How to add USB device capabilities to the app manifest

This topic describes the device capabilities that are required for a Windows store app that uses the Windows.Devices.Usb namespace.

USB device capability usage

Your USB app must include certain device capabilities in its App package manifest to specify key information about the device. Here are the required elements in hierarchical order:

<DeviceCapability>: The Name attribute must be "usb".

<Device>: The Id attribute must specify the vendor/product Id or can be "any" to allow access to any device that matches the function type.

<Function>: The Type attribute can specify the device class code, name, or the device interface GUID.

Note  You cannot modify the USB device capability in Microsoft Visual Studio 2013. You must right-click the Package.appxmanifest file in Solution Explorer and select Open With..., and then XML (Text) Editor. The file opens in plain XML.

<DeviceCapability Name="usb">
    <Device Id="vidpid:xxxx xxxx">
      <Function Type="classId:xx xx xx"/>
      <Function Type="name:xxxxx"/>
      <Function Type="winUsbId:xxxxx"/>
    </Device>
</DeviceCapability>

Supported USB device classes

• Names and code values of the supported device classes are as follows:
  • name:cdcControl, classId:02 * *
  • name:physical, classId:05 * *
  • name:personalHealthcare, classId:0f 00 00
  • name:activeSync, classId:ef 01 01
  • name:palmSync, classId:ef 01 02
  • name:deviceFirmwareUpdate, classId:fe 01 01
  • name:irda, classId:fe 02 00
  • name:measurement, classId:fe 03 *
  • name:vendorSpecific, classId:ff * *

  Note  Devices that belong to the DeviceFirmwareUpdate class can only be accessed by privileged apps that is explicitly declared by the OEM for that PC.

• Because these are unknown interfaces, the app is required to specify the vendor/product id for these class codes.
  • CDC (0x02)
  • CDC-data (0x0A)
  • Miscellaneous (0xEF)
  • Application specific (0xFE)
  • Vendor specific (0xFF)
• These USB device classes are not supported:
  • Invalid class (0x00)
  • Audio class (0x01)
  • HID class(0x03)
  • Image class (0x06)
  • Printer class (0x07)
  • Mass storage class (0x08)
  • Smart card class (0x0B)
  • Audio/video class (0x10)
  • Wireless controller (such as, wireless USB host/hub) (0xE0)

USB device capability example

Here are some examples for defining USB device capabilities:

<DeviceCapability Name="usb">
  <Device Id="any">
    <Function Type="classId:ef 01 01"/>
    <Function Type="name:stillImage"/>
  </Device>
</DeviceCapability>

<DeviceCapability Name="usb">
  <Device Id="vidpid:045e 930a">
    <Function Type="name:vendorSpecific"/>
  </Device>
</DeviceCapability>

<DeviceCapability Name="usb">
  <Device Id="vidpid:045e 930a">
    <Function Type="classId:ff * *"/>
  </Device>
</DeviceCapability>

<DeviceCapability Name="usb">
  <Device Id=" vidpid:1234 5678">
    <Function Type="winUsbId:"xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx"/>
  </Device>
</DeviceCapability>

App manifest package for the CustomUsbDeviceAccess sample

  <Capabilities>
      <!--When the device's classId is FF * *, there is a predefined name for the class. You can use the name instead of the class id. 
          There are also other predefined names that correspond to a classId.-->
      <m2:DeviceCapability Name="usb">
          <!--OSRFX2 Device-->
          <m2:Device Id="vidpid:0547 1002">
              <m2:Function Type="classId:ff * *"/>
              <!--<m2:Function Type="name:vendorSpecific"/>-->
          </m2:Device>
          <!--SuperMutt Device-->
          <m2:Device Id="vidpid:045E 0611">
              <!--<m2:Function Type="classId:ff * *"/>-->
              <m2:Function Type="name:vendorSpecific"/>
          </m2b:Device>
      </m2:DeviceCapability>
  </Capabilities>

Related topics

Windows Store app for a USB device

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