Satter Ramblings

MVC 4 - Game Changer

During the //build/ Day 2 keynote, Scott Guthrie announced a new release of MVC. MVC 4 is a developer preview meaning "danger, Will Robinson, danger". However it is definitely worth a look as it makes building mobile web applications easier. It is also what I have been waiting for to get moving on Web LOB Accelerator. Read on for how to build a multi-device site using MVC 4.

WURFL .NET API

The WURFL team has introduced a new .NET API. The first pass does not have a Nuget package but they are working on it. So it should eventually show up on Nuget.

Creating a Multi-Device Web Site

One of the things I have always wanted to do was write the Mobile LOB Accelerator as multi-device application. One of the things that has held me back is the lack of ADO.NET in Silverlight. Yes I know I can use a lot of database implementations for Silverlight. The problem is that I have yet to find a way to spoof in ADO.NET. I would like a class library that device specific UI then consumes. Ah but how about a web site with device specific UI. This is very doable.

The WebMatrix is Here

WebMatrix Beta 3is now available. WebMatrix is a lightweight development environment to enable Razor development, a new syntax for .NET web pages. Lightweight does not mean less features. It is very full featured and cool.

Windows Phone 7 Series

Today we can start talking about some aspects of Windows Phone 7 Series. I got to see the new OS a couple of weeks ago. I have to say I was impressed. Yes I work for Microsoft but not a mobile group any more and I was impressed.

The UI is different from other phones. It is not a copy cat of the iPhone. I saw a slide of iPhone, RIM, Android and others. All pretty much looked like an iPhone. I like that and apparently I am not alone.

For more information check out

• Demo on Channel 9
• The Windows Phone 7 Series Official Web Site
• The Strategy

One thing that the team is not disclosing yet is development. Just know it is coming...

CodeDOM

  Reed Robinson has been talking about the Mobile LOB Accelerator lately. This got me thinking how I could make it easier to write applications based on it. This then lead me to CodeDOM. Ok I am lying but then I can't give away all of my secrets.

Mobile Line of Business Accelerator 2008 - Data Retrieval

The new Mobile Line of Business Accelerator 2008 includes a new data layer that can be used in your own projects to speed up development. When the Add Item screen for example is displayed, the user uses a combo box filled with inventory objects to pick inventory items to add to an order. This article walks through how the data gets from the database to the UI.

Tech Ed 2008 North America

Tech Ed 2008 North America is coming up next week. The show has now been split into two weeks. One for Software Developers and the other for IT Professionals. In addition, this year MEDC has been folded into Tech Ed. This is a great idea as now your training time and dollars do not need to be split between two shows. In the future Mobile developments will participate in the mainstream conferences like Tech Ed and PDC.

Mobile LOB Accelerator 2008 Architecture

The Mobile LOB Accelerator 2008 is an enterprise mobile application demonstrating how a mythical hardware distributor could use Windows Mobile devices to support the sale and distribution of hardware goods. This blog entry looks at the architecture being used.

Managed Stored Procedures

One of the new features in the Mobile Line of Business Accelerator 2008 is something the team called “Managed Stored Procedures”. Now the team did not really write and add to SQL Server CE 3.5 the ability to create stored procedures. Instead we looked at what developers were really looking for that they wanted stored procedures.