We previously used MC3190 units (CE-6), programmed in C# and we used the Windows Mobile Device Center (MDC) in anonymous mode to allow our batch-mode devices to connect to a host PC's USB and obtain a network connection through it, without any software on the PC except the
MDC. Since this is Microsoft-supplied, it was acceptable to clients.
Now MDC is not supported under Windows 7 onwards.
What is the recommended/support mechanism for us to perform this kind of connection using Embedded Compact 7 under new Windows versions, please?
Once established, we use that network connection for our handheld code to read/write directly to our SQL Server database, avoiding file transfers, storage on the host PC, etc. So any solution providing that kind of access would be great if anyone can help, please.
Thanks for any help,
Keith
MC3200 with Embedded Compact 7 - network comms question |
2 Replies
Hi, quick follow-on question - if we have a Windows Embedded Compact 7 device and we connect that to a Windows PC (7 or later) that does NOT have MDC installed, does it appear as a normal USB device, i.e. mount its storage as a new drive letter, etc?
Our clients have a big security concern about (a) using the unsupported MDC application and also (b) allowing direct network access to a Windows handheld device. If it can appear as USB storage, we can put an application on the PC to get the data in a more controlled way.
I have WMDC running on a Windows 10 laptop, and the pass through function seems to work, but I think you are correct, this is not actually supported by Microsoft and it seems to misbehave some times.
Other than putting an Access Point in the vicinity and using WiFi, the only other thing I can think of is maybe use an Ethernet cradle and connect the device directly to the network. We have some 4 slot Ethernet cradles for the MC32XX that might work for you. If you only need one slot, I think there is a third party one available.