Question

I am beginner to .NET.

I have a question regarding windows service application running multi-thread. My question is when I tried to register my application into windows service, I see my service status in “starting” in the service windows. I have included few lines code to show what I am trying to do.

protected override void OnStart(string [] args) {
    timer = Timer(5000);
    timer.Elapsed += new ElapsedEventHandler(OnElapsedTime); 
    timer.Start();

    // when I commented out Application.Run() it runs perfect.
    Application.Run(); // run until all the threads finished working
    //todo
}

private void OnElapsedTime(object s, ElapsedEventArgs e) {
    SmartThreadPool smartThreadPool = new SmartThreadPool();

    while( i < numOfRecords){
         smartThreadPool.QueueWorkItem(DoWork);
         //.....
    }
}

If you need further information please let me know.

Answer 1

Application.Run() in the context you’ve used it just tells the service to run itself again in the same application context. As a part of your Windows Service, an application context already exists within the context of your ServiceBase. Since it’s a service, it won’t stop until it’s given an instruction to stop through either a method that requires it, an unhandled exception or an external command.

If you’re concerned about preventing the stop from occurring while threads are in the midst of executing, you’ll need a global lock of some sort indicating processes are working. It might be as simple as elevating the scope of your SmartThreadPool:

private SmartThreadPool _pool = null;
private SmartThreadPool Pool 
{
    get
    {
        if (_pool == null)
            _pool = new SmartThreadPool();
        return _pool;
    }
}

protected override void OnStop()
{
   if (Pool != null)
   {
       // Forces all threads to finish and 
       // achieve an idle state before 
       // shutting down
       Pool.WaitForIdle();
       Pool.Shutdown();
   }
}