Understanding Symbian Descriptors

If you’ve done any Symbian programming then you’ve most likely dealt with descriptors. Descriptors are Symbian strings and working with them can be extremely cumbersome compared to languages like Java and ActionScript.

At any rate, I stumbled across Jo Stichbury’s blog last week. Jo is the author of Symbian OS Explained which I’ve yet to read but plan on picking up a copy.

I can speak from first hand experience that working with Symbian descriptors can be painful, yet they’re staples of pretty much every Symbian application. I’ve made extensive use of them in the past in applications such as SensorPhone, BlueGPS, and Dashfly Minutes. With that said I don’t feel comfortable saying I have a thorough understanding of them. Therefore I will spend many an hour over at Jo’s blog:

Descriptors FAQ
Descriptor Tips

Check it out and enjoy!

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