Windows Services Framework??

Question

Are there any good frameworks or templates for developing Windows Services? I generally don't write windows services and hoping someone has shared their expertise via an api or example project.

I am working on a project with the following requirements:

**A windows service that:**
• performs 1..many independently scheduled tasks
• reports on the success or failure of these tasks via email/log/sms/??
• allows adding/removal of tasks
• allows changing of schedules

UPDATE

marc_s answer reminded me of this 2005 Visual Studio Magazine article by Luther Miller that I read.

Answer 1

I make no promises, but this sounds like a candidate for using Windows Workflow Foundation.

Answer 2

The framework is .Net! :-) WCF for the communication and WF for the implementation. In .Net 4 these come together as a WCF Workflow Service.

Answer 3

If it is a scheduler kind of thing that you are looking for, then you may want to look at Quartz.net. This is an open source job scheduling system. It would be easier to use an existing tool rather than rewriting one from scratch (unless it is for academic purposes).

Answer 4

In terms of software, there's no need for anything other than the .NET base class library.

I found this two-part article very useful and enlightening, especially considering your requirement to "performs 1..many independently scheduled tasks....":

• Creating an Extensible Windows Service (Part 1)
• Creating an Extensible Windows Service (Part 2)