Win CE
Integrators Guide
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Revision 1.15, 5th Apr 2008 |
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Software delivery
In this
environment, UPDD is supplied as a number of separate components. Software sent
via email will be held in the file ZIP file TBUPDDCE.ZIP. This avoids the
rejection by many mail servers of .exe files. Touch-Base utilises virus detection
software on all of our systems but recipients of the software should pass the
files through their own virus checking software before proceeding with
installation.
As of October 2006
we are only shipping UPDD CE V4 unless otherwise requested to supply V3 and
these note refer only to the V4 driver.
Overview
For OEMs requiring a
touch screen, or other pointer interface on Windows CE devices, the Touch-Base
Universal Pointer Device Driver suite of software includes a Windows CE 2.xx,
3.x, 4.x/.NET, 5,x and 6.x embedded driver. This driver utilises the same code
base as the Windows NT/9x/2K/XP UPDD product and so has all facilities found in
UPDD on those systems, except for minor differences to accommodate variance in
the Windows CE implementation. The UPDD application program interface is
supported on Windows CE allowing 3rd party utilities to be
developed.
Hardware Interfaces
Serial
should work in all target
platforms.
PS/2 has been tested in X86 only.
USB have been tested on X86, Strongarm (Intel XScale
PXA-255) and MIPS platforms. For other processors we would need to be supplied
a target system to modify the UPDD USB interface to work with the processor.
Other interfaces such as ISA etc could be
added if required.
See important Port Interface issues
below.
Processor support
The driver has been tested with X86,
StrongArm and MIPS processors running CE 3.0 .NET 4.1, 4.2, 5.0 and 6.0. Our
CE.NET driver has been built in a CE.NET 4.2 development environment. We
can build drivers for other processors, as supported by the Microsoft CE
Platform Builder, on request. The CE 5.0 and 6.0 drivers are incompatible with
previous versions of Windows CE so the appropriate driver for your target platform
should be used.
At the time of writing, the processors
supported by Win CE 2.x/3.x/4.x (Net)/5.x/6.x are:
·
MIPS
·
StrongArm
(also supports ARM processors)
·
Power
PC (Win CE 3.0/2.xx only)
·
Hitachi
SH3 (CE 4.x and earlier) / SH4
·
x86
A complete list of supported hardware can be
found at:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/embedded/aa714536.aspx
Any processor can be supported as long as a
Board Support Package is available for the target processor. Read http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wcehardware5/html/wce50conSupportedBoardSupportPackages.asp for more information on BSP’s
Target hardware may have to be supplied for
testing if any problems are experienced with the driver.
Embedding UPDD for Win CE
It is assumed that the
developer is using Platform Builder 3.0 or greater and has created a Win CE
image for the target hardware. This image should be created with the MAXALL
configuration under CE 3.0 or an appropriate platform configuration under
CE.NET.
To embed UPDD in a Windows
CE image follow the following steps.
1.
Copy the files
(tbcalib.exe, tbupddce.dll, tbupddceusb.dll (if using a USB touch controller)
and tbcalibdll.dll (if it exists) from the supplied zip file to the project folder
in which your project files are stored.
2.
Edit the
configuration file project.bib, adding the following line in the MODULES
section:
tbupddce.dll $(_FLATRELEASEDIR)\tbupddce.dll
NK SH or
3.
If USB support
is required edit the configuration file project.bib, adding the following line
in the MODULES section:
tbupddceusb.dll $(_FLATRELEASEDIR)\tbupddceusb.dll NK SH
or
4.
If manual
calibration facilities are required, edit the configuration file project.bib,
adding the following line in the MODULES section:
tbcalib.exe $(_FLATRELEASEDIR)\tbcalib.exe NK
tbcalibdll.dll $(_FLATRELEASEDIR)\tbcalibdll.dll NK (if using CE 6.0)
5. Edit the configuration file
project.reg, adding the contents of the supplied file tbupddce.reg and any other
.reg files supplied as part of the UPDD CE package.
1. If USB support is required
edit the configuration file project.reg, manually adding the following entries:
[HKEY_LOCAL_M
"DLL"="Tbupddceusb.dll"
"Order"=dword:1
"Index"=dword:1
"Prefix"="USB"
with the VID and PID tokens being replaced with the appropriate values in base
10 (decimal). The VID and PID values can be found in the supplied tbupddce.reg
in hexadecimal format.
“Product
Id”=dword:0000HHHH
“Vendor
Id”=dword:0000HHHH
Important note 1 - The VID and PID values MUST
match the VID and PID of the controller in use. If the supplied files do not
match the controllers VID and PID, manually edit the values to match. If
necessary, we can supply a Win 2000 utility to display the VID and PID when the
controller is plugged in. e.g. Controller has hex VID = 1234 and PID = 11
values. Hex 1234 = decimal 4660 and Hex 11 = decimal 17.
Based on the above controller the settings would be as
follows:
project.reg
[HKEY_LOCAL_M
tbupddce.reg
“Product
Id”=dword:00000011
“Vendor
Id”=dword:00001234
2. If EEPROM calibration data
retrieval is required configure EEPROM retrieval to be invoked at startup. See EEPROM notes below.
3. Make any required software
changes to the system components. See “Port interface issues”
below.
- Rebuild the image using the Platform Builder.
Calibration issues
The touch screen interface requires that calibration data be used to map screen touches to the corresponding Windows display area. This data is held in the registry or the touch controller’s EEprom. UPDD for Windows CE supports EEPROM based calibration storage where the device itself has the appropriate support and where support has been added in UPDD. Not all EEprom enabled controllers are supported by UPDD for EEprom calibration storage as support has been added on a per requirement basis. Should you require EEprom support, please contact Touch-Base to discuss further. Unless EEprom calibration is preconfigured in the supplied UPDD CE driver, calibration storage will be in the registry.
If calibration data id held in the registry and the registry is not held in non volatile memory then the registry is reset to its default values whenever the device is reset. This raises some calibration issues that must be considered, these are especially relevant to x86 implementations where the device is reset upon suspend or power off.
UPDD calibration information can be determined in one of 3 ways:
Auto-calibration. The calibration information is calculated based on the maximum theoretical range of values (from the number of bits in the touch data packet) assuming that the available touch area is exactly the same size as the visible desktop area.
Pre-calibration. The calibration data is determined for a device – or class of device, and stored in the embedded configuration.
Manual Calibration. The user executes the calibration program and touches a series of displayed points on the screen. Data recorded in this way may be lost when the device is reset (if the registry is not held in persistent memory) unless the data is stored in the touch controller’s EEPROM. An OEM using manual calibration, where the calibration data is lost over a reboot, needs to decide on a strategy for initiating the manual calibration. E.g. executing the calibration program at start-up, or placing an icon on the desktop. These and other options are implemented via the platform configuration.
Calibration Settings
The supplied registry settings will usually be set to indicate auto-calibration. A CE image developer might wish to alter these default settings, for example to provide a pre-calibrated device. This is achieved by changing the settings copied to project.reg. The settings that affect calibration are stored under:
HKEY_LOCAL_M
The specific values used are: -
Number Of Calibration Points
RefX0, RefX1, RefY0, RefY1 *
CalX0, CalX1, CalY0, CalY1*
InvertX, InvertY, SwapXY
*If “Number Of Calibration Points” is greater than 2 then there will be correspondingly more of these values.
The above values may be changed in the following ways.
·
To force auto-calibration
Number of Calibration Points=2
CalX0=CalX1=CalY0=CalY1=0
InvertX,InvertY,SwapXY=? (These values will have to be determined by experiment for a specific device. The valid values are 0 and 1 (for true / false)). Tip – running the calibration program with 3 or more calibration points will automatically set these values which can then be noted in the project.reg file.
·
To define
pre-calibration data
The easiest way to determine the pre-calibration data is to run the calibration program on the device and perform a manual calibration. The calibration values, detailed above, are noted from the registry on the target device and manually entered in to project.reg. NB when executing tbcalib.exe the mode of calibration is taken from a different registry location, see “manual calibration” below.
·
To prepare for manual calibration:
A CE image developer might wish to alter aspects of the manual calibration, such as the number of points or the location of the points. In doing this it is important to bear in mind that the values outlined above are used for the active data (i.e. the previous calibration), and the data used for the next manual calibration are located at: -
HKEY_LOCAL_M
·
Determining calibration reference points:
If defining pre-calibration data, or preparing for a manual calibration with a non-default number of points, the reference values must be set. The reference values represent the location of the calibration points based on a grid 0-65535 in the x and y planes, with the origin at the top left. So for a three-point calibration with points
At top left middle and bottom right the values would be: -
RefX0=0
RefY0=0
RefX1=32768
RefY1=32768
RefX2=65535
RefY2=65535
If the controller in use supports EEPROM
storage and it is supported by UPDD
and EEprom calibration storage is required then registry entry
HKEY_LOCAL_M
should be enabled.
Important note: If calibration data is stored in the controller then it is necessary to automatically call the calibration program at system startup to retrieve the calibration data passing the eeprom retrieval parameter, i.e. tbcalib eeprom. See Calibration documentation for further details.
Calibration beeps
A system beep will be made as each calibration point is accepted if the calibration beep setting is enabled
HKEY_LOCAL_M
Calibration Procedure
Calibration can be invoked by calling the calibration program, TBcalib. This program can be invoked to calibrate the main video calibration, calibrate toolbars and retrieve stored calibration data from EEPROM and set driver settings. For more information see the separate Calibration documentation.
Toolbars
A toolbar is an area on the touch screen that acts independently from the main calibrated video area. A toolbar can simply be used to mask off areas of the calibrated video area or they can be used to trigger an event. Toolbar utilisation is described in the Toolbar document.
Driver settings
The supplied registry settings will usually be set to the
default settings for the controller in use. In Win CE these settings are set
manually in the tbupddce.reg file prior to generating the CE build. We trust
the entries in the .reg structure are self-explanatory and are found in the
registry branch HKEY_LOCAL_M
Given that all settings for an embedded system are defined in the CE Platform Builder and the image then embedded on the target image it has been decided that there is no need for a UPDD CE GUI as the same Windows GUI (UPDD Console) can be used to define the required settings under Windows which are then placed in the UPDD CE configuration file. In most cases the supplied configuration files will contain the required UPDD settings. Values can be manually edited in the tbupddce.reg file or changed on a Windows system using the UPDD Console.
If values are changed on a Windows system, export the UPDD registry
entry (e.g. by using regedit's export option) and embed these setting in the
tbupddce.reg file.
Export the complete hive
HKEY_LOCAL_M
and take the contents of the exported file and replace all occurrences of
[HKEY_LOCAL_M
with
[HKEY_LOCAL_M
If only updating individual branches, e.g. HKEY_LOCAL_M
Sound
The sound setting requests that a sound be generated ‘on contact’ that is when Pen down is generated. Given that Windows CE does not support access to the system speaker in UPDD version 4 we play the Windows "beep" when the sound should be made. With this technique there is no control over the length or pitch of the sound.
HKLM\Drivers\BuiltIn\TBUPDD\Parameters\{…}\1\Sound
HKLM\Drivers\BuiltIn\TBUPDD\Parameters\{…}\1\Sound Duration – not used
HKLM\Drivers\BuiltIn\TBUPDD\Parameters\{…}\1\Sound Pitch – not used
Mouse Emulation
The mouse emulation modes dictate the manner in which
the touch screen emulates pointer movement and mouse click sequences and are
defined across a number of settings:
event alt mode n
= Secondary Click Mode name
(e.g.TouchDown Right)
event bind n = Bind name (e.g
DFLT)
event mode n
=Primary Click Mode name (e.g. TouchDown Left)
event name n
= Event Name (e.g. Default)
where n is
the touch event number.
Please refer to the Mouse Emulation documentation for
further details.
Port interface issues – important
Serial
Touch-screens may be connected to a CE device via a standard serial (COM). A CE image builder should bear in mind that the default CE image generated by platform builder might well make assumptions regarding the usage of such ports. E.g. debug output will be sent to the first physical COM port, preventing its use. By default, CE creates two com port instances, Com 0 and Com 1. Com 0 is used as the debug port and relates to the physical port com 1. Com 1 is therefore the first port that can be used by the touch screen that actually relates to the physical Com 2 port.
Many customers have been unable to get their touch screens working with a default CE build until they have plugged the touch screen into com2 or changed the BIOS so that serial port is referenced as Com2, although the references in the CE build refer to com 1 !!!!
In some circumstances the CE builder will need to amend the CE configuration to alter the default serial port behavior. If you are not familiar with this procedure we have technical bulletin that covers this subject.
USB
The CE image must be amended to support the USB host controller (this is the system’s USB host controller and NOT the USB touch controller). Consult the manufacturer’s documentation and or Platform Builder help for details of how to achieve this with the particular model of hardware in use. A 3rd party driver might be required for the host controller, although this has not the case for the hardware we have tested so far. To ensure the CE system’s USB host controller is functioning use a HID mouse prior to testing the USB touch controller.
PS/2
Windows CE version 5 implements a new composite PS/2 keyboard and mouse driver. In its attempt to initialise the PS/2 mouse some PS/2 touch controllers can be initialised incorrectly. This can be solved by executing ‘tbcalib /reinit’ during Windows startup.
We have seen systems where it is not possible to use a PS/2 keyboard when using a PS/2 touchscreen using the alternative PS/2 port. At the end of calibration the PS/2 keyboard is no longer functioning. We have not investigated this further at this time.
Software requirements
In order to build a Win CE binary image the appropriate MS Platform Builder relating to the CE environment is required. E.g. MS Platform Builder 3.0 for Win CE 3.0 builds or Window CE.NET Platform for Windows CE.NET etc.
Hardware requirements
A target Win CE device is required.
Alternatively x86 based images can be run on a standard PC using the LOADCEPC utility.
Important note. If you wish to use a Serial connection to the Windows CE device, please note that there is a consideration that is not always made clear in the Microsoft documentation. A null modem cable is required, but this differs from a standard null modem cable in that the RI pin is connected straight through. Without this connection it will be impossible to make a serial connection from the NT host to the Win CE device
Contact
For further information or technical assistance please email the technical support team at technical@touch-base.com.