I am writing a GUI to configure my service written in C#.NET 3.5, it edits an embedded SQLite database from which the service pulls its settings. The GUI is being developed in a seperate project and I am at the point where I would like to integrate them. It is my first time implementing someting like this and I am unsure how I go about it.
Do I simply place the GUI .exe file in the same directory (bin?) as the service and give it the location of the database?
Yes, usually. You will however have to ask for elevation or you won't be able to write to the dbase. UAC prevents write access to the directories in c:\program files. Which is okayish, the user is after all tinkering with the configuration of a privileged service. And you probably need to stop and start the service to make the configuration change effective, something you can only do from a privileged program. Embed a manifest in gui.exe as explained in this post.
Pre-empting the next question: there is no standard Windows way to have to dbase in a location that's accessible to both the service and your gui without elevation. You'd have to write an installer that creates a directory that gives the gui app sufficient rights and allows the service to find the directory without relying on the user name.
