Building a mobile Web Form

Overview of Part 6

The Microsoft Mobile Internet Toolkit (MMIT), available as an add-on to Visual Studio .NET, provides the tools to enable mobile Web application development. MMIT makes it easy to build a single mobile Web-based application that will automatically generate HTML, compact HTML (cHTML), or Wireless Markup Language (WML), depending on the target device's capabilities, and do so using business logic in XML Web services. Now with MMIT, targeting multiple devices with a single Visual Studio .NET application is as seamless as building a rich Windows-based desktop application.

Having added new gift certificate capabilities to its site in the previous part, Downhill Bikes now needs an easy way for their dealers to validate the gift certificates online. They also want an easy way for their customers to check the balance of their gift certificates online.

In this part you will use the Mobile Web designer in Visual Studio .NET to build a Web page that can be accessed by a variety of devices, giving DownhillBikes' dealers and their customers complete flexibility in running the mobile Web application.

6: Build a Web Page - Mobile

Step 1 of 7: Add a mobile Web form

When MMIT is installed, Mobile Web Forms are integrated directly into the Visual Studio .NET IDE. In this step, you will start a new mobile application.

Part 6: Build a Web Page - Mobile

Step 2 of 7: Add elements to the form

Building mobile Web forms is identical to building Web Forms and Windows Forms. The code behind is also the same so leveraging work done in other projects is easy.

Part 6: Build a Web Page - Mobile

Step 3 of 7: Add another mobile Web form

In this step you will drag a second mobile form onto the design surface and add a label to it. This form will be used to display the results of the validation performed in the previous step.

Part 6: Build a Web Page - Mobile

Step 4 of 7: Add code behind the Validate button

In this step you will add code behind the validation button added in the previous step to call the server-side validation component and return text indicating whether or not the certificate is valid.

Part 6: Build a Web Page - Mobile

Step 5 of 7: View the new form

Let's run the application and check a certificate we got in Part 5.

Part 6: Build a Web Page - Mobile

Step 6 of 7: View in Microsoft Mobile Explorer

Using the Microsoft Mobile Explorer we can emulate an actual WAP phone to test the functionality and compatibility of our mobile page.

Part 6: Build a Web Page - Mobile

Step 7 of 7: Summary

The Visual Studio .NET Guided Tour covered three areas: building client application, web-based server applications, and XML Web Services.

The Microsoft .NET platform pivots itself around these 3 fundamentals that are driving the digital revolution. First, the platform was built in concert with the Microsoft strategy around XML Web services - the crucial factor in solving the pressing problem of software and business integration. Second, Microsoft .NET provides the underlying substrate to deliver client experiences tailored to the desktop PC, the thin-client Web browser, and to the multitude of emerging smart devices. Finally, the Microsoft .NET platform recognizes the need for enterprise-critical server software and integration.

Visual Studio .NET represents the cornerstone to the Microsoft .NET platform. It is the tool that developers will use to drive their organizations and their customers into the world of XML Web services. Like the .NET platform itself, Visual Studio .NET aligns itself around the essentials of his digital revolution - XML Web services, Clients, and Servers.

By providing the most efficient way to both build and consume XML Web services, Visual Studio .NET keeps developers on the vanguard of next generation application development. In addition, Visual Studio .NET extends the concept of RAD to every facet of the client experience, enabling developers to build desktop, Web, and mobile applications using the skills they already have and the languages they already know. Finally, Visual Studio .NET demystifies server-side development - providing RAD development of business logic, supplying the tools needed to deploy data-rich Internet applications, and delivering the premier suite of enterprise servers to satisfy every business need.

With Visual Studio .NET, the once unattainable goals of developers and organizations alike are finally brought within reach. Empowering organizations to seamlessly move to the world of XML Web services, delivering resources for every client experience, and addressing the issues of server development and integration - Visual Studio .NET unleashes the power of .NET.