Symbian OS Tips, Tricks & Code

It is frequently useful to be able to take screenshots of running applications. The following code example implements such a tool, which can take screenshots of the UIQ 3 phone screen:

Download example application>>

The tool is useful during early development, when prototype user interfaces for an application are evaluated. It is also useful when the application is ready, and user documentation and marketing information is being created.

Source code is included for the tool, so it can be used both as a source code example that shows how to capture the screen, as well as a tool. The zip file contains a compiled sis file that is ready to install on Sony Ericsson M600, P990 and W950 phones.

If needed, the utility can be built for UIQ 3-based phones like P990, M600 and W950, using the following commands:

$ bldmake bldfiles
$ abld build gcce urel
$ makesis capturescreen.pkg

The following screenshot shows the capture screen application running on a P990 phone. It has been taken by the capture screen tool itself:

The screen can be saved to either the internal C:-drive, or to the Memory Stick (D:). When the screen capture has been started there is a 30 second delay before the screen is actually captured. During this time it is possible to navigate to the application of interest.

The following API is used to capture the screen: CMdaImageBitmapToFileUtility. To do this, the MMdaImageUtilObserver interface has been implemented.

The time delay is implemented using a CPeriodic.

For more information, see the UIQ 3 SDK documentation at:
 » UIQ 3 SDK » Symbian OS v9.1 » Symbian OS reference » C++ component reference » Multimedia ICL » CMdaImageBitmapToFileUtility