Comments by TSKNaidu (Top 20 by date)

Are you now asking if you can run the same .EXE as both a Windows Forms app AND a Service?

No! Absolutely not! On the other hand, the service that is being created is consumed by our Windows forms app.

Coming back to our requirement, using C# with a 'Windows Service' project template, how can we create a "container" like "srvany.exe" to host a windows application to run as a service?

Thanks again for all your help and appreciate your time.

best regards,
Srikanth

Dave,

Thanks for your patience and taking time to address my question.

As things are becoming clearer and for my own understanding, I have captured the understanding as a flowchart (not the literal meaning of it!). Here it is:

====== Begin =======
logic("Adding an application to a window service")
{
if("user-mode application")
{
//do not add
return;
}
else
{
//Add the application as a Windows service using any of the following external tools
///1. sc.exe (part of Windows 2003 resource kit)
///2. instsrv.exe and srvany.exe( same as above )
///3. Firedeamon commercial utility

//Within our application (client that consumes the services):
///1. Using methods in 'System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController' class, monitor and control the above added Windows service.
}
}
====== End ========

Now, coming back to our original requirement, we are looking for another tool (#4 in the above logic - after Firedaemon utility). This tool is a small C# application that can be internally developed using 'Windows Service' project template provided by Visual Studio IDE.

Thanks again for all your time in helping us in meeting our requirements.

best regards.

Are you saying that we just use Process.Start() within our application? And, this is the easiest way of launching the apps?

If it is, then, what we are looking for is to take out these Process.Start() calls and automate their launch via Windows Services.

Thanks for your time.

Thanks Dave for taking time to bring clarity to the issue posted.

Coming back to our requirement and as mentioned in our question (option 2), we intend to start few out-of-process servers (apps) as windows services.

And, you are suggesting to better start these apps directly from our application.

This leaves us with the first option (bundle these apps into a batch file and run the batch file).

While still technically unclear about why these apps cannot be "automated" to run without our application, I looked around for a "container" that could possibly run these apps as Windows Service.

And, I would like to share with you the following links that throws more light on how to run an external process as a windows service:

1. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/251192

2. http://www.firedaemon.com/download-firedaemon.php

3. http://www.instantfundas.com/2008/08/how-to-run-windows-applications-as.html

Appreciate your time to address our question.

best regards.

Thanks for taking time to reflect on the question.

Are you suggesting that it is not advisable to start out-of-process servers (executables) from a windows service? Can you pl be specific why it is not?

Appreciate your time.

What if there is neither an excel nor openoffice to save and run the macro? This is our situation.

And, relatively speaking, we are looking for a "generic macro", which could be a .net CF component, that can be used in our app.

Thanks for your time.

Thanks for the suggestion. I downloaded a trial version of Smartxls and having trouble to make it work for us. We used the readXML method to read a file in Excel XML format and write it to Excel binary equivalent. It throws up an error "Requested value 'String' was not found".

Thanks for your time.

Hello! SA,

To make the file open in other spreadsheet applications that do not yet support Excel XML format. Manually if we open the Excel XML file in MS Excel and do a File->Save As to the Excel binary XLS format, and re-open in the said apps, it works.

Hence, the question to find if there are any libs available to automate the above manual process.

There is a one component called 'ExcelDataReader' on Codeplex that does the reading part (Xls to Xml). And, I am looking for the writing part (Xml to Xls).

While understanding that Xls is a propreitary format of MS, nevertheless, I was searching for a component that runs on .net CF that addresses our req.

Appreciate your help and Thanks for your time.

1. Class with abstract method 'MoveNode' is: GraphicalObject (it is in a compiled lib titled 'MoveGraphLibrary.dll').

2. Class with overridden method is: RingRsRt.

3. Error occurs in the overriden method (MoveNode) in the above class.

Thanks for your time.

regards.

Thanks CDP for throwing some light!

Though the namespaces and method signatures seem to be the same in both .net CF and FF libraries being used (System.Windows.Forms.dll and System.Drawing.dll in our case), obviously the VS compiler does not see them as same.

Is there a workaround where I can make the compiler do a conditional compilation to use only CF version if a method is supported, else, throw error?

Thanks again for taking time to answer.

best regards.

Please find below the source that generated error:

MoveGraphLibrary.dll:
public abstract bool MoveNode(int i, int dx, int dy, System.Drawing.Point ptM, System.Windows.Forms.MouseButtons catcher) Member of MoveGraphLibrary.GraphicalObject

MyApp.exe:
public abstract class ElementRsRt : GraphicalObject
{
//implements some of the abstract methods in the derived GraphicalObject class
}

public class RingRsRt : ElementRsRt
{
// public override bool MoveNode (int i, int dx, int dy, Point ptM, MouseButtons catcher)
{
//implements the abstract method MoveNode as defined in the grand parent class (GraphicalObject)
}
}

Error occurs while compiling MyApp.exe using .netCF for WinCE. No error while compiling for WinApp.

Thanks for taking time to answer.

You are right. Some of the methods in FF are not available in CF. But, we are attempting to implement a derived method in the inherited base class.

As a matter of fact, I commented out the whole code to ensure that the implementing method in question is not using any method from CF/FF. But, we still get this error.

Appreciate your time for addressing this question.

best regards.

Please find below the source that generated error:

MoveGraphLibrary.dll:
public abstract bool MoveNode(int i, int dx, int dy, System.Drawing.Point ptM, System.Windows.Forms.MouseButtons catcher)
Member of MoveGraphLibrary.GraphicalObject

MyApp.exe:
public abstract class ElementRsRt : GraphicalObject
{
//implements some of the abstract methods in the derived GraphicalObject class

}

public class RingRsRt : ElementRsRt
{
//
public override bool MoveNode (int i, int dx, int dy, Point ptM, MouseButtons catcher)
{
//implements the abstract method MoveNode as defined in the grand parent class (GraphicalObject)
}
}

Error occurs while compiling MyApp.exe using .netCF for WinCE. No error while compiling for WinApp.

Thanks again for taking time to address my question.

best regards.