create a windows 8 app in minutes

Create a Windows 8 App in Just Minutes

Frank La Vigne

FrankLa@Microsoft.com

Public Sector Developer Evangelist

http://www.FranksWorld.com

Keep the Cash

http://bit.ly/KeepThatCash

Frank’s World TV

www.youtube.com/FranksWorldTV

• Published Weekly (more or less)

• Focuses on developers and public sector developers

• Fun

AppCannon Demo

How It Should Be

Data Sources Server Service Devices

Content Provider Content Consumer

How It Should Be

• Clear separation of concerns• Data• Service• Consumption Device

• Device Agnostic

• Requires well thought out architecture and API• Non-trivial effort

Common SLG Scenario

Data Sources Server Devices

Content Provider Content Consumer

Web Site

• This scenario is not limited to SLG, smaller organizations do not have budget to build out a more web-aware SOA system.

Many SLG Public Sector Scenarios

• Virtually every locality has a web site• Few have a fully built out web-rich SOA architecture

• Access to content is via browser• Non-native experience• Website may not be optimized for mobile• Less than perfect experience

• There “no app for that”• No app means they are not on our platform

• Missed opportunities• For Citizens• For Governments

Enter the Screen Scraper

Screen Scraper Utility Kit

Takes unstructured data and gives it structure

Designed was targeting Web based scenarios Virtually every agency/town/locality/etc has a web site

HTML by nature has some structure The SSUK leverages that

Flexible approach to screen scraping Can be made change resilient

Already available Over 1100 downloads for WinRT version / Over 1700 for WP7 / .NET version

Case Study: Vietnam Wall WP7 App• Data source: http://virtualwall.org/valor.htm

• WP7 App: http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/0b758fa2-6414-4381-923e-557172cb3edc?wa=wsignin1.0

Basic Screen Scraping

Source Page

App on Device

App Pulls in Data from Source Page and Parses it into View Model.

One Change to Source Page Can Break the App

Definitions-Based Screen Scraping

Source Page

App on Device

App Pulls in Data from Source Page. Parses it into View Model based on instructions in a Definition file.

Definition File

Cloud

Definitions Change the Game

Definition files make a screen scraping solution:

• Resilient to change• Changing definition file hosted in the cloud would not require

changes to the app

• Viable• Increased resilience and flexibility

• Use developer friendly formats: • XML (WinRT, WP7, & .NET)• JSON (WinRT)

Example Definition File

What the Scraper Makes

Data Sources Server Scraper Devices

Content Provider Content Consumer

Web Site

The Screen Scraper Utility Kit takes un-structured data and converts it into a structured data source locally on the device.

Bridging the Gap Between Ideal Architecture & What’s Actually Out in the Field

What Azure Integration Will Look Like

Data SourcesServer Scraper Devices

Content Provider Content Consumer

Web Site

The Screen Scraper Utility Kit takes un-structured data and converts it into a structured data source locally on the device.

Service

Azure Data Adapter

Warning

Try It Now!

www.FranksWorld.com/AppCannon