Building C# console app for multiple instances

Question

I'm building a console application which imports data into databases. This is to run every hour depending on an input CSV file being present. The application also needs to be reused for other database imports on the same server, e.g. there could be up to 20 instances of the same .exe file with each instance having their own separate configuration.

At the moment I have the base application which passes a location of config file via args, so it can be tweaked depending on which application needs to use it. It also undertakes the import via a transaction, which all works fine.

I'm concerned that having 20 instances of the same .exe file running on the same box, every hour, may cause the CPU to max out?

What can I do to resolve this? Would threading help?

Answer 1

Each executable will be running in it's own process, and therefore, with it's own thread(s). Depending on how processor intensive each task is, the CPU may well max out but this is not necessarily something to be concerned about. If you are concerned about concurrent load then the best way may be to stagger the scheduling of your processes so that you have the minimum number of them running simultaneously.

Answer 2

No, this isn't a threading issue.

Just create a system-wide named Mutex at the start of the application. When creating that Mutex, see if it already exists. If it does, it means that there is another instance of your application running. At this point you can give the user a message (via the console or message box) to say that another instance is already running, then you can terminate the application.

Answer 3

Why not make a single instance that can handle multiple configurations? Seems a lot easier to maintain and control.