Reading and writing to Windows Azure Mobile Services

This sample shows how Windows Azure Mobile Services enables you to use a Windows Store app to store and retrieve data from Windows Azure.

This Windows Store app demonstrates a simple app to maintain a list of to-do items. You use the app to add to-do items to a Mobile Services table. The app can also get to-do items from the table and display them. You can mark the items in the app Mobile Servicesas done after you complete them.

To obtain an evaluation copy of Windows 8.1, go to Windows 8.1.

To obtain an evaluation copy of Microsoft Visual Studio 2013, go to Visual Studio 2013.

Note  For Windows 8 app samples, download the Windows 8 app samples pack. The samples in the Windows 8 app samples pack will build and run only on Microsoft Visual Studio 2012.

Related topics

free Windows Azure trial

Windows Azure command line tools

Windows Azure management portal

Windows app samples

Operating system requirements

Build the sample

1. If you do not have a Windows Azure subscription, sign up for a free Windows Azure trial.
2. Install the Windows Azure command line tools.
3. Open a command prompt to download the required credentials to communicate with Windows Azure as follows. This is a one-time setup for running all subsequent commands to manage Mobile Services:
   1. Download Windows Azure management credentials with this command: azure account download.                   This will display a web page for you to sign in to the Windows Azure management portal. After you sign in, Windows Azure will prompt you to download a publish settings file for your Windows Azure subscription. Save this file to your local computer.
   2. Import the publish settings file from this location with this command: azure account import [SavedLocation]. This will configure your command prompt to manage all of your Windows Azure services from the command line.
4. Create a Windows Azure Mobile Service with this command: azure mobile create [AzureMobileServiceName] [sqlAdminUsername] [sqlAdminPassword]
5. Create a TodoItem table to store the to-do items, with this command: azure mobile table create [AzureMobileServiceName] TodoItem
6. Get the ApplicationUrl and ApplicationKey for your Windows Azure Mobile Service with this command: azure mobile show [AzureMobileServiceName]
7. Install the Windows Azure Mobile Services NuGet package.
8. Open the App.xaml.cs file and replace "mobile-service-url" and "mobile-service-key" with the ApplicationUrl and ApplicationKey. Your Windows Store app is now configured to communicate with your created Windows Azure Mobile Service.
9. Click Build > Build Solution.

Run the sample

1. To debug the app and then run it in Microsoft Visual Studio, press F5 or use Debug > Start Debugging. To run the app without debugging, press Ctrl+F5 or use Debug > Start Without Debugging.
2. After the app starts, enter a to-do item in the left column and then click Save. Added items appear as checkbox items in the right column, and then you can mark them as completed.
3. You can also go to the Windows Azure management portal, sign in, and view your Windows Azure Mobile Service and the saved data.