Why is the timer not working in windows service?

Question

I know this is an already asked question, but I couldn't find any solution. Here is my service.

class Program : ServiceBase
{
    private  Timer _timer;
    public Program()
    {
        ServiceName = "PrintTime";
    }

    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Run(new Program());
    }

    protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
    {
        base.OnStart(args);
        _timer = new Timer(5000);
        _timer.Elapsed += _timer_Elapsed;
        _timer.Start();
    }

    void _timer_Elapsed(object sender, ElapsedEventArgs e)
    {
        WriteTimeToFile();
    }

    protected override void OnStop()
    {
        _timer.Stop();
    }

    private void WriteTimeToFile()
    {
        using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(@"d:\mylog.txt", FileMode.Append,            FileAccess.ReadWrite))
        {
            StreamWriter streamWriter = new StreamWriter(fs);
            streamWriter.Write(DateTime.Now.ToShortTimeString());
            streamWriter.Close();
            fs.Close();
        }
    }

}

As you can see I want to write currentTime into my Mylog.txt file every 5 seconds, but nothing happens after even 2 minutes. If I put the WriteTimeToFile() function into OnStart method it works fine, but not in a timer.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Debug your service by attaching the process from visual studio. — Adil, Oct 20 '12 at 07:10

score 6 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:46

6

What is the timer's namespace? It needs to be System.Timers.Timer or System.Threading.Timer.

See here: Best Timer for using in a Windows service

edited May 23 '17 at 11:46

Community

1
1

answered Oct 20 '12 at 07:17

urlreader

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`Elapsed` indicates Timers.Timer – H H Oct 20 '12 at 07:26
It is System.Timer.Timer . But I have tried System.Threading.Timer too . same result . – Mojtaba pirveisi Oct 20 '12 at 07:29
I had a windows forms timer as I inserted it using the toolbox. The one time I use toolbox... Thanks for the tip! – Fabio Milheiro Mar 21 '17 at 22:32

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 14 '15 at 10:10

Ok, after several hours, I noticed that the timer works fine. There was nothing wrong with timer. But the problem is about FileStream constructor. FileMode.Append only works by FileAccess.Write.

So fixing this line of code solved the problem .

Anyway, thanks for your attention.

using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(@"d:\mylog.txt", 
                       FileMode.Append, FileAccess.Write))

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 20 '12 at 07:34

0

The Service must be running under a Windows account with permissions to write to the D:\ directory.

Check the exceptions in Event Viewer to see if there is an unauthorized access exception.

Also put a break point in the _timer_Elapsed method to verify that it gets called and step through the code.

answered Oct 20 '12 at 07:34

Zaid Masud

13,225
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1

If writing to d:\directory is denied , so why putting the WriteTimeToFile() into onStart method works ? – Mojtaba pirveisi Oct 20 '12 at 07:45

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

0

Windows service with timer

Read my answer in this post...

Maybe you miss timer.AutoReset = true;

edited May 23 '17 at 12:17

Community

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answered Oct 20 '12 at 10:27

T-moty

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Why is the timer not working in windows service?

4 Answers4