Device Stage Visual Editor

Dedicated to device manufacturers and other types of software developers, Device Stage Visual Editor facilitates a user-friendly working environment to help you come up with new ways to interact with the devices linked to your computer, by taking into account branding, features, and device contents.

Installation and interface

Setting up this tool is easy. Worth mentioning is that .NET Framework 4.0 must be installed. When it comes to the interface, the application opts for a clear-cut window which invites you to begin by opening a device's metadata file (.devicemetadata-ms format). Several sample files are listed in the installed directory to get you started.

Manage nodes with tasks and categories

A tree view holds all tasks available for the device in question, so you can expand and explore the tree, as well as create new nodes with categories by specifying the description, display name, icon and ID.
When putting together new tasks as nodes, you can indicate the command line, description, display name, icon (ICO file type), ID, issue time (by consulting a calendar), rank, requirements (raw XML code), whether or not it needs administrative rights, and task type (ShellExecute, HostedSite, HostedSiteWithDevice, InPaneLayout).

Configure device settings and switch to test mode

In the largest pane from the main window, you can view and configure device settings, such as audio, Bluetooth, infrared, modem, network connections, biometric, display, keyboard, mouse, and sensor.
It's possible to obtain the device's hardware ID, generate and copy a GUID, enter test mode (needs system reboot), import and export locale resources with model or hardware IDs (Excel format), as well as save the project to file to resume it later.

Evaluation and conclusion

The utility didn't freeze or crash in our evaluation. It left a small footprint on system resources, using low CPU and RAM. Thanks to its intuitive GUI and options, Device Stage Visual Editor should be useful for device manufacturers.