Running a Windows Service in Debug Mode

4. Now call the Start() and Stop() methods in the Service class's OnStart and OnStop methods:

//Call the custom start method
protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
{
this.Start();
}
//Call the custom stop method
protected override void OnStop()
{
this.Stop();
}

5. Handle the Timer Elapsed event.

//Handle the Timer Elapsed event
void _aTimer_Elapsed(object sender, System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs e)
{
//Create an instance of Process
Process notePad = new Process();
//Set the FileName to "notepad.exe"
notePad.StartInfo.FileName = "notepad.exe";
//Start the process
notePad.Start();
//You may have to write extra code for handling exit code and
//other System.Process handling code
}

This completes the changes we have to make in the service class. Now we need to make changes in the Program.cs file.

The main part of achieving the goal is to use preprocessor directives. You can learn more about preprocessor directives from the article posted by Sukesh http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/SukeshMarla/preprocessor-directive-in-C-Sharp/

Do the following changes in the Program.CS file:

1. Define Preprocessor directive #If DEBUG #else #endif.

2. Put the actual code already available in the Main method between #else and #endif.

3. Add your custom logic between #If DEBUG and #else.

Finally our code looks as in the following:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.ServiceProcess;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading;namespace TestService
{
    static class Program
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// The main entry point for the application.
        /// </summary>
        static void Main()
        {


            #if DEBUG
            //If the mode is in debugging
            //create a new service instance
            Service1 myService = new Service1();
            //call the start method - this will start the Timer.
            myService.Start();
            //Set the Thread to sleep
            Thread.Sleep(60000);
            //Call the Stop method-this will stop the Timer.
            myService.Stop();
#else
            //The following is the default code - You may fine tune
            //the code to create one instance of the service on the top
            //and use the instance variable in both debug and release mode
            ServiceBase[] ServicesToRun;
            ServicesToRun = new ServiceBase[] 
                          { 
                                   new Service1() 
                          };
            ServiceBase.Run(ServicesToRun);
#endif
        }
    }
}

Notice that I have set the Thread.Sleep method to double the time of the timer interval so that it executes only once and then the application is stopped. If you want the code to run in an infinite time period then modify the time from Thread.Sleep(60000) to Thread.Sleep(Timeout.Infinite);

Now let us see how our code runs. Make sure that you set the application running mode as "Debug".



Figure 5: Debug mode

Press F5. It should open a Notepad file and then it should be done. For convenience I have added variables in custom method and elapsed method to check the timestamps while debugging.

Note: Since I am taking screenshots, the timer may have stopped until I go to the next line and so the timestamps must be approximate.



Figure 6: Start Method called by the service



Figure 7: Timer Elapsed code execution

Now it has opened a Notepad:



Figure 8: Notepad instance



Figure 9: Stop method is called

Finally we forgot to identify one thing. That is we are now not getting the alert when we run. So, it is working like an exe file in debugging mode and works like a service in release mode. This is very convenient and somewhat relaxing in the programmer's life. Is it not?

Try to implement this with proper architecture and at the maximum put the logic in different layer and create unit test projects to test your code and the service should be only calling relevant methods.

In any Enterprise Application projects, we have to develop a Windows Service at least once and hope this helps for the buddy programmers. Hope you enjoyed this article.