Software solutions for a mobile world

I recently had an application whereby a user had to enter their name on a mobile device, and sign for a delivery.

I wanted to use Transcriber for the entry of the name in a TextBox. This was no problem, as I could select it as the input method, and do an inputpanel.enabled when the text box gets the focus. My problem was however, determining when the user had finished inputting their name, so I could move focus to the signature box, as Transcriber effectively takes over the screen. I know that clicking on the Keyboard icon will dismiss the keyboard, but was looking for something less clunky.


I reached out to the other guys at APPAMundi, and Peter suggested looking at the TextChanged event of the text box. I checked this out, and sure enouthg fires after a pause,

when the stylus is removed from the screen.


I put a timer(tmrSig) on the form, initially disabled, with an interval of 3 seconds (user configurable). Then in the TextChanged event of my TextBox I did


tmrSig.Enabled = False

tmrSig.Enabled = True


so that the timer starts when the stylus is lifted from the screen. In the Tick event of the timer I put


txtUserName.Enabled = False

tmrSig.Enabled = False



So the Transcriber input panel disappears after 3 seconds, and focus is moved to the signature box.


Thanks to Peter for his suggestion.


Originally posted 22/Apr/2009


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