I am working on a solution to a problem at work where we can't tell if someone is on the phone or just sitting there. We use Microsoft Lync to place our calls and I was hoping to be able to add a bit of code to an existing .net application to show the presence of the person logged into the machine. That info will send that out via USB to an indicator light I previously built.
So basically I am trying to create a .net version of those 'ON AIR' lights you see at radio stations.
I have been searching for the last few days and haven't found a solution. I also downloaded the Microsoft Lync Controls SDK, but no luck with that either.
The following site provides a couple of ways of getting the user availability: http://rcosic.wordpress.com/2011/11/17/availability-presence-in-lync-client/
You may also be interested in the BusyLight if you still haven't implemented this solution. It's a USB light which shows your presence, as you describe.
There's a video demo of it in action here.
Related
I have purchased a simple biometric fingerprint reader that is usually used for laptop security through a USB connection. It is just called biomentric finger print reader, not branded! It came with the software for creating security for laptop, and it works great.
However, I had a different idea for it: I am intending to create a database of users fingerprints so that I can identify which user swiped their fingers on it, ie, to use it for different users' authentication using fingerprints. I don't seem to be making any head or tail on how to go about that.
I would like to find out if there is other kind of software to install that will make this gadget print the fingerprint or a code to say a spreadsheet or database whenever I swipe a finger on it? I was thinking it would be a simple as when I use a bar code scanner to print codes of various items to a spreadsheet.
Could someone please advise how to go about this. I believe it should do that but I just dont know where to start.
thanks.
As an alternative wrapper to WinBioNET as mentioned by Robinicks there is WinBiometric.Net.
Disclaimer: I do not own this project.
It has a really nice test project for playing around with the different API functions available in the Windows Wiometric Framework. This test project was monumental in helping me understand the Windows Biometric Framework.
The WinBiometric.Net wrapper has a claim of 100% API coverage, a NuGet package and has the MIT license.
I found it to generally have a very high quality of code as well.
As for storing the fingerprints in a database you could use the WinBioCaptureSample API function to capture a sample, which can then be stored in a database.
The sample can be converted into an image as well, there is a nice example of this in the wrapper.
I know this is an old question but I figured I'd post anyway.
You can use the WBF (Windows biometric Framework) API that is free, but you must first verify if your biometric device is WBF compatible. The documentation and samples for WBF are for C++, but there is a wrapper sample in C# that you can download here: Cirrostrata biometrics Regarding how to convert the scanned data into an image, you can check this post: How to convert winbio data into image. Hope this helps to start.
You can use the WinBioNET .NET wrapper for Windows Biometric Framework (WBF). It has a demo winforms app in the solution. Just open it up, select the demo app as the "startup project" and run. If you have any devices connected it will enumerate it at startup.
I'm developing an app on the Windows desktop so Win7 users have the app, but for Win8 users I'm also developing a Metro app.
My problems are,
if a user opens a file (e.g. "Blue.xyz"), I want an app to come up that asks which environment to open it in, but first it has to find all the apps that can open the file and display them.
Then I need to pass the data as a parameter to the app Chosen.
In the .NET framework 4.5.1, I can't find the System.GetEnvironmentVariable command so I can create a common location for both environments to access. These are my options:
Comment for clarification.
Regarding your 3rd question, the function is there, just now showing on MSDN page:
After having an inspiration, I found some code that can get pretty close to what I want.
Dim filepicker As New Windows.Storage.Pickers.FileOpenPicker
CommonFolder = Windows.Storage.Pickers.PickerLocationId.DocumentsLibrary
I should just be able to tack this on the end after that:
CommonFolder.Replace("\Documents","")
and it should give me "C:\Users\someuser" and then I can add "\MyAppStorage"
Thanks for all the help though! This code isn't very clean, so feel free to edit and make it better!
I have to develop a windows store app which will be usable on public devices, that means users aren't supposed to be able to quit my application.
On iOS devices, an option called "Guided Access" allows to do this easily, buttons are disabled and you can specify an area where user can interact.
After some researches, I haven't found a way to do that, it seems that Microsoft has not implemented this option in Windows 8, so I'm looking for a way to do this with some code, directly in my app but I have no idea on how to do that precisely. Please, can you tell me if it's possible and, if it is, can you give me a point where I can start ?
Thanks.
I´m not sure whether or not this made it into the newly released preview of the Windows 8.1 Update, but check for "Assigned Access" it was rumored to be a new feature especially for Windows store apps
Edit: See the offical 8.1 product guide here, it only mentions it two times but maybe it is worth installing the preview.
Presently I'm working on a Windows Phone application that will work in both online and offline mode. So that if the net is available means I need to sync my offline data to the respective server. My requirement is if my app is working and when I reach a wifi-enabled circle (area) I need to get a notification. Otherwise need to race an event.
How can I achieve this? Is there any notification channel present in WP7 to inform about this? If yes please demonstrate some code to achieve the goal.
You can determine if you are connected to a network, you can get the connection type and the phone informs you when it goes on/offline:
NetworkInterface.GetIsNetworkAvailable() checks if you are online or offline
DeviceNetworkInformation tells you more about the network type (Wifi, ...)
NetworkChange.NetworkAddressChanged += new NetworkAddressChangedEventHandler(OnNetworkChangeHandler); registers a listener to listen for changes
Click here for an example on how to listen for changes. Also very good is this tutorial from MSDN, demonstrating all the goodies mentioned above!
I also recommend reading this blog post as it contains much valuable information about the different APIs.
PS: It is not possible to get a list of all available WLANs around the phone. You can only see the WLAN you are connected to (if). That is a limitation of the Windows Phone API.
The platform does not include support for the "GeoFencing" scenario you describe.
The best solution currently available is to periodically (using a Background Task) check to see if a connection is available and to begin the sync then.
I know how you can use the api in vb.net IM
I wish simply by pressing a button sends a message to all my contacts.
I apologize for my ignorance but I'm still learning, thanks
You don't mention what IM network you're talking about so I'm assuming you're talking about Live Messenger. If that's not the case, only the bit about Pidgin might still be relevant.
Unfortunately, my understanding is that nowdays there's no easy API for doing what you want, and you might have to write your own client to do this, here's a website that discusses the protocol:
http://www.hypothetic.org/docs/msn/index.php
You might also want to look at Pidgin since it supports Messenger and is open source:
http://www.pidgin.im/download/source/
There's a Live Messenger API, but I don't think that can be used to send a message from a standalone VB.Net desktop client since it seems more for writing Addins to the standard Live Messenger client, but here's the information about it in case I'm wrong:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa905675.aspx
If you're running XP or earlier you might be able to use the Windows Messenger SDK:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms630961%28v=VS.85%29.aspx