Logo
programming4us
programming4us
programming4us
programming4us
Home
programming4us
XP
programming4us
Windows Vista
programming4us
Windows 7
programming4us
Windows Azure
programming4us
Windows Server
programming4us
Windows Phone
 
Windows XP

Handling Input on Windows Phone 7 : Location

- Free product key for windows 10
- Free Product Key for Microsoft office 365
- Malwarebytes Premium 3.7.1 Serial Keys (LifeTime) 2019
10/21/2012 5:50:03 PM
The location sensor is a very useful capability, given that mobile devices are generally on the go with their owner. Location provides context for applications that can make life easier on the user by automatically adjusting for the user's current location. A great example is the Search button on the phone. Enter or speak a keyword and click search. The local tab finds relevant items nearby. So a search for "Starbucks" gives the user exactly what they want on the local tab—which café is closest.


1. Understanding How It Works

The location sensor is a service that can use cell tower locations, wireless access point locations, and GPS to determine a user's location with varying degree of accuracy and power consumption.

Determining location with GPS is highly accurate, but it takes a while to spin up the GPS, and it consumes relatively more battery. Determining location using cell tower location is very fast, doesn't consume additional battery, but may not be accurate depending on how many cell towers are in range and their relative distance from each other in relation to the phone. Determining location with wireless access points can be accurate depending on how many wireless access points are in range and their relative position. If only one wireless access point is available location data will have a large error ring. Turning on Wi-Fi can consume additional battery power as well.

2. Programming with Location

You may try to guess that the Location namespace is in the Microsoft.Devices.Sensors namespace, but that would not be correct. It is located in the System.Device.Location namespace. The primary class for location is the GeoCoordinateWatcher class with the following class members:

  • DesiredAccuracy: Can have a value of GeoPositionAccuracy.Default or GeoPositionAccuracy.High. The latter value forces the use of GPS, which can delay readings and consume battery. Use with care.

  • MovementThreshold: This has a type of double. It indicates how far you have to move in order to generate a location reading in meters.

  • Permission: Level of access to the location service.

  • Position: Latest position obtained from location service.

  • PositionChanged: Event that fires when a new position is available.

  • Start: Starts location data acquisition from the location service.

  • Status: Current status of the location service.

  • StatusChanged: Event that fires when the status of the location changes.

  • Stop: Stops location data acquisition from the location service.

  • TryStart: Attempts to start location data acquisition with a timeout parameter passed in. The method returns false if the timeout expires before data is acquired. This call is synchronous and will block the thread it is called on – call on a background thread.

The sample in that solution for this section is titled LocationSensorSilverlight. In the MainPage() constructor for the LocationSensorSilverlight project, the LocationService is instantiated and events for PositionChanged and StatusChanged are wired up. Here is the code:

LocationService = new GeoCoordinateWatcher();
LocationService.PositionChanged +=
  new EventHandler<GeoPositionChangedEventArgs<GeoCoordinate>>
    (LocationSensor_PositionChanged);

LocationService.StatusChanged +=
  new EventHandler<GeoPositionStatusChangedEventArgs>
    (LocationSensor_StatusChanged);

The rest of the application is just UI to display the LocationService information. The code uses the Bing Maps Map object to center the map on the user's current location. Here is the event handler to plot and zoom in on the map a bit:

private void PlotLocation_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
  BingMap.Center = LocationService.Position.Location;
  BingMap.ZoomLevel = 15;
}

The UI implements the Application Bar to start and stop the Location Service as well as plot current location. The Application Bar also has a menu item to change the location accuracy. It is not possible to change accuracy after instantiating the GeoCoordinateWatcher variable. You have to instantiate a new GeoCoordinateWatcher variable and wire-up the event handlers again. Here is the code that handles this:

private void SetAccuracy_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
  if (LocationService.DesiredAccuracy == GeoPositionAccuracy.Default)
    if (MessageBox.Show(
      "Current Accuracy is Default.  Change accuracy to High?"
      +"This may take some time and will consume additional battery power.",
      "Change Location Accuracy", MessageBoxButton.OKCancel)
      == MessageBoxResult.OK)
    {
      LocationService.Dispose();
      LocationService = new GeoCoordinateWatcher(GeoPositionAccuracy.High);
      LocationService.PositionChanged +=
    new EventHandler<GeoPositionChangedEventArgs<GeoCoordinate>>
      (LocationSensor_PositionChanged);

					  

LocationService.StatusChanged +=
    new EventHandler<GeoPositionStatusChangedEventArgs>
      (LocationSensor_StatusChanged);
    }
  else
    if (MessageBox.Show(
      "Current Accuracy is High.  Change accuracy to Default?"+
      "This wll be faster but will reduce accuracy.",
      "Change Location Accuracy", MessageBoxButton.OKCancel)
      == MessageBoxResult.OK)
    {
      LocationService.Dispose();
      LocationService =
        new GeoCoordinateWatcher(GeoPositionAccuracy.Default);
      LocationService.PositionChanged +=
    new EventHandler<GeoPositionChangedEventArgs<GeoCoordinate>>
      (LocationSensor_PositionChanged);

    LocationService.StatusChanged +=
      new EventHandler<GeoPositionStatusChangedEventArgs>
        (LocationSensor_StatusChanged);
      }
}

					  

The XAML for the MainPage class implements a simple status panel that displays Location Service data. The code also uses the Silverlight Toolkit GestureListener to allow the user to drag the status panel over the map. Here is the markup:

<Border x:Name="LocationStatusPanel" HorizontalAlignment="Left"  VerticalAlignment="Top"
  Background="#96000000" Padding="2" >
  <toolkit:GestureService.GestureListener>
    <toolkit:GestureListener  DragDelta="GestureListener_DragDelta"/>
  </toolkit:GestureService.GestureListener>
  <Border.RenderTransform>
    <CompositeTransform/>
  </Border.RenderTransform>
    <StackPanel Orientation="Horizontal" Width="200" >
...Xaml for TextBoxes here.
    </StackPanel>
</Border>

					  

Here is the GestureListener_DragDelta event handler code that repositions based on the user dragging the status panel.

private void GestureListener_DragDelta(object sender, DragDeltaGestureEventArgs e)
{
  Border border = sender as Border;
  CompositeTransform compositeTransform = border.RenderTransform as CompositeTransform;
  compositeTransform.TranslateX += e.HorizontalChange;
  compositeTransform.TranslateY += e.VerticalChange;
  e.Handled = true;
}

					  

This concludes the overview of the Location Service available for Windows Phone 7. The next section covers how to capture Microphone input and play it back.

Other -----------------
- Understanding Application Compatibility : Scripting Compatibility Layers, Using Compatibility Administrator
- Understanding Application Compatibility : Determining Whether a Program Is Compatible with Windows XP, Understanding Compatibility Mode
- Remote Collaboration with Microsoft NetMeeting : Using the Whiteboard & Sharing Programs
- Remote Collaboration with Microsoft NetMeeting : Exchanging Files in NetMeeting & Using the Chat Feature
- Remote Collaboration with Microsoft NetMeeting : Placing NetMeeting Calls
- Remote Collaboration with Microsoft NetMeeting : Configuring NetMeeting
- Sending and Receiving Faxes (part 3) - Receiving Faxes
- Sending and Receiving Faxes (part 2) - Sending a Fax
- Sending and Receiving Faxes (part 1) - Installing, Configuring the Fax Service
- Using HyperTerminal for Modem-to-Modem Connections : Connecting to a Remote System & Performing File Transfers
 
 
Top 10
- Microsoft Visio 2013 : Adding Structure to Your Diagrams - Finding containers and lists in Visio (part 2) - Wireframes,Legends
- Microsoft Visio 2013 : Adding Structure to Your Diagrams - Finding containers and lists in Visio (part 1) - Swimlanes
- Microsoft Visio 2013 : Adding Structure to Your Diagrams - Formatting and sizing lists
- Microsoft Visio 2013 : Adding Structure to Your Diagrams - Adding shapes to lists
- Microsoft Visio 2013 : Adding Structure to Your Diagrams - Sizing containers
- Microsoft Access 2010 : Control Properties and Why to Use Them (part 3) - The Other Properties of a Control
- Microsoft Access 2010 : Control Properties and Why to Use Them (part 2) - The Data Properties of a Control
- Microsoft Access 2010 : Control Properties and Why to Use Them (part 1) - The Format Properties of a Control
- Microsoft Access 2010 : Form Properties and Why Should You Use Them - Working with the Properties Window
- Microsoft Visio 2013 : Using the Organization Chart Wizard with new data
 
programming4us
Windows Vista
programming4us
Windows 7
programming4us
Windows Azure
programming4us
Windows Server