Symbian S60 3rd Edition, FP1 apps on S60 3rd Edition phones?

[logan04x]

Hi,

I have a basic question over here, does the apps developed with S60 3rd Edition, FP1 run on S60 3rd Edition devices like Nokia N73? Ofcourse, if the app is not using any FP1 specific features then I would expect it to run.

Can anyone comment on this?

And I have been wondering if an app written with S60 2nd Edition SDK will run on a device that has S60 3rd edition? Do we have this kind of compatibility in the Symbian world?

Thanks.

[wizard_hu_]

Hi,

I have a basic question over here, does the apps developed with S60 3rd Edition, FP1 run on S60 3rd Edition devices like Nokia N73? Ofcourse, if the app is not using any FP1 specific features then I would expect it to run.

Can anyone comment on this?

It may run. However both the OS version and the platform version is different, so tiny nuances can arise (in form of mysterious panics and errors of course). Generally it is safer to re-compile the application (if you have its source) with S60 3rd MR, and that one will work on all S60 3rd edition devices (and most likely it will also work on S60 5th edition devices).

And I have been wondering if an app written with S60 2nd Edition SDK will run on a device that has S60 3rd edition? Do we have this kind of compatibility in the Symbian world?

No there are fundamental changes at OS level, there is a well documented binary compatibility break between Symbian 8 and 9. A spectacular difference is that you deploy a slightly different set of files into a totally different set of locations (instead of the one "\system\apps\AppName" folder per application approach of Symbian 6-7-8, you have so called "data caging" in Symbian 9, which means that you deploy different types of files into locations representing different security levels).
Old applications have to be ported to S60 3rd edition, where porting involves not just re-compiling the application, but modifying the source code, even creating/replacing some files.
Head towards Docs above, then Symbian C++, then Compatibility if you want some docs.

[logan04x]

Thanks for the reply.

So is it that working on MR I may loose certain features otherwise available in S60 3rd Edition in favour of compatibility?

And what is the future like? Will newer platforms continue to break older applications? A recompile of an old app on a new platform is acceptable, but code changes or further maintainance will be problematic. What's Nokia/Symbian's POV on this?

Also, if I want to buy a S60 3rd Edition FP1 phone than what would be the recommendations over here? I won't really be using it for anything apart from testing my child apps.

Thanks for the help!

[skumar_rao]

Thanks for the reply.

So is it that working on MR I may loose certain features otherwise available in S60 3rd Edition in favour of compatibility?

AFAIk there are no features added to MR then Bug Fixes. so you will not loose anything.

[logan04x]

Then how does it run on most Symbian platforms (like S60 3rd Edition)?

What I understood was that if I build a S60 3rd Edition FP1 app with S60 3rd Edition MR then it would run on 3rd Edition phones as well. Is my understanding correct?

Thanks.

[skumar_rao]

Then how does it run on most Symbian platforms (like S60 3rd Edition)?

What I understood was that if I build a S60 3rd Edition FP1 app with S60 3rd Edition MR then it would run on 3rd Edition phones as well. Is my understanding correct?

Thanks.

Yes you got it right.

[logan04x]

Then how does it run? Does it generate different binary format which is supported by other S60 3rd Edition platforms as well?

Thanks.

[Paul.Todd]

Nokia guarantee's that API's in the public SDK will be binary compatible in Major releases so applications built on the MR SDK will work on FP1 and FP2.

For example the ECOM interface resources files have been extended in FP1 and the FP1 devices know how to handle FP1 as well as FP2 resource files, but it my not always work the other way round.

You also need to be very very good to know which API's are not present on MR devices but are present on FP1 devices. I got caught yesterday with an API I thought was present in the MR release but was in fact not.

[logan04x]

Thanks!

That helped me.