Should I build a Windows Service in order to run my C# code on a schedule?

Question

Hi !

I've written a console app that sends MS Reports to emails.. (the reason was that i could check it easily if it works) I want this to run daily at 6 am.

My idea was to write a service (so nooone will need to be logged in and the service will run). So I'd like to call the static Method directly in a WebService.

I've a solution with 1 project file that is my console application (with settings, many references.. etc). I'd like to add another project - Windows Service. My question is.. how to do that easily, so I wouldn't have to copy all classes etc to the Windows Service project?

Or am I totaly off the way? :)

Thank you!

Answer 1

Create a class library and put the shared classes in that library.

Answer 2

Sounds like overkill to use a Windows Service to send an email once a day. Why not just schedule a task in Task Scheduler?

Answer 3

You're going to have to refactor your app. I'd recommend three projects -

Console App - instantiates and performs any neccessary set up on your business logic object then routes all output to the console. Use this for debugging and testing

Business logic - Extract all the logic of your application into this class.

Service - Basically the same as the console app except that I would recommend sending any errors to the global event logger. That way if your service bombs you can find out why.

You can use this pattern for any other services you develop.