Microsoft® Mobile Development Handbook

Mapping Device Screens to Device Forms

After you understand the mechanics and workflow of creating GUI projects, the next step is to understand the behaviors and configurability of all the controls. The Microsoft MSDN Web site at msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hf2k718k(VS.80).aspx provides copious amounts of information on controls, so we do not discuss them in depth in this book. Rather, we highlight the most important controls later in this chapter. Now it is essential to discuss some platform considerations and how they map to form properties.

Screen Layout

You can think of forms on devices as having three areas: a strip at the top, a strip at the bottom, and the main area in between the strips, as shown in Figure 2-4.

Figure 2-4. A Pocket ...