow collaboration across the board for applications. They will release an SDK to developers that will allow them to add the same services in there applications and share data. The other features are similar to other Mail applications, but much easier to use. That seems to be a constant theme... easier to use. Hmm, interesting. That is all I got to say about that *Forest Gump*.

iChat; Once more, these are all new features for Mac OS X users and developers. I figure if I keep repeating my self, they will get the point eventually. I do have to say that the collaboration features are great additions and much cleaner then most IM apps I have used.

Mac OS X Leopard is still in development. There will be many more features. Steve even mentioned some top secret features that were not going to be shown at this time. These features are most likely something that is geared toward the users and will be big when they are announced. I just have to say I still use Windows everyday. I am a .NET Developer. I think .NET and C# is probably the best things Microsoft has released in a long time. I am very disappointed in Vista. Vista has been in development for 5 years and we still do not have a product close to production release. Mac OS X has had 6 major updates since 2001. Leopard will be a big release too when it is complete. I can honestly say that using my MacBook Pro has restored my faith in computers. It is really refreshing to use a system that I do not have to reformat my hard drive and reinstall the operating system on a regular basis. I do not have to worry about all the viruses and spy ware. I can just get up in the morning and work. I even do .NET and C# using Mono on Mac OS X. So I am still using the technologies I use every day in the Windows world on my Mac. I still have a Windows PC at home, but my girlfriend uses that since I am on my Mac almost 100% of the time now. She is always complaining about pop ups and search bars being installed that she never authorized. I just smile and let out a sigh of relief. I don't have to worry about those things.

Take care until next time ;)

Ben

first initial + lastname at g to the mail dot com

first initial + lastname at mac dot com

http://www.myspace.com/sanityisfordeath

C# .NET Framework 2.0 Telematics featured on Pimp My Ride - Take 2

bstahlhood — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 23:36:00 GMT

So I told you guys a couple weeks ago about the Ice Cream Truck episode of Pimp My Ride. It went over pretty good. All the touch screen software solutions, including the POS, and the cash drawer was all me. It came out nice. It was written in C# using Direct X for graphics and video stuff. It is all based off a product I created called Mobile Media Center. It is an application for people who want to a media center for there car or house that is quick and to the point. It started out as a project on mp3car.com. It has since been featured in a DUB car and on the Pimp My Ride show.

So what happens from here? It will be on another episode of Pimp My Ride. This time a spy theme care with machine guns, etc. The touch screen software will control GPS and all relay controlled devices. It will be using the Mobile Media Center core again. The company is called Hybrid Mobile Technologies (http://www.hybrid-mobile.com/) We have a lot in the pipe for a full platform and framework. We have a nice business plan that we completed recently too. We need investors to take this to the next level. If you are an investor or know of any investors please contact me: bstahlhood [[AT]] gmail [[DOT]] com for questions or further details.

You can also check out myspace at http://www.myspace.com/sanityisfordeath

C# Telematics on Pimp My Ride

bstahlhood — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 01:28:00 GMT

Just wanted to let everyone know that the telematics framework I architected and implemented for Hybrid Mobile Technologies will have a piece of it being shown off on Pimp My Ride tomorrow night at 10PM EST. Mad Mike and I worked together to pimp out an ice cream truck with a touch screen system that allows kids to do there ordering on the outside of the truck. It uses the framework and foundation of the Mobile Media Center system I did for Hybrid Mobile Technologies. http://www.hybrid-mobile.com/. It was written in C# with all kinds of interop code with DirectShow and a butt load of other technologies.

My myspace account is http://www.myspace.com/sanityisfordeath if anyone would like to add me as friends for networking and development discussions.

ttyl

Application Scripting Support

bstahlhood — Thu, 13 May 2004 23:45:00 GMT

I have read where Microsoft most likely will not be adding functionality or updating VSA. The demand for dynamic scripting support for windows form apps is definitely out there. I have got away with supporting something like this using Interop with the Microsoft Script Control.

Are there any open source initiatives out there to do something like this? There is Rhino, which was written in Java by the mozilla team. This could be turned into an open source project of converting it to C# / .NET Framework. It is a very well written Java Script engine which you can embed in custom applications.

Before I got to far with deciding on what I am going to do, I wanted to get some feedback from the community and find out if there are other projects out there that to this or have the goal to do this.

Whidbey Goodness: Part 1

bstahlhood — Thu, 01 Apr 2004 01:33:00 GMT

This is my first post of hopefully many that will touch on the various features I am coming across while using the Whidbey Community Technology Preview. All I can say for my self is that Whidbey is everything I had hoped for in the next version of Visual Studio. A lot of new controls, existing controls are polished, and a lot of new designer / environment features.

First I would like to amend my previous post about having to use “Show All Files”. This of course works the best since you can see all the files involved, but you can just use the type and member drop-down navigators in the code view window to access the methods and designer code that is initially hidden away by the development environment.

Microsoft has finally updated there Menu and Toolbar controls. They are now so much better to use. They now have rendering modes and rendering interfaces you can use with them to customize the look and feel. The default looks like Office 2003 :) So right of the bat you will not have to worry about purchasing or having to rely on third party controls to get the Office 2003 look and feel.

They also have very rich designer support. Allowing you to add images to each menu item using a resource navigator. They are now named MenuStrip, ToolStrip, and StatusStrip respectively. The ToolStrip is the same... it has very rich designer support, allowing the addition of images using the resource navigator.

The context menu has very useful items for these controls. If you choose “Insert Standard Items” on the MenuStrip, the designer will automatically create File, Edit, Tools, and Help menus with icon images and all. If you do the same on the ToolStrip, it will insert the standard New, Save, Open, Print, Cut, Copy, and Paste icons on the ToolStrip. Each control also have a new action menu that pops up when you hover your mouse over them... it is indicated by showing a little arrow in a small white box. When you click on the arrow you get an action menu with quick access to adding and deleting items. It also has check boxes for Visible, AlllowItemReorder, and CanOverflow. You will also have access to other various properties based on the control and what it provides.

If you go the option “Edit Items” from the context menu or actions menu, you will get an Item Collection Editor with a view showing the *Strip control at the top and the child controls beneath it. Here you can now add combo boxes, text boxes, etc. All the controls we wanted in the first place are there now. This also goes over to the new DataGridView control. When adding column styles, you can now choose combo box, check box, etc.

My last observation was one that I liked since I am someone who like having the code editor take up the full screen. If you right click on a control and choose “Edit Properties” a panel shows up at the top of the code view window titled “Quick Edit Mode”. On the right it has a drop-down listing the most common properties that we change, like Text for example. The very right of the panel has a link entitled “Exit Mode” which will cause the panel to go away of course.

Good stuff so far. As I make note of other things I find I will post them here. If any of you would like to hear about specific things you are curious about, let me know.

Form Settings

bstahlhood — Sat, 07 Feb 2004 14:22:00 GMT

I was looking through the newsgroups this morning to see who I could help out and I ran across a post on how to serialize windows form settings. I replied saying you could Dynamic Properites on the controls to read and write the settings using a configuration file.

Is this the preferred method of doing this? What have some of you done to persists or serialize your forms?

Application Context

bstahlhood — Sat, 07 Feb 2004 13:12:00 GMT

A friend of mine has just started getting into .NET development using Windows Forms. He asked me how he should go about creating a splash screen for his application. I told him about the ApplicationContext class and that this is the way I would go about it.

I would do something like the following:

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
namespace Stahlhood.Windows.Forms {
    public class MyApplicationContext : ApplicationContext {
        //
        //    Member Field(s)
        //
        
        //  SplashForm would be a windows form in your project
        //  with all your splash screen goodness.
        private SplashForm splashForm;
        
        //  MainForm would be a windows form in your project
        //  that is basically the umm Main Form..
        private MainForm mainForm;
        
        //
        //    Constructor(s)
        //
        public MyApplicationContext() {
            splashForm = new SplashForm();
            splashForm.Closed += new EventHandler(OnFormClosed);
            this.MainForm = splashForm;
        }
        
        //
        //  Event Method(s)
        //
        
        private void OnFormClosed(object sender, EventArgs e) {
            SplashForm splashForm = sender as SplashForm;
            if (splashForm != null) {
                this.MainForm = new MainForm();
                this.MainForm.Show();
            } // if 
        }
        
        /// <summary>
        /// The main entry point for the application.</summary>
        [STAThread]
        static void Main() {
            //    Enable XP Visual Styles
            Application.EnableVisualStyles();
            Application.Run(new MyApplicationContext());
        }
    }
}

Is this the way most of you Windows Forms guys do this?  I would like your thoughts on different approaches.

No Touch Deployment

bstahlhood — Fri, 06 Feb 2004 18:02:00 GMT

If any of you are using .NET Framework 1.1 and messing around with “No Touch Deployment”, I have some info I would like to relay to you. In talking to Brad and Jamie @ Microsoft, I found out that there is no way of getting rid of the Warning Ballons that pop up on the “Control Box” of the windows. This warning is there for the user. That way there is no mistakink that they are running a .NET application in a restricted secutiry contexts. I knew this much, but I had asked them if there was a way to suppress the warning after first view. They said at this time “NO” and that it would continue to be that way. The “ClickOnce” deployment in Longhorn and Whidbey will be the answer to a more feature rich “No Touch Deployment” process.

Hope this helps some of you looking for the same answer I was...