Configuring a windows service via GUI - C#

greyed

Hi there,

I have a windows service running which writes to an online or local DB depending on connection status. There are a number of settings it depends on, currently stored in a database. I would like to be able to alter these as these service runs (possible?) using a GUI. The settings will soon be stored locally.

Is it correct to say I should have a seperate winforms application that will configure a settings file read by the service? I was considering using the service's app.config file with custom sections, but can I access this file externally? Would it be better to store the setting in the local database (SQLite) since it is already implemented?

Any help/advice would great! Much appreciated

fasty

I handled this by hosting a WCF service in the Windows service and having the GUI connect to the service. This works both locally and if you like, remotely because you can run the service over http.

greyed

Cheeris fasty, could you tell me if WCF is supported by Mono? as this service will need to be portable.

Webmonkey

greyed wrote: »

Cheeris fasty, could you tell me if WCF is supported by Mono? as this service will need to be portable.

http://www.mono-project.com/WCF

greyed

Thanks webmonkey, I was aware of that particular page alright, unfortunately I am a little overwhelmed by all the considerations for cross-platform development, so I am not sure which classes of WCF I would need. Could you explain a little more about WCF service hosting or do you know of any good tutorials/resources?

As an alternative, I am considering altering the app.config file from a seperate GUI as discussed here.

greyed

Unfortunately, the component I need from WCF is not currently implemented in mono, and so is not a portable solution

If I was to edit a DB of settings, where could I store a single integer (along with other associated lists)? Or is such a configuration structure reason enough not to use one?

iDigian

greyed wrote: »

Unfortunately, the component I need from WCF is not currently implemented in mono, and so is not a portable solution

If I was to edit a DB of settings, where could I store a single integer (along with other associated lists)? Or is such a configuration structure reason enough not to use one?

If memory serves me correct you can do the following,
1) Create a class library called "CstmConfig.dl" which contains the classes behind your custom config section.

2) Compile this into the service and add custom sections to the app.config.

3) Create a separate app which is to be used for config and add the CstmConfig.dll to it and then do whatever config you need to and then write config file. Changes will only take affect if either you reload config from within service or restart service. You can trigger reload config with a filewatcher.

It should work in theory.

Jim2007

iDigian wrote: »

If memory serves me correct you can do the following,
1) Create a class library called "CstmConfig.dl" which contains the classes behind your custom config section.

2) Compile this into the service and add custom sections to the app.config.

3) Create a separate app which is to be used for config and add the CstmConfig.dll to it and then do whatever config you need to and then write config file. Changes will only take affect if either you reload config from within service or restart service. You can trigger reload config with a filewatcher.

It should work in theory.

Good answer, it is always a good idea to keep things simple...

Jim.