Migrating a Catalog Item (Windows Embedded CE 6.0)

  • Article

1/6/2010

This section describes how to migrate an existing Catalog item (.cec) file from Windows CE 5.0 to the new format used in Windows Embedded CE 6.0. In previous versions of Windows Embedded CE, the metadata describing a Catalog item was contained in the .cec file format. In Windows Embedded CE 6.0, this information is now contained in a .pbcxml file, which is based on an XML schema. For more information, see Catalog Files.

When you open a .pbcxml file, the file opens by default in the Catalog Editor, which is part of the Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 integrated development environment.

Note

In Windows Embedded CE 6.0, .cec files do not have a default file association. However, you can manually create a Windows file association with the program of your choice.

The recommended method for converting a .cec file to a .pbcxml file is to use Catalog Editor to open the .cec file from its location, and then save it as a .pbcxml file.

Note

In Windows Embedded CE 6.0, you cannot use Catalog Editor to save a .cec file as a .cec file.

For more information, see Catalog Editor.

Developers who want to convert a .cec file in a command-line environment can use the command-line tool CecImport.exe. For information about this tool, see CECImport Tool.

If you use Platform Builder for Windows Embedded CE 6.0 to open an existing operating-system (OS) design (.pbxml) file that contains Catalog items that are not currently supported, Platform Builder asks you if you want to remove these items from your OS design. For more information, see Missing Catalog Items Dialog Box.

To migrate a Catalog item

  1. Start Platform Builder for Windows Embedded CE 6.0.

  2. On the File menu, choose Open, and then choose File.

  3. Navigate to the folder that contains the .cec file to migrate.

  4. Choose the file, and then choose Open. For example, open <MyCatalogFileName>.cec.

    In Platform Builder, the Catalog file opens and displays in Catalog Editor.

  5. On the File menu, choose Save <MyCatalogFileName>.pbcxml As….

    The Save As menu item displays the .cec file as a .pbcxml file.

  6. Navigate to one of the following paths:

    • %_WINCEROOT%\PUBLIC\<ANY_DIRECTORY>\CATALOG\*.pbcxml
    • %_WINCEROOT%\PUBLIC\<ANY_DIRECTORY>\CATALOG\<ANY_DIRECTORY>\*.pbcxml
    • %_WINCEROOT%\PLATFORM\<ANY_DIRECTORY>\CATALOG\*.pbcxml
    • %_WINCEROOT%\PLATFORM\<ANY_DIRECTORY>\CATALOG\<ANY_DIRECTORY>\*.pbcxml
    • %_WINCEROOT%\PLATFORM\COMMON\SRC\SOC\<ANY_DIRECTORY>\CATALOG\*.pbcxml
    • %_WINCEROOT%\PLATFORM\COMMON\SRC\SOC\<ANY_DIRECTORY>\CATALOG\<ANY_DIRECTORY>\*.pbcxml

  7. Choose Save.

See Also

Concepts

Catalog Item Icon Types
Catalog Item Management
Catalog Item Properties

Other Resources

Migrating to the Windows Embedded CE 6.0 Catalog