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Managing BREW® SDK Versions - Some Development Tips
December 2004 by Lauren E. Darcey
One of the most important decisions you'll need to make when you decide to write a BREW® application is what version of the BREW SDK to use. Now you can get fancy and support multiple versions, but for a minute, let's assume you're trying to keep it simple and only want to support one version for one general submission to NSTL. Let's say you want to support the Motorola T720, and so you're stuck with BREW 1.1.
It can be a bit tricky if you've got lots of the latest help files, the latest BREW SDK and newest tools on your development machines. You'll want to make certain you're writing the application for the right SDK. Here are some hints on how to achieve a smooth development process, using the SDK version you require.
- Determine What Phones Your App Will Supported
To minimize submissions and to keep your build tree simple, you're going to want to know upfront (at least generally) what phones you're going to support. Before you do any development, it's a good idea to go and download the target phone specifications as well as the known issues and their emulators/simulators.
- Determine The BREW SDK Version to Develop To
Check over the phone specs. What BREW version do you need to write to in order to have an app that supports those phones? Also pay attention to any phone-specific issues with unimplemented APIs and functionality to avoid. Communicate this information to your development team.
- Use Appropriate Emulators & Simulators
I've seen developers who like to use one specific phone emulator, and it's often not the one the app is planned to ship on. Make sure developers and quality assurance are using the appropriate emulators. While it's no substitute for the real phone, it's the closest you've got - and part of the TRUE BREW® certification process involves testing on the appropriate emulator.
- Use Appropriate MIF Versions
It's actually a bit tricky to get a BREW 1.1 compliant MIF file from the latest MIF editor from QUALCOMM. You need to make sure you don't fill in any of the tempting fields like the version string, or other MIF features not supported by the 1.1 MIF spec. Use the lowest MIF version you need in order to be compatible on the most phones.
- Make Absolutely Sure You're Including The Right SDK
If you've installed more than one version of the BREW SDK, make absolutely sure your include paths point to the right BREW SDK. This means checking not only your Visual Studio configuration, but your makefiles, and your environmental variables - since installing BREW versions can update these fields (paths, etc). This can be especially annoying when all your paths look like this: "C:\PROGRA~1\BREWSD~1.0". Tread carefully.
- Check the BREW API Reference
I have to say, I've always been very impressed with QUALCOMM's BREW SDK and API reference. There's just one thing I want to point out here that can be very helpful when developers are writing to a specific BREW version. If you decide you want to use a function, check to see what BREW version it was introduced in. For example, if you look up IDISPLAY_SetFont(), and scroll down past the info on prototype, params, and such, you'll see the function was introduced in BREW SDK 2.0 - a no no for your T720. It is worthwhile to check the little section on each help file.
- Beware BREW SDK Enhancements
Beware that while a function might exist in a specific version of the BREW SDK, the same might not be true of all enumerations – and they are documented as a group – not by BREW version. A good example of this is AEETextInputMode. While changing the text input mode has been around since BREW SDK 1.0, the enums listed in the API documentation may be from different versions. You’ll have to check the specific SDK header file for details on which enums existed in your chosen BREW version.
Hopefully these development practices will help you manage your build configuration, and keep development focused on writing the most robust application, that will support the most phone configurations out there - even after the initial submission.
For more information about BREW® development, check out the
QUALCOMM BREW® Website.
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