Tablet Fax

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In the final chapter of the book, we develop an application that allows us to send faxes. We also use factoids, which improve accuracy for specific types of pen-based input. To send the fax, we use the Faxcom.dll, which should be available on all Tablet PCs

On the CD 

The source code for the projects are located on the CD-ROM in the PROJECTS folder. You can either type them in as you go or you can copy the projects from the CD-ROM to your hard drive for editing.

Beginning the Project

To begin the project, create a new Windows Forms application and add the controls shown in Table 31.1, using Figure 31.1 as a reference.

Table 31.1: Adding controls to the application

Type	Name	Text
TextBox	FaxTo	empty
TextBox	FaxNum	empty
TextBox	FaxSubject	empty
TextBox	FaxNote	empty
CheckBox	CoverPage	Cover Page
CheckBox	CheckBox1	Display as Ink
InkEdit	InkEdit1	InkEdit1

Figure 31.1: The GUI is finished.

We are now set to add a reference to Microsoft.Ink and Microsoft.Ink.15. You also need a reference to the Microsoft Fax Service Extended COM Type Library, which can be found on the COM tab.

The next step is to add the Imports for Microsoft.Ink:

Imports Microsoft.Ink

We use a Pen Input Panel, so we can create this and also handle disposing of it on the Form_Closing event:

Dim thePenInputPanel As New PenInputPanel()


Private Sub Form1_Closing(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.ComponentModel.CancelEventArgs) Handles MyBase.Closing
 thePenInputPanel.Dispose()
End Sub

We now deal with the Pen Input Panel and using factoids in the TextBox controls, which includes phone numbers, and so on. Factoids greatly improve recognition (much like our custom grammar for SAPI) by providing the recognizer with a definition of the words, numbers, and punctuation that are expected. Factoids are available for items such as phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

We are able to assign the factoid and the Pen Input Panel in the respective TextBox_Enter events:

 Private Sub FaxTo_Enter(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
 thePenInputPanel.AttachedEditControl = FaxTo
 thePenInputPanel.Factoid = Factoid.Default
 End Sub

 Private Sub FaxNum_Enter(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
 thePenInputPanel.AttachedEditControl = FaxNum
 thePenInputPanel.Factoid = Factoid.Telephone
 End Sub

 Private Sub FaxSubject_Enter(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
 thePenInputPanel.AttachedEditControl = FaxSubject
 thePenInputPanel.Factoid = Factoid.Default
 End Sub

 Private Sub FaxNote_Enter(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
 thePenInputPanel.AttachedEditControl = FaxNote
 thePenInputPanel.Factoid = Factoid.Default
 End Sub

Let's now handle the changing of the InkEdit control to display the information as ink or as the recognized text. We use CheckBox1 for this. The other Sub procedure that deals with the way the InkEdit control works is the Form_Load event, which empties any text inside the control and sets its Width property to 100.

Here are the two procedures:

Private Sub CheckBox1_CheckedChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles CheckBox1.CheckedChanged
 InkEdit1.SelectAll()
 If CheckBox1.Checked = True Then
 InkEdit1.SelInksDisplayMode = InkDisplayMode.Ink
 Else
 InkEdit1.SelInksDisplayMode = InkDisplayMode.Text
 End If
End Sub

Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
 InkEdit1.Text = ""
 InkEdit1.DrawingAttributes.Width = 100
End Sub

The final Sub procedure is the longest one. It occurs when btnFax is clicked. It begins by creating a new fax document, fax server, sender, and job ID:

Dim objFaxDocument As New FAXCOMEXLib.FaxDocument()
Dim objFaxServer As New FAXCOMEXLib.FaxServer()
Dim objSender As FAXCOMEXLib.FaxSender
Dim JobID As Object

The Sub procedure continues on with the following steps:

1. Connect to the local fax server.
2. Set the body of the fax document to the content of InkEdit1.
3. Use the FaxSubject Text property to set the document name.
4. Set the priority to high.
5. Add the recipient name and fax number.
6. Attach the fax to the fax receipt.
7. Add a cover page if the CoverPage check box is selected.
8. Set the Subject equal to the FaxSubject's Text property.
9. Set the JobID.
10. Display a message box with the ID.
11. The entire set of steps have simple error handling and an error is displayed if anything happens.

Here is the code for the entire procedure:

 Private Sub btnFax_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
 Dim objFaxDocument As New FAXCOMEXLib.FaxDocument()
 Dim objFaxServer As New FAXCOMEXLib.FaxServer()
 Dim objSender As FAXCOMEXLib.FaxSender
 Dim JobID As Object

 On Error GoTo Error_Handler
 objFaxServer.Connect("")
 objFaxDocument.Body = InkEdit1.Rtf
 objFaxDocument.DocumentName = FaxSubject.Text
 objFaxDocument.Priority = FAXCOMEXLib.FAX_PRIORITY_TYPE_ENUM.fptHIGH

 objFaxDocument.Recipients.Add(FaxNum.Text, FaxTo.Text)

 objFaxDocument.AttachFaxToReceipt = True

 If CoverPage.Checked Then
 objFaxDocument.CoverPageType = FAXCOMEXLib.FAX_COVERPAGE_TYPE_ENUM.fcptSERVER
 objFaxDocument.CoverPage = "generic"

 objFaxDocument.Note = FaxNote.Text
 objFaxDocument.Sender.LoadDefaultSender()
 End IF

 objFaxDocument.Subject = FaxSubject.Text

 JobID = objFaxDocument.ConnectedSubmit(objFaxServer)

 MsgBox("The Job ID is :" & JobID(0))
 Exit Sub

Error_Handler:
 MsgBox("Error : " & Hex(Err.Number) & ", " & Err.Description)

 End Sub

That's it for this final program. You can test it out to see if it is working correctly.

Summary

Congratulations on making it through this entire text. You should now have a good understanding of the wide variety of applications that can be created for the Tablet PC. When learning any new programming concepts, you will undoubtedly have many questions. There are several great places to learn online, including the TabletPC Developer Web site at www.tabletpcdeveloper.com and the Tablet PC developer usenet newsgroup: microsoft.public.windows.tabletpc.developer.