how to have a function run inside a service every 10 minutes?

Question

I have a windows service running, inside this i want to run a function every then minutes. I have found some code but it doesn't seem to work? I have a logger and it does not seem to go into the timer_Elapsed function ever?

 protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
    {
       // SmartImportService.WebService.WebServiceSoapClient test = new WebService.WebServiceSoapClient();
       // test.Import();
         log.Info("Info - Service Started");
        _timer = new Timer(10 * 60 * 1000); // every 10 minutes??
        _timer.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(timer_Elapsed);
    }

    private void timer_Elapsed(object sender, System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs e)
    {
        log.Info("Info - Check time");
        DateTime startAt = DateTime.Today.AddHours(9).AddMinutes(48);
        if (_lastRun < startAt && DateTime.Now >= startAt)
        {
            // stop the timer 
            _timer.Stop();               

            try
            {
                log.Info("Info - Import");
                SmartImportService.WebService.WebServiceSoapClient test = new WebService.WebServiceSoapClient();
                test.Import();
            }
            catch (Exception ex) {
                log.Error("This is my error - ", ex);
            }

            _lastRun = DateTime.Now;
            _timer.Start();
        }
    }

see http://stackoverflow.com/questions/246697/windows-service-and-timer — Andras Zoltan, Apr 18 '12 at 08:56

Daniel Hilgarth · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-17T14:19:02.020

20

You need to start the timer:

protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
{
     log.Info("Info - Service Started");
    _timer = new Timer(10 * 60 * 1000); // every 10 minutes
    _timer.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(timer_Elapsed);
    _timer.Start(); // <- important
}

edited Mar 17 '13 at 14:19

answered Apr 18 '12 at 08:55

Daniel Hilgarth

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6

For the 10 minutes, I prefer to use `TimeSpan.FromMinutes(10).TotalMilliseconds;` instead of `10 * 60 * 1000` – Jaider Aug 15 '16 at 16:23

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 18 '12 at 08:55

4

I don't see _timer.Start(), that should be your problem.

answered Apr 18 '12 at 08:55

Tigran

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score 3 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

3

Daniel Hilgarth is correct - the main issue is that you never call Start on the timer.

That being said, you might want to also consider using the Windows Task Scheduler instead of a service with a timer. This allows you to schedule the task to run every 10 minutes, but also change the schedule whenever desired without a compilation change.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:32

Community

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answered Apr 18 '12 at 09:05

Reed Copsey

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score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Jan 23 '13 at 10:08

I need this functionality also. That is, my C# windows service must check email every 10 minutes. I stripped down some logic to make the code more effective, as follows :

private void timer_Elapsed(object sender, System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs e)
        {
            _timer.Stop();
            try
            {
                EventLog.WriteEntry(Program.EventLogName, "Checking emails " + _count++);
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                EventLog.WriteEntry(Program.EventLogName, "This is my error " + ex.Message);
            }
            _timer.Start();
        }

The timer_elapsed method indeed will be call every 10 minutes, starting from the first _timer.start(), which you miss it by the way. I haven't done any checking of the _lastRun and startAt. I don't think we need it

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 18 '12 at 08:56

Try starting the timer,

protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
    {
       // SmartImportService.WebService.WebServiceSoapClient test = new WebService.WebServiceSoapClient();
       // test.Import();
         log.Info("Info - Service Started");
        _timer = new Timer(10 * 60 * 1000); // every 10 minutes??
            _timer.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(timer_Elapsed);
_timer.Start();
    }

    private void timer_Elapsed(object sender, System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs e)
    {
        log.Info("Info - Check time");
        DateTime startAt = DateTime.Today.AddHours(9).AddMinutes(48);
        if (_lastRun < startAt && DateTime.Now >= startAt)
        {
            // stop the timer 
            _timer.Stop();               

            try
            {
                log.Info("Info - Import");
                SmartImportService.WebService.WebServiceSoapClient test = new WebService.WebServiceSoapClient();
                test.Import();
            }
            catch (Exception ex) {
                log.Error("This is my error - ", ex);
            }

            _lastRun = DateTime.Now;
            _timer.Start();
        }
    }

how to have a function run inside a service every 10 minutes?

5 Answers5

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