SDK (Software Developers’ Kits) – What can They Do?

SDK Building Blocks

There is a small amount of confusion over which SDK is best suited for use with a particular product, or for a particular application. In this article, I will look at the various developers’ kits that are available for our products, the programming languages they support, and what they are capable of.

Wacom’s Signature SDK for Windows

This kit allows a developer to incorporate biometric signature capture into their application. Signatures are stored in a format that allows for later analysis by qualified authorities, such as forensic document examiners, using a specialised application designed for just his purpose. This works with any of Wacom’s range of signature pads, pen tablets, or pen displays, like the DTU-1141.

This kit is simple to integrate, and automatically renders digital ink, displays dialog boxes, and captures complete biometric signature data. It can be used with a number of programming languages, including C, C++, C#, HTML/Javascript, Java, VB.NET, and Delphi.

The Signature SDK for Windows is used with Wacom’s STU series of signature pads.

Wacom’s Signature SDK for Android

Much the same as the above kit, this one is expressly designed to work with Android devices, and programming environments. Currently, the only supported language for this kit is Java.

Wacom’s STU SDK

Also known as the Low Level SDK, this allows any of Wacom’s STU series signature pads to be used to capture pen data. It requires more effort than the Signature SDK, but it allows unrestricted access to the data which can be stored in any suitable format. Applications can be made using this kit which are capable of uploading graphical images to the pad display, as well as recording pen movement, including pressure and timing, which is essential to compile handwritten biometric signature data.

This kit can be used with C, C++, C#, HTML/Javascript, Java, VB.NET, and Delphi.

Wacom’s iOS SDK

This kit is specifically designed for use with Wacom’s Bluetooth pens, such as the Bamboo Fineline Stylus, available in our shop. It provides features such as pressure sensitivity, palm rejection, and shortcut buttons, and can be easily integrated into your app for a traditional pen-on-paper feel.

While this SDK is constantly undergoing improvement and upgrade to keep it in line with current technology releases, it is currently optimized for use with the iPad Mini, generations 1, 2, 3, and 4, and the iPad Air, generations 1 and 2.

Wacom’s Wintab SDK

The DTU interactive displays are programmed using Wintab. The DLL which accepts the Wintab API is installed as part of the Wacom tablet drivers. There is no need to download any further software packages, everything is included in the initial install.

ePadLink’s IntegriSign SDK

For use with all of ePadLink’s products, this kit comes as part of the IntegriSign Desktop software package. It contains a number of samples to demonstrate the various capabilities of the ePad range, in a number of languages including ASP.NET, VB.NET, C#, and Visual Basic 6.0.