Extend SMS Messaging to the Desktop Using Windows : Page 2

When you think of SMS messaging, you probably think about your mobile device. But what if you could SMS someone from the comfort of your own desktop? This article shows you two messaging applications: One application to write the messages on your desktop and one application to send the messages from your device.

by Wei-Meng Lee

Oct 23, 2008

Page 2 of 3

Creating the SMS Sender Windows Mobile Application
First, you'll create the Windows Mobile application that sends the messages. Using Visual Studio 2008, create a new Smart Device project (select the Windows Mobile Professional template and the .NET CF 3.5) and name it SMSSender.

SMSSender application does not really need a user interface; hence you don't need to populate the default Form1 with any controls.

Add a reference to the following DLLs:

Microsoft.WindowsMobile.PocketOutlook
Microsoft.WindowsMobile.Status

Switch to the code-behind of Form1 and import the following namespaces:


using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Sockets;
using System.Text;
using Microsoft.WindowsMobile.PocketOutlook;
Define the following constants and objects:
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        const string DESKTOP_IP_ADDRESS = "169.254.2.2";
        const int portNo = 3456;
        const int DATA_SIZE = 1024;
        byte[] data = new byte[DATA_SIZE];
        Socket desktop;

To communicate with the desktop Windows application, you'll use a Socket object in the .NET Compact Framework.

Define the SendSMSMessage() function so that you can send a SMS message from within the Windows Mobile device:


private void SendSMSMessage(string message)
        {
            string[] msg = message.Split('|');
            SmsMessage sms = new SmsMessage()
            {
                Body = msg[1]
            };
            sms.To.Add(new Recipient(msg[0]));
            sms.Send();

            //---inform the desktop---
            SendMessage("Message sent!");
        }

The SendSMSMessge() function takes in a single string parameter containing the recipient phone number and the message body. These two fields are separated by a pipe character (|).

The SendMessage() function sends a message back to the desktop application through the socket connection. It is defined as follows:


        //---send data to the desktop---
        private void SendMessage(string message)
        {
            byte[] data =
              Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(message);
            desktop.Send(data);
        }

Define the ConnectDesktop() function so that you can establish a connection with the desktop application:


private void ConnectDesktop()
        {
            //---IP address and port no. of the desktop---
            IPAddress desktop_Address =
                IPAddress.Parse(DESKTOP_IP_ADDRESS);
            IPEndPoint endPoint = new IPEndPoint(desktop_Address, portNo);

            //---connect to the desktop---
            desktop = new Socket(endPoint.AddressFamily,
               SocketType.Stream, ProtocolType.Tcp);
            desktop.Connect(endPoint);

            //---read incoming data from the desktop---
            IAsyncResult ar = desktop.BeginReceive(
               data, 0, DATA_SIZE, SocketFlags.None,
               ReceiveMessage, null);
        }

The ReceiveMessage() function listens for incoming messages from the desktop application. When a message is received, it is sent to the SendSMSMessage() function, so that a message can be sent (see Listing 1).

Finally, when Form1 loads, you can make a connection to the desktop application:


        private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            ConnectDesktop();
        }

That's all for the SMSSender application.

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