Device Stage Visual Editor v1.5 User's Guide
The Device Stage™ feature in Windows 7 provides a new way for users to interact with devices that are connected to their computers. It enables device manufacturers to deliver user experiences that match the specific branding, features, and content of their devices. Users simply connect their device to a computer that is running Windows 7, and the manufacturer-supplied experience is automatically installed and presented to them, which ensures a seamless experience between the users and their PCs and devices.
This guide shows device manufacturers how to use the Device Stage Visual Editor tool to develop and build a metadata package for a user Device Stage experience. It defines each step of the development process and references existing documentation that contains technical information and strategies. You are not required to know this information to successfully navigate this tool, but the information will help you improve your customers’ Device Stage experience.
In this section
| Topic | Description |
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This topic contains basic information to help you get started using Device Stage Visual Editor. |
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You can use the Device Stage Visual Editor File menu to develop, open, and save a metadata package, and to import and export locale resources data. |
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You can use the Device Stage Visual Editor Edit menu to add or remove categories and tasks and to refresh the Package Preview pane. |
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You can use the Device Stage Visual Editor Tools menu to get hardware IDs, create GUIDs, and use the test mode. |
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You can use the Device Stage Visual Editor Help menu to get help and information about the Device Stage Visual Editor. |
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This topic shows all device property metadata fields, their content description, whether they are required or optional, and references to associated documentation that has technical details (which includes element type metadata for manually modifying the XML source). |
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This topic contains Device Stage Visual Editor error messages, their causes, and their resolutions. |
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This topic defines common terms that are used in the Device Stage Visual Editor . |
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This topic lists additional resources that you might find useful when using the Device Stage Visual Editor. |
Overview
Device Stage Visual Editor is a tool that device manufacturers use to develop a custom Device Stage™ metadata package for their devices. This metadata package provides specific information that appears to end users as a Device Stage experience.
A Device Stage experience in Windows 7 lets device manufacturers build and brand the device experience that they present to end users. With Device Stage experiences, end users easily interact with their phone, camera, keyboard and mouse, or portable media player from their Windows desktop.
Manufacturers can use the easy-to-navigate user interface of Device Stage Visual Editor to develop and build a Device Stage experience metadata package. The package includes XML documents and graphics files that present photorealistic icons, device descriptions, and custom behaviors about their devices to end users. Manufacturers then submit the device metadata package to Microsoft, which validates the package and makes it available to users for download from the Windows Metadata and Internet Services (WMIS) server. The submission process is outside the scope of the current version of the tool. However, you can find details at Windows 7 device experience.
Important A Device Stage metadata package is very similar to a Devices and Printers metadata package. When you build a Device Stage metadata package for your device, you also create the components for a Devices and Printers metadata package for your device. Device Stage Visual Editor creates Devices and Printers metadata as a subset of a full Device Stage metadata package for devices that are supported. If your device is not currently supported by Device Stage Visual Editor, you can create a Devices and Printers metadata package in a separate tool. For more info, see the Device metadata schema reference.
Assumptions
This guide assumes the following:
- You want to capture and customize the Device Stage experience that end users see when they connect your device to their computer that is running Windows 7.
- You can access the latest version of the Device Stage Visual Editor tool.
- You have downloaded and installed the latest version of the Microsoft Device Experience Development Kit.
Device categories
Device Stage Visual Editor supports the following device categories:
- Document devices
- Keyboards and mice
- Mobile broadband adapter
- PCs
- Portable devices
- Digital cameras (includes digital still and digital video cameras)
- Mobile phones • Portable media players
- Smart card devices
- Others (includes webcams and devices that have no default tasks)
Languages
Device Stage Visual Editor supports up to 36 languages, including both Simplified and Traditional Chinese, in which to develop device metadata packages. English (en-US) is the default language. You can change the language by modifying the selection in the Properties Device LocaleLanguage field of the tool or by directly manipulating PackageInfo.xml.
Device Stage Visual Editor supports two locale default cases:
- LocaleDefault = True
- LocaleDefault = False
A LocaleDefault set to True specifies the metadata package as the default for the current locale of the computer. To support multiple locales, you must create separate metadata packages for the same device and you should set LocaleDefault = False for non-English locale of device metadata packages.
Note
Only one locale of metadata package can have LocaleDefault = True attribute on WMIS server and in most cases, you should set LocaleDefault = True on an en-US metadata package.
You must test the metadata package on a computer that is running Windows 7 and bears the locale of its Device Stage experience target locale (such as Italian, Vietnamese, or Simplified Chinese).
Microsoft Device Experience Development Kit 7R2
Device Stage Visual Editor Version 1.5 is compatible with the Microsoft Device Experience Development Kit 7R2 .