Differences between Windows Mobile Ink and the Microsoft.Ink API

4/8/2010

There is already a wealth of information available on the Ink functionality supported by the Microsoft.Ink API used on Tablet PC, the ultramobile PC, and Windows Vista. Much of this content still applies for Windows Mobile Ink, since Windows Mobile Ink represents a subset of the Microsoft.Ink API. For more information about the Microsoft.Ink API, including overviews, code samples, and articles, see this Microsoft Web site.

Windows Mobile Ink supports full interoperability with Ink data from Tablet PC and Windows Vista by using the Ink Serialized Format (ISF) stream. It natively supports the ISF format, both in binary and in base64 encodings. It preserves the properties in the ISF stream that are not supported in Windows Mobile so that they will still work fully on the Tablet PC. While Windows Mobile Ink supports loading ISF data at all compression levels, it supports saving only at the default compression level.

Text Ink (tInk) and Stretch Ink (sInk) are not supported in Windows Mobile, and neither is point erase.

Variable–width rendering is not supported for Windows Mobile Ink, which means that rendering at different widths based on pressure and the rectangular pen tip are not supported either.

The Microsoft.Ink class InkCollector is not supported, but InkOverlay provides a superset of the functionality of InkCollector and can be used instead.

The following Microsoft.Ink classes and collections do not appear in the Windows Mobile Ink API.

  • Cursor
  • Cursors
  • CursorButton
  • CursorButtons
  • Divider
  • DivisionResult
  • DivisionUnit
  • DivisionUnits
  • Factoid
  • Gesture
  • InkCollector
  • InkPicture
  • PacketProperty
  • PenInputPanel
  • RecognitionProperty
  • Tablet
  • Tablets
  • Wordlist
  • RecognizerGuide

See IInkDisp Methods, IInkStrokeDisp Methods and IInkStrokeDisp Properties for a list of the specific methods and properties that are not included in Windows Mobile.

See Also

Concepts

Windows Mobile Ink Reference

Other Resources

Windows Mobile Ink