How to get the current screen orientation using Symbian C++

Comments

28 Sep
2009

Article Review by savaj (20090928)

Application may need to get current orientation. In GUI application you can get it easily by using method CAknAppUiBase::Orientation(). Article describes how to get current orientation of application, which is more useful to beginners.

Current orientation of application is different from orientation of device. Do not confuse with screen orientation of device and current orientation of application. CAknAppUiBase::Orientation() will returns the orientation that you have set using SetOrientationL() in your constructL() method of appui class, not screen orientation of device.

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Article Metadata

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Tested with

Devices(s): Nokia E90

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Compatibility

Platform(s): S60 3rd Edition, S60 5th Edition

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Platform Security

Signing Required: Self-Signed

Capabilities: None

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Article

Keywords: CAknAppUiBase::Orientation(), TAppUiOrientation, CCoeEnv.

Created: vasant21 (17 Oct 2008)

Last edited: hamishwillee (30 May 2013)

Overview

This article shows how to get the current screen orientation using Symbian C++

Using screen dimensions

Below is a reliable way to query the screen dimensions, and hence determine orientation, using Symbian C++.

CWsScreenDevice* screenDevice = CEikonEnv::Static()->ScreenDevice();
const TSize& screenSize = screenDevice->SizeInPixels();
 
if (screenSize.iWidth > screenSize.iHeight) 
    {
        // LayoutLandscape;
    }
else 
   {
        // LayoutPortrait;
   }

Using CAknAppUiBase::Orientation()

This snippet below shows how to get current orientation by using CAknAppUiBase::Orientation().

Warning: Note that the value returned is simply the value that the app itself defines using SetOrientation() - and will return EAppUiOrientationUnspecified if not set.

You cannot call CAknAppUiBase::Orientation() directly in a class which is not derived directly or indirectly from CAknAppUiBase or if you do not have access to AppUi instance, then you can also fetch the information using CCoeEnv.

This snippet can be self-signed and we assume that we already have a working GUI based application.

The following capabilities and libraries are required:

CAPABILITY  None
LIBRARY     avkon.lib

Source:

#include <aknappui.h>
 
CCoeEnv* env = CCoeEnv::Static();
if( env )
    {
    CAknAppUiBase* appUiBase = REINTERPRET_CAST( CAknAppUiBase*, env->AppUi() );
    if( appUiBase )
        {
        /* 
        * Possible values for TAppUiOrientation are :
        * EAppUiOrientationUnspecified,
        * EAppUiOrientationPortrait,
        * EAppUiOrientationLandscape,
        * EAppUiOrientationAutomatic
        **/
        CAknAppUiBase::TAppUiOrientation orientation = appUiBase->Orientation();
        }
    }