Writing a windows service...

GrimReaper

And i'm after some reading material for doing such an endeavour.

It will be written in C#.
It will connect to a MS SQL Server 2000. (probably through OLE)
It will run (as mentioned) as a windows service on a windows 2000 server machine.


Can anyone recommend any books/reading material for such an endeavour?

I've never 1. created a windows service using c# (or any other language) and 2. never created a program that connects (reads data from and writes data) to a sql server in c# before. (done it in ASP VBScript, PHP etc)

This will probably be done using Visual Studio 2005 Professional.

wmelon

The MSDN collection for visual studio 2005 is actually really good. You'll probably want to read up on the System.Threading.Thread Object as well as the System.Data.SQLClient Object.

As for creating the service, there's a wizard that will create a basic functionality for a windows service.

Fristle

This should help:

http://www.codeproject.com/system/Sund_WindowService.asp

And when you are ready to debug it:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824344

and if you use Vista, then:

http://blogs.msdn.com/cjacks/archive/2006/12/12/debugging-a-service-on-windows-vista.aspx

GrimReaper

Thanks for the info guys, while I often use google and the internet for this kind of stuff do you also know of any books too?

I have a preference for O'Reilly stuff but they don't seem to have anything focused on SQL and C# or C# windows services. (the books i've read are Learning C# and Programming C#)

That said, I haven't read them in a few months so maybe I should dig them out and have a re-read.

There's something to be said having the ability to sit back on a couch and read a book. Not that i'm knocking experimentation or googling it.

EDIT: BTW, Vista isn't a consideration. The service will be running on windows 2000 server.

Fristle

I have a book called Windows System Programming which has a good chapter on programming services, but it's for C or C++ developers.

Google returns a ton of results as you probably noticed. Probably more info than any book contains on this specific subject.

GrimReaper

Fristle wrote: »

I have a book called Windows System Programming which has a good chapter on programming services, but it's for C or C++ developers.

Google returns a ton of results as you probably noticed. Probably more info than any book contains on this specific subject.

Yeah, there are loads online. My problem is when reading book type stuff online eye strain kicks in after a short while. (which is why I prefer a good book)