Question

I have an application in C# (2.0 running on XP embedded) that is communicating with a ‘watchdog’ that is implemented as a Windows Service. When the device boots, this service typically takes some time to start. I’d like to check, from my code, if the service is running. How can I accomplish this?

Answer 1

I guess something like this would work:

Add System.ServiceProcess to your project references (It’s on the .NET tab).

using System.ServiceProcess;  ServiceController sc = new ServiceController(SERVICENAME);  switch (sc.Status) {     case ServiceControllerStatus.Running:         return 'Running';     case ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped:         return 'Stopped';     case ServiceControllerStatus.Paused:         return 'Paused';     case ServiceControllerStatus.StopPending:         return 'Stopping';     case ServiceControllerStatus.StartPending:         return 'Starting';     default:         return 'Status Changing'; } 

Edit: There is also a method sc.WaitforStatus() that takes a desired status and a timeout, never used it but it may suit your needs.

Edit: Once you get the status, to get the status again you will need to call sc.Refresh() first.

Reference: ServiceController object in .NET.