Paulo Nobre

Hi, in my last post we’ve created a console application that connected to the Live Mesh and added an object. Today we’ll be creating and deploying a Mesh Application which we’ll enhance in next posts.

That said, fire up Visual Studio and create a new Silverlight Mesh-Enabled Web Application (you’ll find it under Live Framework project type). This will create a basic skeleton Silverlight application to be deployed to Live Mesh. When the application get’s created you can Run it and you’ll be presented with the following dialog:

Click the Navigate to the Developer portal, login if needed and on the left sidebar menu, choose the Live Services option. Select the application you have created on Part II and choose the Upload Package button. Now it’s time to go back to “Application Self-Link needed” window and click the link on step 2 to copy your package path to clipboard. Paste it on the browser window in the Textbox provided and click the deploy button.Wait while the application is deployed and then copy the Application Self Link and paste it to step 3.

Press ok and wait for the upload to finish. The only time you need to make these steps is when you run your application for the first time. After it finishes, a new webpage will open with your Live Mesh Desktop running the application you just deployed.

Right now, when i was writing this post, i came across this http://dev.live.com/blogs/devlive/archive/2009/08/21/500.aspx and it seems Live Framework CTP services are going down on September 8th… Until there, i won’t be writing any more posts about Live Framework. Let’s see where this is going.

Ok, so after provisioning your Live Framework CTP account and installing Live Framework SDK and Tools we’ll start to get your hands dirty and write your first Mesh Application.

Fire up Visual Studio, create a new Console Application, and add references to the three SDK assemblies:

• Microsoft.LiveFX.Client.dll
• Microsoft.LiveFX.ResourceModel.dll
• Microsoft.Web.dll

For X64 Windows these should be in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Live Framework\v0.91\API Toolkits\.Net Library. In X86 Windows you can find them in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SDKs\Live Framework\v0.91\API Toolkits\.Net Library.

Next you’ll need to connect to your mesh. You can do that, instantiating a LiveOperatingEnvironment object and calling the Connect method on it:

var endpoint = new LiveOperatingEnvironment();
var token = new NetworkCredential(
	"your_windows_live_id",
	"your_password").GetWindowsLiveAuthenticationToken();

endpoint.Connect(token,
	AuthenticationTokenType.UserToken,
	new Uri(“https://user-ctp.windows.net”),
	new LiveItemAccessOptions(true, true));

That’s it ! Now you should be connected to your mesh. Let’s add some data to it.

var meshObject = new MeshObject("My Mesh Object");
endpoint.Mesh.MeshObjects.Add(ref meshObject);

Easy, isn’t it. Now, this doesn’t do much. But it’s a start. In next post we’ll add a bit of usefulness to our test application and deploy it to the mesh.

See you.

Hello Again,

In the previous post, I’ve described how to provision your self a Live Framework CTP account. Now, we’ll get the tools needed to get our hands dirty. Let’s go.

Head to http://live.azure.com, sign-in with your Windows Live Id and  you’ll land at the Azure Services page. Select the Live Services option from the left sidebar menu, and then click the New Service link.

Click the option Live Services Live Framework Community Technology Preview.

Enter a Name and optional Description for your application and click Next.

Before hitting the Create button, shift click the Download the Live Framework CTP SDK and Tools to open it in a new window. Then, with both windows open, you can return, choose the Create a Mesh-enabled Web Application option and click the Create button.

Just a few seconds later and your first app will be created. Leave it there, and go to the window you opened in previous step. Choose Download Live Framework SDK and Tools and download both Live Framework SDK April 2009 CTP and Live Framework Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio April 2009 CTP. Install this two packages and you’re ready to go.

In the next post, we’ll get our hands dirty with this powerful framework: Live Mesh

Hi there,

I’ve been playing with Live Framework lately and it’s amazing. In the next series of blog posts I’ll try to help you getting started. Remember, I’m still learning it as well.

Head to http://dev.live.com and on the welcome page, under Live Framework, follow  the Join the CTP link.

On the next page, press the I Agree button

  Then, on the Congratulations page, press the Continue button
A while ago, you where required to wait for the invitation tokens to arrive in your mailbox. However you can get to try Live Services without having to wait for an invitation token. Press cancel on the Redeem your invitation token page
Then, click the link Activate your Live Framework CTP Account

Review the Terms of Use and click the Accept button

Et voilá, Congratulations

You now have 25 service component(s) remaining.

On the next post, we will download and install the required tools.

See you then.