I'm trying to launch a application with a UI at login on windows, using the task scheduler. I've came across some inconsistencies with this, sometimes the UI will launch properly, other time it wouldn't. By adding a delay to the task, I can safely make it executed ON MY COMPUTER.
How can I ensure this correct behavior on any given computer?
Is it something to do with Windows UI not being "ready" or something like this ?
Any resource would be appreciated !
Related
I want to run a background task for every 10 mins.As the UWP app will not always be opened.Is there a way to run a background task even when the app is closed(Not Running State)?
If the answer is NO,
Is there any another way other than Windows Services?
You can create BackgroundTask which run at the most every 15 minutes not less than that in UWP apps. for more details you can check this source.
Is there a way to run a background task even when the app is
closed(Not Running State)?
According to this document:
You can use background tasks to provide functionality when your app is
suspended or not running.
The 'not running' state in UWP is described in more detail here. It reads:
An app could be in this state because it hasn't been launched since
the last time the user rebooted or logged in. It can also be in this
state if it was running but then crashed, or because the user closed
it earlier.
This implies that the app simply needs to run once after installation to be able to successfully register a background task, which can then run even after your app is closed.
I want to run a background task for every 10 mins
Not sure I'm interpreting this correctly but I assume you mean you want to run some bit of code every 10 mins while your app is not running. Well there are two way that I can think of to achieve this.
Method 1:
While background tasks are meant to be very short-lived tasks, they may even be made to run indefinitely if:
extendedBackgroundTaskTime capability is added as a restricted
capability in your app's manifest file
Using this technique along with a simple timer mechanism would achieve the desired result.
Method 2 (more complicated but keeps background tasks short-lived):
Setup a DatagramSocket to a remote server which sends some data every 10 mins and register your background task with a SocketActivityTrigger.
I have a very specific problem that I need fixing. The major issue is that I don't exactly know how to properly search the remnants of my problem on google. Therefore I am coming to StackOverflow for advice in hopes that someone will assist me.
Summary
So I am writing an application which is to be PCI-compliant for the company which I am starting. The application involves IPC (Inter-process communication) and two "watch-dog" apps which monitor the status of the main application. One of these "watch-dog" applications is an updater (sends an HTTP Request to the server looking for updates of the application).
So! This method which I am using to check the server if the application is up-to-date is using the WinInet library and InternetOpen() to send the request. Then read the response of the page and use GetCookie() to store the response in a buffer. It shall then parse the response accordingly.
If the response says that the current version of my application is less than the version located on the server. It will then tell the customer (user) that their application is out of date, and ask them whether or not they want to update the software. If they choose to update the software, it will perform a Download And Execute from the internet and launch the update-installer on the user's PC.
The Problem
Unfortunately, windows is very "secure" when it comes to having an "unauthorized" application send an HTTP Request to an outgoing url, let alone download something from the server then execute it on the users PC.
My conclusion to this issue was to add the watch-dog programs to the Task Scheduler. That way after the main application is run, it will spawn the watch-dog programs and check if they are running with NTAUTHORITY privileges (which are granted by the Task Scheduler).
After implementing the code to create the task and point it to the location of the watch-dog programs, naming it, writing a description and everything. I executed the program. It ran without errors though here the REAL PROBLEM:
1) Programs executes
2) Spawns watch-dog programs
3) Watchdog program checks for new version
4) Version is found
5) Installer is downloaded, execute ... but
6) The installer does not appear on the screen!
When I run my 'Process Hacker' application to monitor all process actions. I can see that the new installer is download & executed. It is running as NTAUTHORITY/SYSTEM just like the watch-dog programs but it doesn't appear on the system.
I made sure that in my code the status of the window is set to SW_SHOWNORMAL not SW_HIDE. I also made sure that all flags are set accordingly. Though it doesn't appear on the screen!
When I run the application without adding it to the Task Scheduler as my user without NTAUTHORITY/SYSTEM status and just regular user status. It executes (obviously since I am already running as administrator) -- everything works fine. But after adding it to Task Scheduler and having it run with SYSTEM level privileges. The window doesn't appear on the screen visually. Why's that?
I would greatly appreciate anyone that is able to assist me with this problem. Thank-you!
edit 1
Can anyone help me understand how this user applied his fix in the registry? By reading the problem I can somewhat interpret that he had the same issue as me.
App is invisible if started from Task Scheduler without any user logged in
In any case, I am trying to use the advice that Gisley gave me to run the application in Interactive Mode. Possibly going to try to give that a try. Still looking for more answers but I am going to be working no this none-the-less in the meantime.
edit 2
I tried setting the INTERACTIVE FLAG and it had no effect unfortunately.
Allow me to just emphasize my problem:
For example I write a program which has message boxes and put it in a loop.
for
message box
get current pid
make process in the task scheduler
spawn new process as the task scheduler proc with NTAUTHORITY/SYSTEM
kill last proc pid
end for
Then when I execute it:
I get the message box. Then after new process opens with NTAUTHORITY/SYSTEM the message box does not appear anymore.
Same for if I open a calculator for example.
System("cmd.exe start /c calc.exe")
Program runs... opens calculator
Program gets NTAUTHORITY/SYSTEM status
ON the next loop it executes the calc.exe
I see it in my task manager but it doesnt appear on the screen
I hope the above helped emphasize the core of my issue. I dont see the processes opened by the task scheduler process id with NTAUTHORITY/SYSTEM rights... I dont see the procs executed by it on my screen, though I see them in the task manager | process hacker and they are running with NTAUTHORITY/SYSTEM privileges too.
A shot in the dark - try running the task in interactive mode, but you'll need to have a user logged on.
https://superuser.com/questions/616206/run-interactive-task-even-if-user-is-not-logged-on-windows
Alternatively, or additionally, pass parameters to the installer so that it installs silently.
Silent installation of a MSI package
Is it possible to automatically run a console application on a particular time in a day.
With out set up any sheduler !
Not without any scheduler; something needs to invoke it.
Alternatively, you can write a separate app that runs on startup and starts your app for you at the desired time. This would mean that this background app would always be open.
Using the scheduler would be much easier.
If with "set up any scheduler" you refer to not installing something to do the schedule, there is no need to do that. Windows include it own scheduler.
is it possible to fire up an event at a specified time interval in BlackBerry? I'm looking for something similar to AlarmManager class in Android (if anyone is familiar with it).
The goal is to is to run some code, even when the application is not in foreground and without it gaining foreground "focus". Preferably it should be possible to fire the event even if the app was killed by system or by phone reboot (I do not know the details about killing apps at this OS, I'm beginning development now).
I would prefer not to write a background process for this task as it is going to be fired every few hours (I think it would be a waste of battery to use a background task for a simple alarm-like event).
I've looked around a lot, but I cannot find any satisfying solution.
cheers,
kajman
The Timer and TimerTask classes are useful for running a task on a schedule. Take a look at the APIs here:
http://www.blackberry.com/developers/docs/7.0.0api/java/util/Timer.html
The Timer will create its own Thread and sleep until it has a task to run. It would involve having a background task running but it wouldn't be using an CPU or battery if it is just waiting.
If you don't want a Thread running all of the time you can use the ApplicationManager class to schedule your application to start later.
You can also configure your app to run on start up. The OS generally won't kill your apps unless you have a coding error. RIM refers to this as the Always-On Experience in their Super App document:
http://docs.blackberry.com/en/developers/deliverables/23567/Always_on_1380986_11.jsp#Keeping_the_app_running_1381022_11
So my situation is that I am running an app on the Windows Task Scheduler. This app is run once a day at 1pm. the app does some queries and transfers data to an FTP site. All that is working great except on the weekends when i am not here the app is run and the GUI is still displayed for me to review. This seems to make it stop running on the scheduler until I shut down the app. So on Saturday it will run and the app will remain displayed for me to review when I get back on Monday. but on Sunday when the scheduler attempts to run it again it will fail because the app has not been closed down.
First let me confirm that this is how the Task Scheduler is supposed to work. Second, what are my alternatives for scheduling to run every day and keep the GUI displayed so that I can review. The app can run multiple times as each session does not interfere with the other sessions. So if I'm gone for a week on vacation I would expect that when i get back that 7 instances of the app have been run and are waiting for my review.
Thanks
AGP
Your best bet is to eliminate the UI and log messages to the Event Log or a log file. The UI could be spawned from the CLI as a separate process if you prefer, but it should be done so in as its own non-child process.
Alternatively, you could run a batch file instead of the process directly. In the batch file, invoke "START path_to_exe" instead of the EXE. That will cause the batch file to "finish" instantly, and the exe to be run in its own process. This is not a good long term solution, but will give you a temporary solution to your immediate problem.
This is the default behavior of the Scheduled Task system, as it doesn't know that the job is complete until the application actually exits. Therefore, if your application is still open after 24 hours, the next run will simply be skipped because the current run is "still going" as far as the scheduler is concerned.
Personally I would re-visit the way that you handle your job process, as your are setting up a scenario that will be hard to manage long term.
I recommend writing to a log file instead of displaying a UI for any output and/or errors. This way, the application can write, then exit, and you can review the log at your convenience. This is a very common solution for automated processes.