Chart Shipping Rates with .NET and Pocket PC Phone Edition Take advantage of the native Internet connectivity of Pocket PC Phone Edition and the native support for XML Web Services in the .NET tools to create an application that compares shipping rates and present the result in a chart. The Web application hype taught us the benefit with online interactivity and up-to-date information. But the downside was the poor user interface and application navigation. With Pocket PC Phone Edition and XML Web Services, there is now an alternative to create applications with a rich Windows user interface while taking advantage of the benefits that online data bring. The creation of such applications have been made significantly easier with the new Smart Device Extensions and .NET Compact Framework. Get the sample source code!

Shipping Anyplace

  using Shipping.net.serviceobjects.ws;
  using Shipping.com.gxchart.www;

  ShippingComparison shipRates = new ShippingComparison();
  Rates rates = new Rates();
  WebChart webChart = new WebChart();
  string url = "";

  WaitCursor.Show(true);

  try
  {
    // Get shipping rates
    rates = shipRates.GetShippingRates(int.Parse(txtWeight.Text),
            txtFromCity.Text,txtFromState.Text,txtFromZip.Text,"US",
            txtToCity.Text,txtToState.Text,txtToZip.Text,"US",15,"0");

  // Create URL for XML data
  url = "http://www.businessanyplace.net/sample/gxchartdata.asp?";
  foreach(Rate rate in rates.Rate)
  {
    switch(rate.Shipper)
    {
      case "USPS":
        if(rate.Service == "EXPRESS")
          url += "USPS=" + rate.Postage;
        break;
      case "UPS":
        if(rate.Service == "13")
          url += "&UPS=" + rate.Postage;
        break;
      case "FedEx":
        if(rate.Service == "Standard Overnight")
          url += "&FedEx=" + rate.Postage;
        break;
      case "DHL":
        if(rate.Service == "WorldWide Express")
          url += "&DHL=" + rate.Postage;
        break;
    }
  }

  // Get image URL
  url = webChart.MakeChart(url, 240, 184, "Column", 20, 20, "",
                           "None","", "", "", "", 0, "");

  // Get HTTP stream from image URL
  HttpWebRequest req = (HttpWebRequest) WebRequest.Create(url);
  HttpWebResponse resp = (HttpWebResponse) req.GetResponse();

  // Write stream to file
  FileStream file = new FileStream(@"\Windows\shipchart.gif", FileMode.Create);
  BinaryWriter fileStream = new BinaryWriter(file);
  BinaryReader picStream = new BinaryReader(resp.GetResponseStream());
  try
  {
    while(true)
      fileStream.Write(picStream.ReadByte());
  }
  catch { }
  fileStream.Close();

  // Set picture from file
  System.Drawing.Bitmap gif = new
    System.Drawing.Bitmap(@"\Windows\shipchart.gif");
  picChart.Image = gif;

  }
  catch
  {
    MessageBox.Show("Could not make Web Service calls!");
  }
  finally
  {
    WaitCursor.Show(false);
  }