Important
Facade requires a Windows
Upgrading Facade
Note: The home screen layout file Facade.home.xml will be overwritten with each release. If you have made modifications to this file, please make your own copy before installing any new Facade versions. When making a copy, the <title> node should also be changed to a different name so that both names are available in the Smartphone home screen control panel. Using a separate file for customizations will ensure that your changes are not lost during the install process. If you use the Facade configuration screens to edit the Facade Sample layout, this should not be an issue because a copy of the file will be made automatically.
When upgrading from a prior version the Smartphone will normally handle all the details and reboot for you if necessary. However, in some cases it may be necessary to select a different home screen layout, turn the phone off and on again (reboot), and reselect the Facade home screen layout. In rare cases it may even be necessary to install the update more than once. As a precaution, it is recommended to reboot your phone prior to installing any upgrade.
Installing Facade
First extract the ZIP file you downloaded to a specific folder.
Inside the ZIP file you will find an executable (EXE) file named
Facade.exe. Run this file while
your Smartphone device is connected to your desktop PC; this will run the
Facade installation automatically on your Smartphone.
Mac OS users can use the CAB file also included inside the ZIP file to install
Facade on their device.
PLEASE READ: Facade will not be
visible until a Home screen layout that utilizes Facade is selected. Included with this installation is a
default Facade home screen layout.
The “Facade Settings” application should be accessible from
your Start Menu, and should also run automatically during the install process
for first-time installations. This
application will allow you to select the Facade Sample screen or even to insert
Facade into your own home screen definition (if a built-in ROM file is
specified, a copy will be made automatically).
Alternatively, the Facade Sample screen can be chosen from the home screen control panel using this procedure:
1.
Select
“Start” from your Smartphone home screen
2.
Select
“Settings” (it may be necessary to hit ‘9’ one or more
times before the Settings option is located)
3.
Select
“Home Screen”
4.
Use
the left/right arrows to change the “Home screen layout” to
“Facade Sample”
5.
Select
“Done”
Customization
Basic customizations can be make easily through the “Facade
Settings” application, which can be found under your Start menu. More detailed changes are possible by
directly editing the home screen xml files. If you wish to manually customize your
Facade Home screen layout, consider making a copy of the supplied Facade.home.xml file, changing the <title> in your
copy, and making any desired changes to that new copy. Making a copy is important because
installing any version of Facade will overwrite the Facade.home.xml
file.
The Facade.home.xml file is located in the
\Storage\Application Data\Home directory on your Smartphone. The easiest way to edit this file is to
connect your PC using ActiveSync, locate the file using Windows Explorer, and
drag the file onto your desktop.
Next, right-click the file and choose “Edit”. After saving any changes the file can be
dragged back to the Smartphone folder.
To view any changes it is also necessary to select a different Home
screen layout first, in order to force the layout to be reloaded by Windows
Mobile.
Additional Support and Documentation
You can find additional support on our site: http://www.sbsh.net/products/facade/index.php?page=support and on our forums: http://www.sbsh.net/forums/ . For full details about the supported XML commands please see the “Facade XML Documentation” thread in the “Facade FAQ and Support” forum.
Facade version history
Version 1.22 [
·
Improve
task sorting [date / priority / category (WM5 and higher) / description]
·
Resolve
task display problems seen on Dash and Blackjack phones
·
Reset
trial mode counter so previous trial users can try Facade 1.2x
·
Fix
missing "No appointments today" line when "Show empty days"
is in use
·
Improve
multi-line formatting when multiple font settings are involved
·
Removed
obsolete ShowAllDayText setting
·
Default
appointment heading format to phone's long date format (without year)
·
Hide
confidential appointments (WM5) when hiding private appointments
·
Support
for MUI switching on multi-language phones
·
Fix
missing appointments problem under Crossbow OS
·
Use
full available width when indicators are hidden
·
Translation
updates for Russian, Italian
·
Settings:
Fix problem with button move/delete/insert not being saved
·
Settings:
Fix unintentional debug mode after moving launcher buttons
·
Settings:
Fix Plugins page so up/down works on 'short' layouts
·
Settings:
Support '3'/'6' keys for up/down in Plugins page
·
Settings:
Fix lost "Lines per appointment = Unlimited" setting
·
Settings:
Button setting correction when SharedLauncher setting
missing
·
Settings:
Additional fixes to Shared Launcher configuration
·
Settings:
Replace Exit options with Cancel behavior
·
Settings:
Fix backspace key in "Custom Value" page
·
Settings:
Fix URL formatting for button settings
·
Settings:
Remove irrelevant "Custom Value" option on Home Screen page
Version 1.20 [
·
Professionally
redesigned graphics for all resolutions
·
Higher
resolution images for QVGA devices
·
New
meter support for battery/memory information
·
Added
custom tab background images
·
Added
custom launcher edge images
·
Support
sharing of launcher settings between layout files
·
New
"Snapback" feature to return to first button or row after inactivity
·
Support
multi-line appointment display
·
Expand
current appointment to show full text
·
Added
option to hide private appointments/tasks
·
Added
option to hide all day appointments
·
New
"Note" indicator when appointment/task notes are present
·
Added
option to view notes when present
·
New
option to delete appointments/tasks
·
New
option to view appointment/task details under standard calendar (WM5 only)
·
New
"Contacts" and "Links" tab icons
·
Support
"_large" versions of icons for the launcher bar
·
Adjust
named font sizes for QVGA devices
·
Correct
FileManager not found on Motorola Q devices
·
Added
workaround logic for "missing program image" (Windows Mobile 5 bug)
·
Strip
spaces from registration information to assist Motorola Q users
·
Fix
problem with formatting of tabs and buttons on same line
·
Fix
MaxDays showing multiday
appointments one day past time limit
·
Fix
missing last day of multi-day appointments (non-all-day)
·
When
indenting text rows, indent leading icon too
·
Support
halign/valign settings
·
New
formatting options for all day appointments
·
New
"wrap" setting for appointment/task view (WrapLines)
·
Improve
navigation when using ShowEmptyDays setting
·
Changes
for compatibility with Papyrus 1.3 / Pocket Informant for Smartphone
·
Apply
"Show 'No Appointments' text" setting to tasks as well
·
Added
prompt and logic to remove settings and files during uninstall process
·
Add
Show="none" option for background-only tabs
·
Install
appropriate skin automatically based on screen resolution
·
Minor
'migration' changes to existing home screen during install
·
New
standalone reset/reload/powerOff functions (via FacadeHelper)
·
New
Swedish translation
·
Translation
updates for this version: Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Swedish
·
Remember
language for future installs
·
Changes
to improve reliability of upgrade process
·
Prevent
Start menu failure after reload under WM5
·
Settings:
Split General menu into General/Layout
·
Settings:
Add setting for background image
·
Settings:
Add setting for Facade "skin"
·
Settings:
Support manual entry of custom numeric values
·
Settings:
Fix text indent setting so it can be defined globally
·
Settings:
Fix "Minutes after appointment" = "day" setting
·
Settings:
Don't list invalid home screen xml files as choices
·
Settings:
Allow returning to other pages from "Home Screen" page
·
Settings:
Add disabled task/schedule-only lines to default layout
·
Settings:
Reset background/colors from control panel when choosing a new layout
·
Settings:
Menu options to move/insert/delete button settings
·
Settings:
Option to enable shared launcher buttons
·
Settings:
Renamed "Options" softkey to
"Menu"
·
Settings:
Adjustments to QVGA/landscape control sizing
Version 1.10 [
·
Added
translations: Czech, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Russian
·
Support
landscape devices (320x240, like the Motorola Q)
·
Show
location information for appointments
·
Prompt
for language during install
·
Support
bottom tabs (view above tab)
·
Fix
failure to load when a tab has no corresponding view
·
Search
for images with or without "\Storage" (WM5 vs. WM2003 difference)
·
Internal
improvements to exception handling logic
·
Resolve
problems with launcher buttons that link to web pages
·
Verify
whether Papyrus executable exists before attempting integration
·
Changed
"Check" menu option to "Complete" for more clarity
·
Detect
platform type (issue error if attempting to install on Pocket PC device)
·
Settings:
Fix left/right keys for reordering plugins on plugins page
·
Settings:
Moved color settings to separate page
·
Settings:
Added Launcher settings page and sub-menu
·
Settings:
Add date/time formatting settings
·
Settings:
Add "Buy Online" option to registration page
·
Settings:
Skip duplicate layout filenames under /windows
·
Settings:
Scan all directories under Start Menu for button choices
·
Settings:
Sort launcher button choices
·
Settings:
Allow '&' characters within launcher filenames
·
Settings:
Remove limit of 15 launcher buttons
·
Settings:
Force tabs and corresponding views to be enabled/disabled together
·
Settings:
Support customized template definition when inserting Facade
Version 1.00 [
·
Initial release: Includes launcher, tabs,
schedule, tasks, and configuration screens
·
Supports WM2002/2003/2003SE/2005 Smartphones
·
Supports standard resolution and QVGA
Prerelease 1.00 Versions [January/February 2006]
·
All new configuration system
·
Further improvements to alignment of tabs and borders
·
Fix missed synchronization under WM5 after switching layouts
·
Fix problem with missing first icon after soft reset (WM5 bug)
·
Fix missing task lines when task view height is small
·
Correct one day too many on multi-day all day appointmens under WM5
·
Use links for default launcher buttons (WM5 missing icon
problem)
·
ShowNoAppointmentsText also controls the
message when no appointments exist at all
·
Support forced reload by clicking on an item
·
Rename id/viewId to name/viewName (older names still allowed)
·
id/name settings are optional (except for views controlled by
tabs)
·
Fix config screens for WM2002
·
Cosmetic changes to config screens,
including standard white background
·
·
Improve cancel/exit/back logic so it is more intuitive
·
Add "save changes" prompting (when changes are made)
·
Allow back button to cancel current screen (or exit entirely,
with the option to save changes)
·
Add Games/Accessories links to button choices
·
Correction for long shortcut names
·
Fix color names "off by one"
·
Improved icon for config app
·
Fix problem loading wrong screen after making a copy
·
Re-work registration and expiration process
·
Treat Facade Sample xml file as "read only" (make a
copy if modified)
·
When making a copy, use the prefix "My" (translatable
in the future) for the filename and home screen name
·
Fixed user id size limit for registration
·
Added "Home Screen" menu option to get back to home
screen selection page
·
Expire after 1 day remaining instead of 0 days
·
Fix to not be confused by nested settings (heading, selected,
etc) -- only updating the global settings
·
Fix for values that aren't within the list of choices
·
Allow 0 blend percent
·
Added indicators for low priority tasks, high priority tasks,
recurring appointments, and reminders
·
Added a new screen to the settings app that will let you
selectively enable/disable plugins within the current screen, and also change
the order
·
Fix problem with missing all day appointments on the day of the
appt (WM5)
·
Fix row highlighting when indicator icons are present
·
New ShowIndicators setting to control
whether the indicators are shown
·
Added suggestion messages to reboot the phone when loading an
update
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