We have covered the basics of user interface controls and validation controls.
Now we move on to something even more interesting to a programmer. The basic
utility controls provided by the Mobile Internet Toolkit reduce some of the pain
of writing code and make the most out of what you write. There are three utility
controls: Calendar, Call, and AdRotator.
Calendar
The Calendar control is the most powerful of the three utility controls. This
class is similar to the Web.UI.Calendar class but provides a display of the
day/week/month that is dependent on the physical screen capability of the
device. This control provides the date selection functionality and displays the
selected date.
Listing 24.8 shows an example in which the user is asked to select the date.
Listing 24.8: Example of Calendar Control
<%@ Page Inherits="System.Web.UI.MobileControls.MobilePage" Language="vb" %>
<%@ Register TagPrefix="mobile" Namespace="System.Web.UI.MobileControls"
Assembly="System.Web.Mobile" %>
<script language="vb" runat="server">
Protected
Sub Calendar_Selection(ByVal sender
As [Object], ByVal
e As EventArgs)
Label1.Text = "The selected date is "
+ Calendar1.SelectedDate
ActiveForm = Form2
End Sub
</script>
<mobile:form id="Form1" runat="server">
<mobile:Calendar id="Calendar1"
OnSelectionChanged="Calendar_Selection"
SelectionMode="DayWeek"
runat=server/>
</mobile:form>
<mobile:form id="Form2" runat="server">
<mobile:Label id="Label1" runat="server"/>
</mobile:form>
The code in Listing 24.8 generates the output shown in Figures 24.11 through
24.15 and gives you the opportunity to select the date, as the figures show.
Figure 24.11: Screen Prompting User to Select a Date
Figure 24.12: Screen Prompting User to Select a Month
Figure 24.13: Screen Prompting User to Select a Week
Figure 24.14: Screen Prompting User to Select a Day
Figure 24.15: Final Output Shown After Submit, Showing Date Selected by User
Call
The second utility we are going to look at is calling functionality. You must be
thinking: What is so special about calling from a mobile phone? Yes, it is from
this control that you can automatically call a displayed number. Let's suppose
you want to call the company number that is embedded in your company address in
the display. It would be nice if the number were activated when a user clicks on
the link for the phone number. There is no need to remember the number anymore.
The following code shows how this is done:
<mobile:Call runat="server"
AlternateURL="http://c-sharpcorner.com"
phoneNumber="9109845248004">
Shivani`s Creation
</mobile:Call>
AdRotator
The final control we'll discuss is the AdRotator. This particular utility
control is the same as Web.UI.WebControls.AdRotator. It picks an advertisement
from the file specified in the AdvertisementFile property.
Here is what this control looks like:
<mobile:AdRotator runat="server" AdvertisementFile="myAd.xml">
</mobile:AdRotator>
If you are using images or want to provide personalization in the form of a
message, you can use the DeviceSpecific control.
In this article we have covered the bits and bytes of the Mobile Internet
Toolkit. These are the basics you need to know to start programming mobile
devices in .NET. Now let's look at a couple of case studies.
Conclusion
Hope this article would have helped you in understanding
Utility Controls - Mobile Internet using VB.NET.