Surface SDK only for surface

Question

This might be a stupid question, but I couldn't find the answer anywhere. Does the Microsoft Surface SDK 2.0 only work with Microsoft Surface products, or can I use it with other touchscreens? I really just like the way the SurfaceTextBox control works (popping up a onscreen keyboard when clicked) and was wondering if I could use it in a program I'm making (which uses a Elo touchscreen monitor, not multi-touch).

Edit Thanks for the responses. I downloaded and installed the SDK 2.0 and tried to run the sample apps that are included. They don't seem to respond to my finger touches but do work if I the included simulator. I'm running this on windows 7. Any reason why it doesn't seem to work on my touch screen?

Answer 1

Yes, you can use it with any touchscreen. It works on WinRT/Windows 8 as well as Windows 7. I have used it for surface, tablet (both WinRT as Win7 tablets) and touch-enabled desktop applications and it works absolutely fine.

The installer requires you to install Visual Studio 2010, but if you import the DLL's manually in the toolbox, you can also use it in both Visual Studio 2012 and 2013 preview. This is an answer on a different question, answered by one of my colleagues on how to use the Surface SDK 2.0 with Visual Studio 2012

It's a great toolkit to support touch-enabled WPF applications and can also be use as a replacement for the WinRT Metro UI, in case you cannot use that toolkit (e.g. when you interface with USB, or need desktop services).

Update: Since you update your question to how to get the Elo Touchscreen to work with native Windows 7 touch, I suggest you download and install the latest drivers. Your touchscreen will only work with WPF touch / Surface SDK if native Windows touches are supported. Installing the latest drivers should do the job. Don't forget that you might have to enable and configure touch input in the Control Panel (Pen and Touch).

Answer 2

At windows 8 you just need do that:

Run Microsoft Surface Input Simulater

Go to Device Manager

In Human Interface Devices, right click over Touchscreen compatible with HID and click activate.

Just that. ;)

Answer 3

From Microsoft's web page:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff727815.aspx

The Microsoft Surface 2.0 SDK provides the managed APIs and the tools you need to develop Surface applications. Applications that are built using the Surface SDK can run on devices made for Surface 2.0, and on Windows 7 computers.

See also:

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/b61c2eda-410e-4c65-9a60-b9e0a8ea11b2/windows-surface-sdk-setup-and-development-on-the-tablet-windows-rt

Surface SDK 2.0 is not dedicated to Windows RT for a Surface Tablet. it is innitially dedicated on PIxelSense SUR40 unit or if you are bulding windows 8 application with Pro version.

There has been a lot of confusion since the arrival of the Surface tablet. The product name Surface before what the name of the Microsoft Table touch table and the Samsung SUR40 device.

And that SDK was only working on those device. Then MS has release a version (Surface SDK 2.0) which can be use also fro traditionnal Touch PC application starting from Win 7.

Finally:

http://www.infoq.com/news/2011/07/Surface-2

With Microsoft Surface SDK 2.0 one can write applications for both Surface and Windows Touch devices.

Surface 2.0 is not compatible with Surface 1.0 devices, and so far the only compatible device is Samsung SUR40 [as of July 2011]... These details have been public for a while, but Microsoft has just made available Surface SDK 2.0. One of its key features is the ability to target Windows Touch devices, that is Windows 7 computers with touch input, so this SDK serves a much larger spectrum of devices. If there are very few Surface devices out-there, there are lots of Windows Touch ones, and their number is poised to grow.

Windows Touch applications are very similar to Surface ones, except that the later supports full HD resolution and a multitude of touch related inputs, such as finger and blob recognition, tagged objects, tilted display, rotated display, etc.

Answer 4

I noticed that in some cases touches are not working when you use a SurfaceWindow. Use a normal WPF Window and all the SurfaceControls should work. Thus if you want to use the sample applications on Windows 8 you need to replace SurfaceWindow with Window and remove the unavailable EventHandlers.