Use the compass

Article
05/06/2023

Learn how to use the compass to determine the current heading.

Important APIs

Prerequisites

You should be familiar with Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML), Microsoft Visual C#, and events.

The device or emulator that you're using must support a compass.

Create a simple compass app

An app can retrieve the current heading with respect to magnetic, or true, north. Navigation apps use the compass to determine the direction a device is facing and then orient the map accordingly.

Note

For a more complete implementation, see the compass sample.

Instructions

Create a new project, choosing a Blank App (Universal Windows) from the Visual C# project templates.
Open your project's MainPage.xaml.cs file and replace the existing code with the following.

    using System;
    using System.Collections.Generic;
    using System.IO;
    using System.Linq;
    using Windows.Foundation;
    using Windows.Foundation.Collections;
    using Windows.UI.Xaml;
    using Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls;
    using Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Primitives;
    using Windows.UI.Xaml.Data;
    using Windows.UI.Xaml.Input;
    using Windows.UI.Xaml.Media;
    using Windows.UI.Xaml.Navigation;

    using Windows.UI.Core; // Required to access the core dispatcher object
    using Windows.Devices.Sensors; // Required to access the sensor platform and the compass


    namespace App1
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// An empty page that can be used on its own or navigated to within a Frame.
        /// </summary>
        public sealed partial class MainPage : Page
        {
            private Compass _compass; // Our app' s compass object

            // This event handler writes the current compass reading to
            // the textblocks on the app' s main page.

            private async void ReadingChanged(object sender, CompassReadingChangedEventArgs e)
            {
               await Dispatcher.RunAsync(CoreDispatcherPriority.Normal, () =>
                {
                    CompassReading reading = e.Reading;
                    txtMagnetic.Text = String.Format("{0,5:0.00}", reading.HeadingMagneticNorth);
                    if (reading.HeadingTrueNorth.HasValue)
                        txtNorth.Text = String.Format("{0,5:0.00}", reading.HeadingTrueNorth);
                    else
                        txtNorth.Text = "No reading.";
                });
            }

            public MainPage()
            {
                this.InitializeComponent();
               _compass = Compass.GetDefault(); // Get the default compass object

                // Assign an event handler for the compass reading-changed event
                if (_compass != null)
                {
                    // Establish the report interval for all scenarios
                    uint minReportInterval = _compass.MinimumReportInterval;
                    uint reportInterval = minReportInterval > 16 ? minReportInterval : 16;
                    _compass.ReportInterval = reportInterval;
                    _compass.ReadingChanged += new TypedEventHandler<Compass, CompassReadingChangedEventArgs>(ReadingChanged);
                }
            }
        }
    }

You'll need to rename the namespace in the previous snippet with the name you gave your project. For example, if you created a project named CompassCS, you'd replace namespace App1 with namespace CompassCS.

Open the file MainPage.xaml and replace the original contents with the following XML.

    <Page
        x:Class="App1.MainPage"
        xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
        xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
        xmlns:local="using:App1"
        xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
        xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
        mc:Ignorable="d">

        <Grid x:Name="LayoutRoot" Background="#FF0C0C0C">
            <TextBlock HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="22" Margin="8,18,0,0" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="Magnetic Heading:" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="104" Foreground="#FFFBF9F9"/>
            <TextBlock HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="18" Margin="8,58,0,0" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="True North Heading:" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="104" Foreground="#FFF3F3F3"/>
            <TextBlock x:Name="txtMagnetic" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="22" Margin="130,18,0,0" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="TextBlock" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="116" Foreground="#FFFBF6F6"/>
            <TextBlock x:Name="txtNorth" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="18" Margin="130,58,0,0" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="TextBlock" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="116" Foreground="#FFF5F1F1"/>

         </Grid>
    </Page>

You'll need to replace the first part of the class name in the previous snippet with the namespace of your app. For example, if you created a project named CompassCS, you'd replace x:Class="App1.MainPage" with x:Class="CompassCS.MainPage". You should also replace xmlns:local="using:App1" with xmlns:local="using:CompassCS".

Press F5 or select Debug > Start Debugging to build, deploy, and run the app.

Once the app is running, you can change the compass values by moving the device or using the emulator tools.

Stop the app by returning to Visual Studio and pressing Shift+F5 or select Debug > Stop Debugging to stop the app.

Explanation

The previous example demonstrates how little code you'll need to write in order to integrate compass input in your app.

The app establishes a connection with the default compass in the MainPage method.

_compass = Compass.GetDefault(); // Get the default compass object

The app establishes the report interval within the MainPage method. This code retrieves the minimum interval supported by the device and compares it to a requested interval of 16 milliseconds (which approximates a 60-Hz refresh rate). If the minimum supported interval is greater than the requested interval, the code sets the value to the minimum. Otherwise, it sets the value to the requested interval.

uint minReportInterval = _compass.MinimumReportInterval;
uint reportInterval = minReportInterval > 16 ? minReportInterval : 16;
_compass.ReportInterval = reportInterval;

The new compass data is captured in the ReadingChanged method. Each time the sensor driver receives new data from the sensor, it passes the values to your app using this event handler. The app registers this event handler on the following line.

_compass.ReadingChanged += new TypedEventHandler<Compass,
CompassReadingChangedEventArgs>(ReadingChanged);

These new values are written to the TextBlocks found in the project's XAML.

 <TextBlock HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="22" Margin="8,18,0,0" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="Magnetic Heading:" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="104" Foreground="#FFFBF9F9"/>
 <TextBlock HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="18" Margin="8,58,0,0" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="True North Heading:" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="104" Foreground="#FFF3F3F3"/>
 <TextBlock x:Name="txtMagnetic" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="22" Margin="130,18,0,0" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="TextBlock" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="116" Foreground="#FFFBF6F6"/>
 <TextBlock x:Name="txtNorth" HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="18" Margin="130,58,0,0" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="TextBlock" VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="116" Foreground="#FFF5F1F1"/>