Windows Service calling a web page

Question

I think I'm not understanding something about how asp or windows services works.

I'm trying to create scheduled reporting on my asp.net project. I have a windows service running on my local machine right now, later it will run on a dedicated server. It is supposed to request an ASP page every couple minutes, and on being requested the web page currently emails me on page_load. Here is the code I use in the windows service to call the web page.

HttpWebRequest request= (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(address);
request.Method = "GET";
response = request.GetResponse();
reader = new StreamReader(response.GetResponseStream(), Encoding.UTF8);
result = reader.ReadToEnd();

I know it gets this far, because I've been having the service email me too, at every step. However, the web page does nothing when the service requests the page. If I paste the address of the asp page into my browser then I get an email from the page. The ASP.NET website is running in VS debug mode on my computer. Does the service have to open up a browser first?

If a browser is required for the page to work, is there a way for me to run code in my asp project without opening a browser at regular intervals?

Try creating a new method on your page to send the email and decorate it with [WebMethod] and then call `...//` — Duncan Howe, Mar 25 '13 at 21:17
I think it is me who has misunderstood - using a [WebMethod] will allow you to target that method explicitly, but you can't display something in your Windows Service. It sounds like you need something like JavaScript's `setInterval()` to fire an AJAX call every 120000 ms — Duncan Howe, Mar 25 '13 at 22:31

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 25 '13 at 21:26

1

You (almost) cannot open browser from windows a service, as well as it's just wrong to do this. Can you move your email sending to service?

edited Mar 25 '13 at 21:26

Trinimon

13,839
9
44
60

answered Mar 25 '13 at 21:13

evgenyl

7,837
2
27
32

Well, the emails are just a placeholder for some visible action, I want to run a bunch of reports. – Jake Gaston Mar 25 '13 at 21:16
Can you post also your asp code? May be this caused by IsPostBack verification? Cause each httprequest is new .page load (not postback). – evgenyl Mar 25 '13 at 21:20
Are you saying it should work, then? I don't have a postback check on my page, though. – Jake Gaston Mar 25 '13 at 22:02
It prbobably can work. If you place breakpoint inside page _load - do you stop there? – evgenyl Mar 25 '13 at 22:05
I decided to just leave the scheduling on the web-app, and have the windows service do all the hard work. – Jake Gaston Apr 04 '13 at 14:50
Yes, its best practice design! Good luck! – evgenyl Apr 04 '13 at 15:28

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:21

1

you can simply call your webpage with the task scheduler

//Create a new scheduled task to open a browser eg: internet explorer then right
//click properties, in the run window type in with the quotes an example
"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" "http://www.mywebsite.com/something/myactionpage.chtml" 
//If you want to open the page with another browser, just change the first path

or like that

Best Timer for using in a Windows service

edited May 23 '17 at 12:21

Community

1
1

answered Mar 25 '13 at 21:20

Joan Caron

1,969
18
21

Works for me as a simple, direct solution. – Kristen Waite Oct 29 '13 at 19:06

Windows Service calling a web page

2 Answers2