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Use the Remote Desktop Connection Client in QVGA (Compact 7)

  • Article

3/12/2014

This topic describes how to troubleshoot problems that occur when the application UI is too large to be usable with the device screen size.

Problem

If your Windows Embedded Compact powered device uses the QVGA (320 x 240 pixel) screen size, the Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) client configuration screens are too large to use. Some controls appear off screen vertically and you cannot make them fit on the screen.

Solution

With the RDC client, there is a workaround that lets you bypass the problematic RDC client screens and still use the application. If you have a similar problem with another application, there may not be a workaround. Therefore, you may have to use the second solution. You can fix this problem in one of two ways:

  • Launch the RDC client by using a preconfigured .rdp file, bypassing the RDC client setup screens. If you know the format of the .rdp file, you can create it manually in a text editor. If you are not familiar with the format of the .rdp file, you can use the RDC client on another computer to create the file for you.
  • Reconfigure the RDC client screens so that they fit on a QVGA screen.

Launch the RDC Client by Using a Preconfigured .rdp File

The client UI is used only to configure the specifications of connecting to a particular client. This is an operation that is usually done only one time per remote client. Therefore, it may be more efficient to avoid the unusable sections of the UI by creating a preconfigured .rdp file than to change the UI.

To create a preconfigured .rdp file

  1. On another Windows Embedded Compact powered device with a larger screen, click Start, point to Programs, and then click Remote Desktop Connection.

  2. In the Remote Desktop Connection dialog box, click Options to expand the connection options.

  3. Set all the configuration settings for the host you want to connect to.

  4. On the General tab, click the Save As button.

  5. In the Save As dialog box, select where you want the .rdp file saved, enter a name for the file, and then click OK.

  6. Transfer the saved .rdp file to the host with the QVGA screen.

To launch the RDC client by using a preconfigured .rdp file

  1. After you have transferred the file to the host with the QVGA screen, launch the RDC client by double-clicking the .rdp file.

  2. In the RDC client, click Connect.

The RDC client connects to the host, bypassing the RDC client.

Reconfigure the RDC Client Screens

The RDC client UI is too tall to fit in the 240 pixel height of a QVGA screen. Windows are moved by clicking and dragging in the title bar, which prevents you from moving windows vertically to access the parts of the UI that are out of sight at the bottom of the screen. To solve this, you must rearrange the controls horizontally. To do this, you can use the resource editors built in to Visual Studio 2008, or you can use the dialog editor (DlgEdit) that you can download at Microsoft Support.

To reconfigure the RDC client screens so that they fit in the QVGA screen

  1. In Visual Studio or the dialog editor, open the Cetscbase.res resource file. The file is located in the %_WINCEROOT%\public\rdp\oak\lib\x86\debug directory.

  2. If you use the dialog editor, it prompts you to select the associated header (.h) file. Choose Cancel.

  3. Open dialog 416. Dialog 416 controls the initial RDC client dialog that prompts for the computer name and the width and height of all of the tabs visible when the Options are expanded. If you use the RDC client on a thin client device, open dialog 417 instead.

  4. Save some vertical space in dialog 416 (or 417) by removing the space above the tab control. This space is used to display the Remote Desktop Connection banner, and is not needed. Remove this space by clicking the tab control and moving it until it touches the title bar.

  5. Resize the dialog template so that it grows horizontally instead of vertically. To do this, set the height of the tab panel to 107 pixels and the width to 515. Set the width of the main dialog wide enough to contain the tabs.

  6. Open each of the remaining dialog boxes and rearrange the controls horizontally instead of vertically. Edit each of the dialogs shown in the following table.

    Dialog Description

    13020

    The General tab.

    13021

    The Display tab.

    13022

    The Local Resources tab.

    13023

    The Programs tab.

    13024

    The Experience tab.

    13025

    The Advanced tab.

  7. Save and close the Cetscbase.res resource file.

  8. In Visual Studio, open the Cetscoem.h header file. The file is located in the %_WINCEROOT%\public\rdp\oak\cetsc directory.

  9. Change the definition of the manifest constant LOGON_DLG_EXPAND_AMOUNT from 171 to 29.

    #define LOGON_DLG_EXPAND_AMOUNT 29

  10. Build the %_WINCEROOT%\public\rdp\ directory.

  11. Perform the following build commands.

    sysgen -p rdp
buildrel
makeimg

Check the RDC client on your host to make sure that the interface is usable on a QVGA screen.

See Also

Concepts

Troubleshooting