WatsonTcp as a Windows Service

[Tithras]

Good morning, I have currently got a console server which accepts multiple connections and outputs to the console when connections / disconnects happen etc. Fairly basic and works with no issues, the only thing I did extra was allow 1 client to send to all clients as that was 1 of my requirements.

My question is that I have attempted to migrated it to a windows service rather than console, with the debugging and logging output going to a log file however have run into issues. The service starts, log file states accepting clients and i can then connect a client however if I disconnect that client and reconnect it i find the service has stopped. I must assume that I am getting some sort of exception as part of that connection / disconnection process but I am at a loss to find what is causing it. Has anyone been able to get this to run as a windows service successfully and if so would you be able to show how you got it working? Thanks.

[Tithras]

I should also state that disconnection and reconnection works fine on the console only app!

[Tithras]

Another addition, i have removed any of the StreamReceived code outside of the function exists with nothing in it. Service still stops, defiantly appears to be related to the connect / disconnect code although no idea where.

[jchristn]

Hi @Tithras I will take a look at this ASAP! Thanks for letting me know.

[Tithras]

Thanks, it would be good to know that it isnt something I have done wrong :)

[Tithras]

This is my service OnStart() method:

protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
{
// Setup watson client defaults
tcpServer = new WatsonTcpServer(null, serverPort);
tcpServer.Events.ClientConnected += MyClientConnected;
tcpServer.Events.ClientDisconnected += MyClientDisconnected;
tcpServer.Events.StreamReceived += MyStreamReceived;
tcpServer.Settings.DebugMessages = MyDebugMessages;
tcpServer.Settings.Logger = MyLogger;
tcpServer.Events.ExceptionEncountered += MyExceptionEncountered;

 // Start OEMS server
 tcpServer.Start();

 // Log that server started
 MyLogger(Severity.Info, "Server started.");

}

The ClientConnected and ClientDisconnecd have nothing but a Logger call.
The StreamReceived has a ton of stuff in BUT if I remove it all then I still get the same issue.

[Tithras]

I have to laugh, it was an issue at my end in the end. I was writing to a log file but running into io exception errors which even though it was in a try/catch (the log file writing) didnt throw the exception it just died. Please ignore this entire post, sorry for the trouble!

[jchristn]

Hi @Tithras well, I'm glad to hear you got it working! I had literally just built a project to test this (it was successful). I'll post a link to it momentarily :)

[jchristn]

https://github.com/jchristn/WatsonWindowsService

[Tithras]

Wow thanks :)

Managed to resolve my issue with a threadsafe logging method so it works fine now but I will have a look through your example to confirm I haven't missed anything else :)

[jchristn]

Here's how I did it:

private string _Logfile = "./watson.log";
private readonly object _Lock = new object();

and then

private void Log(string msg)
{
  if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(msg)) return;
  if (!msg.EndsWith(Environment.NewLine)) msg += Environment.NewLine;
  lock (_Lock)
  {
    File.AppendAllText(_Logfile, msg);
  }
}

and usage such as:

private void ClientDisconnected(object sender, DisconnectionEventArgs e)
{
  Log("Client " + e.IpPort + " disconnected");
}

[Tithras]

Yup, pretty much the same :)

Again, thanks for taking the time to look even though it turned out to be my naff coding !!!

The joys of being a hobby coder trying to write production code ;)