Hello World !!! using Apache Cordova and Visual Studio 2013

You heard it right, this is for all the .NET Developers (other platform also welcome) who have ever wished to build an app using Apache Cordova that targets multiple mobile platforms: Android, iOS, Windows, and Windows Phone.

Disclaimer: All images are copyright to their respective owners.

I am going to show you a very simple mobile application which displays Hello World, using apache Cordova and Visual Studio 2013.

1. Setup the environment by installing the Preview of Visual Studio Tooling Support for Apache Cordova, you can download the CTP from here.

Visual Studio Tools for Apache Cordova

2. Once the installation is complete, run Visual Studio 2013 and create a new project. You need to go to Javascript templates or you can select the Multi device Hybrid App and click OK button. this will give you default project structure

3. For this post I am not going to explain all the files, rather I will go directly to my index.html and change the default text Hello World !!! and we are done.

4. And finally select the desired Emulators and run the program.

And here is the output, that’s it and you are done.

You can double click on config.xml file to customize the Custom and Core properties of your application individually for each platforms.

Hope this makes your life simple Enjoy.

Other helpful link:

http://msopentech.com/blog/2014/05/12/apache-cordova-integrated-visual-studio/

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn757054.aspx

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Finline Touch – Version 4.0.0.1

Version 4.0.0.1 of Finline Touch is live in Windows Phone store, with major enhancements.
You can now Sync your Saved Quotation across multiple mobile devices using Microsoft OneDrive, in addition to the following features from the previous version.

1. Loan Calculator, for mortgage, car or personal loans
2. Special Loan calculator, supporting 0% EMI and down payment
3. Fixed deposit calculator, supports simple interest and interest compounded annually, monthly, quarterly and semiannually.
4. Saved loans, quotes allows you to view the loans or quotes saved by you. This can be used to generate a quick reference to the loan you already have with amortization details.
5. Loan Calculators provided in this application supports zero down payment, zero interest rate, calculation of processing fees, etc
6. Loan quotation generated can be saved for feature reference. This is also useful if you have existing loans. You can save you existing loans with loan reference number and short description which can be used for quick reference without searching and looking into you loan documents provided by you banks.
7. Save the quotations on OneDrive to sync across multiple mobile devices

You can download the App from Windows Phone Store @ http://www.windowsphone.com/en-in/store/app/finline-touch/e004e119-7f4b-46f1-bda5-aa1b1b94e6ef

Or you can Scan the QR Code from your mobile to download the app

Sync to OneDrive, helps to share the saved quotations across multiple mobile devices*

Backup, Restore, Sync to One drive is in BETA mode, please share your feedback so that I can improve this feature.

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Finline Touch–Windows Phone App Store

I am happy to announce that my first windows phone 8 app Finline Touch is live on Windows Phone Store. Few of the screenshots from the application is given below.

Your Pocket personal finance tool to track and plan your investments. It includes the following calculators:

1. Loan Calculator, for mortgage, car or personal loans
2. Special Loan calculator, supporting 0% EMI and down payment
3. Fixed deposit calculator, supports simple interest and interest compounded annually, monthly, quarterly and semi annually.

First version of this application can be downloaded from Windows Phone Store from the this link : http://www.windowsphone.com/en-in/store/app/finline-touch/e004e119-7f4b-46f1-bda5-aa1b1b94e6ef

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Making Your Windows Phone ready for Development Simplified

Now that you have got a new Windows Phone, if you are a .NET Developer then next thing you might want to see your programs running live on WIndows Phone and feel your application with touch and gestures.

But let me tell you that you are still $99 USD (annually) and few steps behind to fulfill your dream, provided you don’t have Promo Code or DreamSpark subscription, if you have the MSDN Subscription you can generate the Promo Code from the My Account menu and Activate your Window Phone Developer account.

Once you are ready with your subscriptions, follow the steps below.

Step 1 : Registration

Go To Start Screen, Locate Windows Phone Developer Registration

Make Sure to Unlock the Screen by entering the PIN or you you have not set the PIN then simply Swipe the screen to Unlock. If you Have not Unlocked your screen you might get the error as below(Please unlock the phone screen on your phone and click “Retry” (ErrorCode:0xC)).

Step 2: Now Once you Unlock, the wizard will identify your Phone and Select Register, which will ask you to register you phone with you Live ID or Microsoft ID.

During the entire process keep your phone in Unlocked State, it will take few seconds then comes the next error if you are not registered with Developer Centre, (Device not registered with Marketplace. Please return to the Windows Phone Dev Center for more information (ErrorCode:0x80043001))

You can find the list of registered devices by logging into your Windows Phone Developer Account by going to this link

https://dev.windowsphone.com/en-us/Account/Devices

Step 3 : Registration to Windows Phone Dev Centre

This means you need to register yourself using this link : https://dev.windowsphone.com/en-us/join to Windows Phone Developer Centre, this will charge you $99 for a year subscription, or if you have a promo code or if you are a DreamSpark student then this will be free for you.

Once you Register yourself, then you may wait for sometime (~24 hours) for your account to get verified and activated. Finally after you complete all the steps above open the Windows Phone Developer Registration and try again you will get the message “Congratulations! You have successfully unlocked your Windows Phone.” This means your are ready to go and run your code on your Windows Phone device.

3. First Hello World in your Device

Once you have successfully registered your Phone to Windows Phone Developer Centre, open your Visual Studio 2012, Create a New Project and Select Windows Phone from the templates.

You can select the language of your choice, for this post I am selecting Windows Phone HTML5 App and select Ok to create the project with default settings and files.

Open the index.html, under Html folder of your project and just personalize your page with something of your choice.

Please make sure to keep the phone connected and Unlocked before you deploy and run your first Windows Phone Application on your device.

Now to run the application you can find the Device button as given in the screenshot below, you can also test your phone by clicking on the Simulation dashboard, highlighted below.

Now lets run my First Windows Phone App, make sure your phone is unlocked otherwise your deployment will fail. You can find the screen something similar to the one I have given below.

4. Subscription Benefits.

With this subscription you can

• Get free development tools, including a phone emulator to test your app
• Explore code samples and all the information in our developer library
• Read tips about selling your app
• Review our policy guidelines and certification requirements
• See tips and guidelines for creating apps that reflect the beauty of our design concepts
• Create apps with trial options
• Enable in-app purchasing, so customers can buy things within your app
• Test your app with a real phone
• Submit free and paid apps to the Store
• Distribute your app around the world and set country/region-specific price tiers
• Watch your progress and manage your apps in a personalized dashboard
• Ask questions, share advice, or talk with other Windows Phone developer

5. Other Useful Links

For more details and FAQ visit : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/windowsphone/develop/ff769508%28v=vs.105%29.aspx

Enjoy coding you Windows Phone Apps !!!

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