Thank you for attending “Solving the Occasionally Connected App Problem” Session

Thank you very much for attending the “Solving the Occasionally Connected App Problem” session as part of the DevCraft 2014 Q1 Virtual Conference – Your Top 5 Challenges Solved!  As promised, here is the Q&A for the session featuring myself and Michael Crump.  The videos will be available on-demand at http://www.telerik.com/devcraft-release-online-conference until March 20, 2014 and then will be available on the Telerik YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo-utdNlq6HvjCX0SduL4bA) after March 20.

Questions and Answers

Telerik UI For Windows 8

Q: If I would like to deploy the Windows 8 XAML app to x86 and x64 platforms am I out of luck? What is your suggested solution?

A: No! Telerik Data Storage for Windows 8 supports all platforms that Windows 8 supports.  SQLite is a native code library, and due to the nature of how C++ code is compiled, it can’t be built for “Any Platform”. You will have to do a multi-pass build for your Windows 8 Apps. We suggest that they use the configuration manager to switch between ARM, x86 and x64. More details for them can be found here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/t1hy4dhz(v=vs.90).aspx.

Q: Is there a reason that this example isn’t built with Telerik Data Access (formerly OpenAccess)?

A: Telerik Data Access is a great tool for use in Windows Desktop app development as well as server side.  Due to the limitations and sandboxing of the Windows 8 Modern Interface (formerly called “Metro”), Telerik Data Access and other ORM tools are not applicable.  That is why we created an easy to use API over SQLite, which works in all of the environments that Windows 8 Modern apps will run.

Q: Does Telerik Data Storage for Windows 8 support both the Surface Pro (and other Intel based tablets) as well as Surface RT (and other ARM based tablets)?

A: Yes! Our Windows 8/8.1 controls run on all versions of Windows 8 including x86, x64 and ARM based systems.

Telerik UI for Windows Phone 

Q: Are the data storage and cloud storage completely separate or do you use cloud when connected and switch to data storage when no data? Does it do anything to facilitate synchronizing data when coming back online?

A: They are separate components. Let’s examine what each one does.

The Cloud components for Windows Phone enable you to extend your Windows Phone applications with common Cloud related scenarios without having to write the backend services. We cover many scenarios such as User Authentication, User Registration and so forth. A more detailed list of what it contains can be found here. http://www.telerik.com/products/windows-phone.aspx#the-first-ever-cloud-powered-ui-controls-for-windows-phone

Data Storage allows Windows Phone apps to persist data locally and provides developers with local database support backed with the fast and server-less engine of SQLite. More info can be found here: http://www.telerik.com/products/windows-phone/overview/all-controls/data-storage.aspx

If you are looking for something to help build fully functional apps in both online and offline mode, you should take advantage of the Cloud Data Sync Mechanism. Documentation is provided here: http://www.telerik.com/help/windows-phone/radcontrols-cloud-synchronization-overview.html

Q: Is the Data Storage API available for other mobile platforms iOS and Android?

A: Not currently. However, we are looking into providing both an ORM and DataSync capabilities for iOS and Android.  Stay tuned to our roadmaps for more information.

Q: Are the components for iOS and Android available through Xamarin?

A: Not at this time, but we do have plans for Xamarin wrappers for our native iOS and Android controls.

General (Both for Windows Phone and Windows 8/8.1)

Q: Can the Data Storage code be placed in a PCL and shared between Windows Phone and Windows 8?

A: SQLite as well as Telerik Data Storage are built to be optimized for each platform, and by their very nature, they need to be installed separately for each platform.  Moving to a level above SQLite and our native wrappers, we will enable you to include your object graph and entities into a portable class library.  Stay tuned for more information when we can share it!

Q: This sample LINQ statements seem very basic.  Can you do more advanced LINQ?

A: Yes! We try to keep demos simple, but LINQ to SQLite is very powerful. Plus you have the full power of SQL statements at your disposal as well, so it’s a matter of personal preference on which to use.

Summary

Hopefully we demonstrated how Telerik UI for Windows 8 and Telerik UI for Windows Phone can help you write apps that work in both connected as well as disconnected states. 

Also, we’d love to hear your feedback or ideas on what you’d like to see in the future. Whether its new controls or additional features, feel free to leave feedback in our feedback portal and don’t forget to download your own copy of the controls shown in this session right now!