Menneisyys
08-06-2006, 07:35 AM
In the Microsoft.public.pocketpc newsgroup, I’ve just been asked the question whether newer Pocket Internet Explorer / Internet Explorer Mobile versions already support file upload. This is why I’ve decided to elaborate a bit more on this subject because, with WM5, there have been pleasant changes introduced to the built-in Internet Explorer Mobile.
Readers of my Web browser articles (particularly the Bible of Web Browsers (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/index.php?action=expand,42026) (alternates: MobilitySite (http://www.ipaqhq.com/forums/showthread.php?p=102643), AximSite (http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?p=780770), FirstLoox (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?p=35739), PPC Magazine (http://pocketpcmag.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17343), BrightHand (http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?t=215606))) know pre-WM5 Pocket Internet Explorers (the built-in browser coming with all Pocket PC’s) are not able to upload files using file upload forms. This means you can’t, for example, upload any attachments in your webmail account. An example using the sample HTML upload form of Jukka "Yucca" Korpela’s excellent article File input (or "upload") in HTML forms (http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/forms/file.html):
http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/NoFileUploadSupportInPreWM5PIE.bmp.png
Here, the form (with the green background) doesn’t contain the file upload widget at all, unlike with desktop - or WM5 - browsers.
Visiting the same page with Internet Explorer Mobile in WM5, you’ll notice that it’s already possible to use the upload control in there:
http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/FileUploadSupportInWM5IEM.bmp.png
It does work as intended, as can be seen in this screenshot (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/FileUploadSupportInWM5IEM-2.bmp.png).
What should you do if you don’t have WM5 but want to use web form-based uploading?
First, if you want to do it in a webmail account (for example, Yahoo Mail or Gmail), consider switching to a POP3/SMTP-based one because Messaging, the built-in mailer application that comes with Windows Mobile, supports file upload. Other mailer clients (please see this complete roundup (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=569&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) of them if interested) ditto. Speaking of Gmail and Yahoo Mail, the former can be fully accessed via POP3/SMTP (that is, any mailer client). The latter can’t be unless you subscribe to Yahoo! Mail Plus or switch to another Yahoo account as described in this article on accessing Yahoo Mail from Pocket PC's (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?p=39426) (alternatives: PPCT (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=364632), MobilitySite (http://www.ipaqhq.com/forums/showthread.php?p=110823), AximSite (http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?p=823371), PPC Magazine (http://pocketpcmag.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=18151)).
If you have non-mailing-related pages with file upload forms (for example, online photo repositories), try to find out whether they also support the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Many of them do. If they do, make sure you get an FTP client for the Pocket PC. Read this roundup of all the available FTP clients (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=508&more=1) (make sure you also follow the links in the article to my older reviews) to help you with the decision.
If the given Web page doesn’t support FTP either, your only choice is using alternate Pocket PC Web browsers. For example, Opera Mobile, NetFront and Minimo (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=549&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) all support HTML form-based file uploading.
Please note that no PIE plug-in can (and will never be able to) add file upload capabilities to PIE. That is, MultiIE, PIEPlus, Spb Pocket Plus and ftxPBrowser users will still be unable to upload files under pre-WM5 operating systems!
Readers of my Web browser articles (particularly the Bible of Web Browsers (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/index.php?action=expand,42026) (alternates: MobilitySite (http://www.ipaqhq.com/forums/showthread.php?p=102643), AximSite (http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?p=780770), FirstLoox (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?p=35739), PPC Magazine (http://pocketpcmag.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17343), BrightHand (http://discussion.brighthand.com/showthread.php?t=215606))) know pre-WM5 Pocket Internet Explorers (the built-in browser coming with all Pocket PC’s) are not able to upload files using file upload forms. This means you can’t, for example, upload any attachments in your webmail account. An example using the sample HTML upload form of Jukka "Yucca" Korpela’s excellent article File input (or "upload") in HTML forms (http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/forms/file.html):
http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/NoFileUploadSupportInPreWM5PIE.bmp.png
Here, the form (with the green background) doesn’t contain the file upload widget at all, unlike with desktop - or WM5 - browsers.
Visiting the same page with Internet Explorer Mobile in WM5, you’ll notice that it’s already possible to use the upload control in there:
http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/FileUploadSupportInWM5IEM.bmp.png
It does work as intended, as can be seen in this screenshot (http://www.winmobiletech.com/kuvat/FileUploadSupportInWM5IEM-2.bmp.png).
What should you do if you don’t have WM5 but want to use web form-based uploading?
First, if you want to do it in a webmail account (for example, Yahoo Mail or Gmail), consider switching to a POP3/SMTP-based one because Messaging, the built-in mailer application that comes with Windows Mobile, supports file upload. Other mailer clients (please see this complete roundup (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=569&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) of them if interested) ditto. Speaking of Gmail and Yahoo Mail, the former can be fully accessed via POP3/SMTP (that is, any mailer client). The latter can’t be unless you subscribe to Yahoo! Mail Plus or switch to another Yahoo account as described in this article on accessing Yahoo Mail from Pocket PC's (http://www.firstloox.org/forums/showthread.php?p=39426) (alternatives: PPCT (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=364632), MobilitySite (http://www.ipaqhq.com/forums/showthread.php?p=110823), AximSite (http://www.aximsite.com/boards/showthread.php?p=823371), PPC Magazine (http://pocketpcmag.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=18151)).
If you have non-mailing-related pages with file upload forms (for example, online photo repositories), try to find out whether they also support the File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Many of them do. If they do, make sure you get an FTP client for the Pocket PC. Read this roundup of all the available FTP clients (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=508&more=1) (make sure you also follow the links in the article to my older reviews) to help you with the decision.
If the given Web page doesn’t support FTP either, your only choice is using alternate Pocket PC Web browsers. For example, Opera Mobile, NetFront and Minimo (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=549&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1) all support HTML form-based file uploading.
Please note that no PIE plug-in can (and will never be able to) add file upload capabilities to PIE. That is, MultiIE, PIEPlus, Spb Pocket Plus and ftxPBrowser users will still be unable to upload files under pre-WM5 operating systems!