Chapter 4 - Tablet PC Platform SDK: Tablet Input

Chapter 4

Tablet PC Platform SDK: Tablet Input

The previous chapter illustrated how the Tablet PC platform is divided into three logical pieces: tablet input, ink data management, and ink recognition. This chapter will take a close look at the tablet input piece of the platform from an architectural as well as a programmatic standpoint.

We ll begin by learning about how physical pen strokes become useful input to both tablet-aware and tablet-unaware applications. Then we ll see how to use the Tablet PC Platform SDK to enumerate, introspect, and most important capture input from tablet devices. At the end of the chapter, some best practice methods to help yield the best Tablet PC user experience will be discussed.

Sample Applications

Various sample applications with source code are provided to demonstrate the practical application of concepts as they are presented. Each application was designed to focus only on what s necessary to illustrate relevant material other aspects of the applications were intentionally kept minimal for clarity s sake. Considerable effort has been put into testing the applications and making sure that they follow correct usage of the Tablet PC Platform SDK, though in the spirit of software design it s always possible for a bug to creep in. You certainly don t have to be prepared to call the fire department if you copy and paste code from this book into your own application, but please don t call Mr. T s House of SmackDown! if an unexpected feature crops up during a demo of your app to your boss.