I have written a few services with no major problems, until this last one.  
When I start this current service I get the message "service started and then stopped".
The only difference I can tell between this service and another service I wrote is the
use of threads.  Is there any obvious problem here?



Imports System.ServiceProcess
Imports System.Xml
Imports System.Threading
Imports System.net

Public Class Service1
   Inherits System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase
   Dim initialized As Boolean
   Dim Sent As Boolean
   Dim EMail_From, EMail_To, cc1, Subject, body, SiteUrl, SiteName, Search As String
   Dim done As Boolean
   Dim page As Thread
   Dim reset As Thread
   Dim timeout As Thread
   Dim failedsite(0)
   Dim timecount As Integer


#Region " Component Designer generated code "

   Public Sub New()
       MyBase.New()

       ' This call is required by the Component Designer.
       InitializeComponent()

       ' Add any initialization after the InitializeComponent() call

   End Sub

   'UserService overrides dispose to clean up the component list.
   Protected Overloads Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
       If disposing Then
           If Not (components Is Nothing) Then
               components.Dispose()
           End If
       End If
       MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
   End Sub

   ' The main entry point for the process
   <MTAThread()> _
   Shared Sub Main()
       Dim ServicesToRun() As System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase

       ' More than one NT Service may run within the same process. To add
       ' another service to this process, change the following line to
       ' create a second service object. For example,
       '
       '   ServicesToRun = New System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase () {New Service1, New MySecondUserService}
       '
       ServicesToRun = New System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase () {New Service1}

       System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase.Run(ServicesToRun)

       

   End Sub

   'Required by the Component Designer
   Private components As System.ComponentModel.IContainer

   ' NOTE: The following procedure is required by the Component Designer
   ' It can be modified using the Component Designer.  
   ' Do not modify it using the code editor.
   Friend WithEvents Timer1 As System.Timers.Timer
   <System.Diagnostics.DebuggerStepThrough()> Private Sub InitializeComponent()
       Me.Timer1 = New System.Timers.Timer
       CType(Me.Timer1, System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize).BeginInit()
       '
       'Timer1
       '
       Me.Timer1.Enabled = True
       Me.Timer1.Interval = 15000
       '
       'Service1
       '
       Me.ServiceName = "Service1"
       CType(Me.Timer1, System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize).EndInit()

   End Sub

#End Region

   Protected Overrides Sub OnStart(ByVal args() As String)
       ' Add code here to start your service. This method should set things
       ' in motion so your service can do its work.
       
       timecount = 0
       MsgBox("Start")
   End Sub

   Protected Overrides Sub OnStop()
       ' Add code here to perform any tear-down necessary to stop your service.
   End Sub

   Private Sub Timer1_Elapsed(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs) Handles Timer1.Elapsed
         
       done = False
       timecount = timecount + 1
       page = New Thread(AddressOf Me.getInfo)
       timeout = New Thread(AddressOf Me.Expire)

       page.Start()
       timeout.Start()
       
       Call ResetFailure()

   End Sub

   Public Sub ResetFailure()
       Dim i As Integer
       If timecount >= 5 Then
           For i = 0 To failedsite.Length
               failedsite(i) = ""
           Next
           failedsite.Clear(failedsite, 0, failedsite.Length)
           timecount = 0
       End If
   End Sub


   Public Sub Expire()
       Thread.CurrentThread.Sleep(60000)
       If done = False Then
           page.Abort()
           body = "Time out: "
       End If
   End Sub

   Public Sub getInfo()
       Dim reader As XmlTextReader
       Dim reader2 As XmlTextReader
       Dim i As Integer
       Dim found As Boolean


       reader = New XmlTextReader("C:\Init2.xml")
       reader2 = New XmlTextReader("C:\Init2.xml")
       While reader.Read()
           If reader.NodeType = XmlNodeType.Element Then
               If reader.Name = "EMail_To" Then
                   EMail_To = reader.GetAttribute(0)
               ElseIf reader.Name = "cc1" Then
                   cc1 = reader.GetAttribute(0)
               ElseIf reader.Name = "EMail_From" Then
                   EMail_From = reader.GetAttribute(0)
               ElseIf reader.Name = "SiteUrl" Then
                   SiteUrl = reader.GetAttribute(0)
               ElseIf reader.Name = "SiteName" Then
   

I also would like to create a client/UI that could communicate with my windows service.

I am looking for an architecture similiar to SQL Server and the Enterprise Manager.  SQL Server is the Service and the Enterprise Manager is a management piece that interacts with the service, to display all available databases, allows for administration of the services configuration, etc.

Any suggestions welcome,

Hi,

I would certainly go the easy way.

Within the service code, I would put an event handler on any modification on a given directory.
Thus whenever a file is placed in that directory, the file is parsed by the service and an action can be taken.
Concerning the file format, I would use an XML file. It's easier to parse and to structure.

A second possibility is to use a database with a table containing the actions to perform by the service.
The client writes an entry in the table, the service checks the table on a schedule basis (e.g. a timer event) and do the action.

A third possibility would be to use a socket.

It's really up to you.

I could buid the windows service with the steps mentioned but noticed that the event is not logged on Timer_Tick event. The event is logged only on the start and stop of the windows service.
And when I attached the debugger with the service from .NET IDE, it never stepped into the Timer_Tick routine.
Please help me to debug the service and let me know how we can log the event on timer click.

thanks
vanj

Are you using the component timer and not the windows forms timer?  When creating a Service you should use the component objects.

Yes soulliam,
I have added the componets timer.

I wrote the code to write log on to the text file. I am trying to write "Another entry" under the Timer_Tick sub but this message is never written on the text file.

Find the code below.
See if you can find anything wrong with it.

Thanks,
vanj.

   Protected Overrides Sub OnStart(ByVal args() As String)
       ' Add code here to start your service. This method should set things
       ' in motion so your service can do its work.
       LogMessge("Stariting the service")
       Timer1.Enabled = True
       Timer1.Start()
   End Sub

   Protected Overrides Sub OnStop()
       ' Add code here to perform any tear-down necessary to stop your service.
       LogMessge("Stop Service")
       Timer1.Stop()
   End Sub

   Private Sub Timer1_Tick(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
       LogMessge("Another entry")
   End Sub

   Private Sub LogMessge(ByVal messge As String)

       Dim objFileStream As FileStream
       Dim objStringBuilder As StringBuilder = New StringBuilder

       ' Append the message
       objStringBuilder.AppendFormat("{0}{1}", messge, Environment.NewLine)

       If (Not Directory.Exists(Path.GetDirectoryName("D:\Testing\MyService\WinServ.txt"))) Then
           Directory.CreateDirectory(Path.GetDirectoryName("D:\Testing\MyService\WinServ.txt"))
       End If

       'Check if the file already exists
       'If file already exists open file in append mode
       'else create file
       If (File.Exists("D:\Testing\MyService\WinServ.txt")) Then
           objFileStream = File.Open("D:\Testing\MyService\WinServ.txt", FileMode.Append, FileAccess.Write)
       Else
           objFileStream = File.Create("D:\Testing\MyService\WinServ.txt")
       End If

       Dim objStreamWriter As New StreamWriter(objFileStream)

       objStreamWriter.Write(objStringBuilder.ToString())
       objStreamWriter.Close()
   End Sub
End Class

Hi soulliam
 I created the project again with component timer and under timer_elapsed handler have the required code and it works fine.

thanks
vanj

Hi all,

I would like to create a small UI associated with the service running. So that the user need
not go to settings-->ControlPanel-->AdminstativeTools-->Services to start or stop a service.

I want to have something similar to SQL server, which sits in the taskbar and user can start and stop the SQLserver from there.

Please let me know how I can achieve something similar

regards,
vanj.

I think the problem is due to :
MsgBox("Start") under OnStart routine.

Comment this line of the code and try it should work fine

good luck!
vanj.

I've been trying to figure out the best way to have a client connect to a Windows Service. Would that be through Remoting or is there another way it can be done? Has anyone tried this?

Is there any way to start a WinForm App from a VB .Net Service?

If you are programming in .NET, then take alook at the System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController class. It has methods which let you start, stop, pause, query and modify windows services.

Must say that I've only just started in on this myself today with the kick off of a new project.

Hi all,
On the machine which has dot net IDE we use
the .NET command prompt and run InstallUtil ExeName.exe to make it a windows service.

But when I want to deploy the application on another machine which has only the DOT NET FRAMEWORK and no IDE, how do I do it.

Regards,
vanj.

As Dot Net frame work has InstallUtil.exe, in the command prompt go to the path where the InstallUtil.exe is present on the machine and run the command --InstallUtil Exename.exe, it will register the windows service

Need Help!!

I've created a vb.net windows service using vs.net 2003 and added a setup and deployment project to my solution to install the service.

The installer works great, the service is installed, however I need to add the ability for the service to be automatically started after the installer is finished. I.E. - the service needs to be started without having to restart the computer or manually go into the service control panel and starting.

Does anybody know how I can start the service from code thats inside my installer??

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!