The development tools for Compact 2013 are plug-in to the Visual Studio 2012 (VS 2012) integrated development environment (IDE) and required Visual Studio 2012 professional or higher version, with update 2. 

If you currently don’t have VS 2012, a 90 days trial version is available for download from Microsoft via the following URL:

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads#d-2012-editions

Visual Studio 2012 update 2 is available for download from the following URL:

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/visual-studio-update

Windows Embedded Compact 2013 Toolkit is available for download from the following URL:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39268

Compact 2013 Toolkit

The Compact 2013 toolkit includes the following:

·         Platform Builder for Compact 2013

·         Application Builder for Compact 2013

·         Compact Test Kit

·         Windows Embedded XAML Tools

·         Windows Embedded Developer Update

·         Third party resources

Platform Builder for Compact 2013

Platform Builder for Compact 2013 is an extension to VS 2012.  Platform Builder is the main tool, provided as part of the Windows Embedded Compact 2013 Toolkit, to develop OS design project and generate custom OS runtime image to support the targeted device.

For Windows CE 5.0 and earlier version, Platform Builder was a standalone IDE.  For Windows Embedded CE 6.0, Platform Builder was a plug-in to the Visual Studio 2005 IDE.  For Windows Embedded Compact 7, Platform Builder was a plug-in to the Visual Studio 2008 IDE.  Platform Builder for Compact 2013 is a plug-in to the Visual Studio 2012 IDE.

Although Platform Builder changed from being a standalone IDE and became extension to different version of the Visual Studio IDE over the years, the general development environment, associated tools and file directory structure where operating system components are located remain pretty much the same.

Platform Builder is used to develop the following type of projects:

·         OS design

·         Device driver

·         OEM adaptation layer code (OAL)

·         Boot loader

·         Board support package

·         Native code application and software component

Application Builder for Compact 2013

Application Builder for Compact 2013 is an extension to VS 2012.  When installed, it enables the VS 2012 environment to support managed and native code application development that target Compact 2013 devices, using C++, C# and Visual Basic provided by the VS 2012 IDE.

To development managed and native code application for a Compact 2013 device from the VS 2012 IDE, the following components are needed:

·         Application Builder for Compact 2013

·         Compact 2013 SDK for the target device

Application develop related subjects are covered in greater details in section IV, chapter 13 through 19.

Compact Test Kit

The Windows Embedded Compact Test Kit (CTK) is a tool provided as part of the Compact 2013 toolkit that you can use to test the function and performance for the following:

·         Board support package

·         Device driver

·         OEM adaptation layer code (OAL)

·         Application component

The screen capture, in figure 4.3, shows an outline of the tests supported by the CTK.

Figure 4.3:  Compact Test Kit with Test Case Explorer showing

In addition to the test case provided as part of the CTK from Microsoft, custom test can be created.

Upon the completion of each test, or group of tests, the Compact Test Kit provides the facility to generate and export reports, showing the summary of the test and details for each of the test performed.

The Compact Test Kit is a valuable tool to help development team validate the work they’ve done and provides documented test result for their project.

Windows Embedded XAML Tools

The Windows Embedded XAML tool is provided to support XAML for Windows Embedded application development. 

XAML for Windows Embedded is a user interface (UI) development framework that separates the UI design from programming logic, enables designer and developer to work on the same project independently and efficiently, doing what they do best.  Once a design & development structure is established between the designer and developer, the designer can continue to modify and update the user interface without having to know or understand the underline programming logic.  At the same time, the developer can go about their development tasks, writing code without worrying about adjusting their codes to the modified user interface.

Windows Embedded Developer Update

Windows Embedded Developer Update (WEDU) is part of the Compact 2013 toolkit, which can be configured to check Microsoft website for software update and install the available update.

Third Party Resources

In addition to Platform Builder, Application Builder, CTK, XAML and WEDU for Compact 2013, the toolkit also includes the following third party resource:

·         PDF file viewer from Westtek