Resco Updates its MobileForms Toolkit -- Visual Studio Magazine

Resco Updates its MobileForms Toolkit

By Michael Desmond
02/18/2011

Mobile tools and component provider Resco this month released an updated version of its Resco MobileForms Toolkit suite of developer components and tools for mobile devices. MobileForms Toolkit 2011 Volume 2 extends the available controls for the Windows Phone 7, Windows Mobile, and Android editions of the suite. The MobileForms Toolkit iOS Edition for iPhone/iPad features updates to the existing controls.

MobileForms Toolkit Windows Mobile Edition received the most attention in the update, with six new components, including touch-specific versions of TextBox, ComboBox, CheckBox and RadioButton controls. The new version also adds a RichTextBox control for formatted text handling, as well as support for WebDAV client functionality.

The Windows Phone 7 Edition adds three controls: An IndeterminateProgressBar that offers a "substantial" performance boost, a password control that can be added to DetailView forms, and a WebDAV client.

The Android Edition, released as a beta, features five new controls, including AdvancedList, DetailView and TabBar components. Two calendar controls, for day/week and month/year scheduling, are also included in the Android Edition of the suite.

Jan Slodicka, senior developer at Resco, said supporting multiple, incompatible mobile platforms is a challenge for the company's developers.

"There are several mobile platforms now based on different technologies. Each requires different programming language and environment that can lead to a real clutter from a mobile developer point of view," Slodicka said. "Resco came up with an idea to support as many platforms with .NET technology as possible. The idea is to have as much common source code for various mobile platforms as possible."

Slodicka singled out Novell's Mono tooling, specifically MonoTouch for iOS and MonoDroid for Android, as a key enabling technology, since it allows Resco to leverage its C# code and experience with .NET in rolling out new components for the Android and iOS platforms.

"All in all, the process is very comfortable and does not require many changes in code, as it is powered by our components. Thus, the compilation process is straightforward."

Prices for the various editions vary. The Windows Phone 7 and iOS Edition products cost $599.95 for a single developer license, while the Windows Mobile Edition costs $799.95. The Android Edition is free for download as a beta. The company plans to roll out a commercial version of the product once MonoDroid itself ships as a final product. Finally, the Universal Edition packages all four editions together and costs $1195.95 for a single license.

About the Author

Michael Desmond is an editor and writer for 1105 Media's Enterprise Computing Group.

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