How can i start a windows forms application before log on to windows? Is is possible to start a windows forms application before log on to windows? If it's not, do i have a chance to start a windows service before log on and invoke a windows forms application from the service that is already started before log on?
According to the comments to the question you want to run a standard desktop app, built with WinForms, not a service, that starts before the user has logged on.
This is not possible. What you need is a service.
Very basic, but should give you the gist. You also need to create a ServiceProcessInstaller for it (along with making a call to installutil).
public class WinFormHostService : System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase
{
[STAThread]
public static void Main()
{
System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase.Run(new WinFormHostService());
}
protected Process winFormsProcess;
public WinFormHostService()
{
this.ServiceName = "WinForm Host Service";
this.AutoLog = true;
}
protected override void OnStart(String[] args)
{
this.winFormsProcess = new Process();
try
{
this.winFormsProcess.UseShellExecute = false;
this.winFormsProcess.FileName = #"C:\Program Files\MyApp\MyApp.exe";
this.winFormsProcess.CreateNoWindow = true;
this.winFormsProcess.Start();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
// unable to start process
}
}
}
This is basically like hosting a WCF service from a windows service, so if you need more details look up "WCF windows service host" (or alike) and see how that's done. Same premise, you're just using a Process instead.
Related
I am able to start my Windows MAUI app using an URI, and I can get the URI itself. But, it appears that a NEW instance of the app is being created. This is not ideal for me -- if my app is already running, I want to use that instance.
I have done something like this for a Xamarin.Forms app. I override OnActivated in Application class.
Re: my MAUI app, I'm not even clear on whether the issue is how I've done the "protocol" in package.appxmanifest, or if it is how I respond to lifecycle events.
The default behaviour is to run multiple instances of your app. You can make the app single-instanced by defining a customized class with a Main method as suggested in this blog post:
[STAThread]
static async Task Main(string[] args)
{
WinRT.ComWrappersSupport.InitializeComWrappers();
bool isRedirect = await DecideRedirection();
if (!isRedirect)
{
Microsoft.UI.Xaml.Application.Start((p) =>
{
var context = new DispatcherQueueSynchronizationContext(
DispatcherQueue.GetForCurrentThread());
SynchronizationContext.SetSynchronizationContext(context);
new App();
});
}
return 0;
}
private static async Task DecideRedirection()
{
bool isRedirect = false;
AppActivationArguments args = AppInstance.GetCurrent().GetActivatedEventArgs();
ExtendedActivationKind kind = args.Kind;
AppInstance keyInstance = AppInstance.FindOrRegisterForKey("randomKey");
if (keyInstance.IsCurrent)
{
keyInstance.Activated += OnActivated;
}
else
{
isRedirect = true;
await keyInstance.RedirectActivationToAsync(args);
}
return isRedirect;
}
There is an open suggestion to simplify this process available on GitHub.
I created an Edge browser extension which uses Native Messaging to a native app running via a Desktop Bridge technology. I used the SecureInput as a sample, which contains the Edge extension, UWP host and a Win32 Desktop Bridge app.
I need the Win32 Desktop Bridge app to connect to a web service using HTTP and WebSocket, so I added an internetClientServer and a privateNetworkClientServer capabilities to the package manifest, beside the already existed runFullTrust one.
The Win32 Desktop Bridge app activates just fine, and it is able to connect to the web server using HTTP. But as soon as it tries to open a WebSocket connection, the BackgroundTaskInstance on the UWP host receives a cancellation request with a BackgroundTaskCancellationReason.SystemPolicy as a reason, and the Desktop Bridge application closes. Unfortunately, the documentation for the BackgroundTaskCancellationReason.SystemPolicy does not explain much about true reasons of the cancellation request.
I tried to use two WebSocket classes: the System.Net.WebSockets.ClientWebSocket and the Windows.Networking.Sockets.MessageWebSocket, with the same result. No fancy code, just regular
var socket = new MessageWebSocket();
...
await socket.ConnectAsync(new Uri("wss://127.0.0.1:9001/myservice"));
The same WebSocket service endpoint is available from other WS clients, so I guess there is no server/firewall/antivirus issue here.
I also played with the CheckNetIsolation tool, adding loopback exemption for the Edge browser and for the package, with no effect. The HTTP works fine without the loopback exemption.
What may be a true reason of the task cancellation, and what can be a possible way to prevent it?
Ok, I resolved the issue. Thanks to this comment by Tom Shane I stumbled upon, I realized that the BackgroundTaskCancellationReason.SystemPolicy tells that the background task is closed by the system to release some system resources, and that in my case it happened because I didn't obtain a deferral in my async event handler. When the event handler yielded without a deferral, the system decided it can shut the task down. Below is a digested version of the code:
static class Program
{
static AppServiceConnection connection = null;
[STAThread]
static void Main(string[] args)
{
Thread appServiceThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(ThreadProc));
appServiceThread.Start();
Application.Run();
}
static async void ThreadProc()
{
try {
connection = new AppServiceConnection();
connection.AppServiceName = "...";
connection.PackageFamilyName = Windows.ApplicationModel.Package.Current.Id.FamilyName;
connection.RequestReceived += OnRequestReceived;
connection.ServiceClosed += OnServiceClosed;
var status = await connection.OpenAsync();
....
}
catch (Exception e) { ... }
}
private static async void OnRequestReceived(AppServiceConnection sender, AppServiceRequestReceivedEventArgs args)
{
var defer = args.GetDeferral(); // <== that was missing, rookie mistake!
try {
var msg = ParseMessage(args.Request.Message);
if (msg.type.Equals("ws")) {
// this method was truly async
// and every time it yielded the issue was revealed
await HandleWsMessage(request, msg);
}
else if (msg.type.Equals("http")) {
// but this method was actually synchronous despite being marked as "async"
// and it never yielded, masking the issue for HTTP client
await HandleHttpMessage(request, msg);
}
}
catch (Exception e) { ... }
finally {
defer.Complete();
}
}
}
I am trying to develop a web-socket server app for my UWP Windows 10 App.
This is my code:
class Server
{
public async void Start()
{
MessageWebSocket webSock = new MessageWebSocket();
//In this case we will be sending/receiving a string so we need to set the MessageType to Utf8.
webSock.Control.MessageType = SocketMessageType.Utf8;
//Add the MessageReceived event handler.
webSock.MessageReceived += WebSock_MessageReceived;
//Add the Closed event handler.
webSock.Closed += WebSock_Closed;
Uri serverUri = new Uri("ws://127.0.0.1/motion");
try
{
//Connect to the server.
await webSock.ConnectAsync(serverUri);
//Send a message to the server.
await WebSock_SendMessage(webSock, "Hello, world!");
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
//Add code here to handle any exceptions
}
}
//The MessageReceived event handler.
private void WebSock_MessageReceived(MessageWebSocket sender, MessageWebSocketMessageReceivedEventArgs args)
{
DataReader messageReader = args.GetDataReader();
messageReader.UnicodeEncoding = Windows.Storage.Streams.UnicodeEncoding.Utf8;
string messageString = messageReader.ReadString(messageReader.UnconsumedBufferLength);
//Add code here to do something with the string that is received.
}
//The Closed event handler
private void WebSock_Closed(IWebSocket sender, WebSocketClosedEventArgs args)
{
//Add code here to do something when the connection is closed locally or by the server
}
//Send a message to the server.
private async Task WebSock_SendMessage(MessageWebSocket webSock, string message)
{
DataWriter messageWriter = new DataWriter(webSock.OutputStream);
messageWriter.WriteString(message);
await messageWriter.StoreAsync();
}
}
It errors here:
await webSock.ConnectAsync(serverUri);
with this error:
Not found (404). (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80190194)
I don't have any personal experience with it, but you might want to give IotWeb HTTP Server a try. It seems to be a portable embedded HTTP and web socket server that also supports UWP and can be run inside Windows Store and Windows 10 IoT Core applications.
Judging from its repository, it's rather new and not exactly mature, nor does it have a lot of documentations or samples available. There's a NuGet package available, though.
Unfortunately I didn't manage to find any other alternative yet.
The code
await webSock.ConnectAsync(serverUri);
Is try to connect to existing server at ws://127.0.0.1/motion, Not to deploy a server on this address.
You can look for ways to build a c# WebSocket server at the follwing links:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/WebSockets_API/Writing_WebSocket_server
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/57060/Web-Socket-Server
I tried to create a windows service which will allow to interact with Skype Client.
I'm using SKYPE4COM.DLL lib.
When I create a simple console or win32 aplication all works ok (I have the Skype request for this application and it works well). But when I try to run this application as a service,
I have an error
Service cannot be started. System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException (0x80040201): Wait timeout.
at SKYPE4COMLib.SkypeClass.Attach(Int32 Protocol, Boolean Wait)
at Commander.Commander.OnStart(String[] args)
at System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase.ServiceQueuedMainCallback(Object state)
And I have no notification about process connecting to Skype.
Can you give me an advice how to attach service to Skype client or maybe I need to change my Skype settings?
I think it is not possible due to Windows User Id security restrictions. You have to run your application under the same user as Skype otherwise it won't be able to attach.
I had the same issue.
Resolved it by converting it to Windows Application and using it as System Tray App:
[STAThread]
static void Main()
{
Log.Info("starting app");
//facade that contains all code for my app
var facade = new MyAppFacade();
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
using (ProcessIcon icon = new ProcessIcon(facade))
{
icon.Display();
Application.Run();
}
}
public class ProcessIcon : IDisposable
{
private readonly MyAppFacade facade;
private NotifyIcon ni;
public ProcessIcon(MyAppFacade facade)
{
this.facade = facade;
this.ni = new NotifyIcon();
}
public void Display()
{
ni.Icon = Resources.Resources.TrayIcon;
ni.Text = "Skype soccer";
ni.Visible = true;
// Attach a context menu.
ni.ContextMenuStrip = new ContextMenuStrip();
var start = new ToolStripMenuItem("Start");
start.Click += (sender, args) => facade.Start();
ni.ContextMenuStrip.Items.Add(start);
var stop = new ToolStripMenuItem("Stop");
stop.Click += (sender, args) => facade.Stop();
ni.ContextMenuStrip.Items.Add(stop);
var exit = new ToolStripMenuItem("Exit");
exit.Click += (sender, args) => Application.Exit();
ni.ContextMenuStrip.Items.Add(exit);
}
public void Dispose()
{
ni.Dispose();
}
}
I have a windows service that can create an executable in the users windows session, via calling the "CreateProcessAsUser" function. This works fine as long as there is a windows session already there. In the case that there isn't one already I'd like to be able to create one programmatically. Is this is possible? Can't seem to find a function to do it.
This isn't quite the solution for the question I asked, but it was the solution that helped achieve what I was trying to achieve by asking this question, if you see what I mean.
Rather than have having a windows services that creates a server session you can configure windows to automatically logon at boot time. This still means someone could accenditally log off, but cures the main reason for sessions disappearing: the server being rebooted. Use the following steps to activate auto-logon:
Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard to launch the “Run” dialog box.
Type regedit and hit enter to open the Registry Editor
Then browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\
Set AutoAdminLogon = 1 (create it if doesn't exist its a string variable)
Set DefaultUserName = your username (create it if doesn't exist its a string variable)
Set DefaultPassword = your password (create it if doesn't exist its a string variable)
Instructions were taken from this post:
http://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/coolstuff/Tip-Auto-Login-Your-Windows-7-User-Account
You cannot create a new session from a service. Sessions are managed by the OS. New ones get created when users logon interactively.
#Robert, I know this is an old question and that you've already found something that works for you but in my case I was looking for something similar to your original question and I did finally figure it out so I thought I'd share. My solution uses only .NET and a COM reference not the Win32 API mentioned in your title, but I'm guessing that wasn't really a requirement for you.
I've written a simple utility to using the Remote Desktop ActiveX control (COM Reference). If you paste this code into a Class Library you can then call it by simply passing in the server, username, domain, and password and everything is done for you without any other interaction required. Once the method is complete you can then call your "CreateProcessAsUser" Code. I've written this utility in a way so that you could call it every time but initiating an RDP session takes several seconds so for performance sake I'd suggest you write another method to enumerate the sessions and see if your user is logged in and only call this utility when you determine that your user isn't logged in (That's what I did in my actual project). If you feel you need help with that post in the comments and I'll share how I did that but It's not really part of this question so for now I'm leaving it out.
Here's a link back to my question that has a few more requirements/details than this question.
Create Windows Session programmatically from Console or Windows Service
And here's my RDP utility. After you put this code in a class library you can then call it from a console app, winForms app, or from a windows service running on the same machine or from a remote machine.
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using AxMSTSCLib;
namespace Utility.RemoteDesktop
{
public class Client
{
private int LogonErrorCode { get; set; }
public void CreateRdpConnection(string server, string user, string domain, string password)
{
void ProcessTaskThread()
{
var form = new Form();
form.Load += (sender, args) =>
{
var rdpConnection = new AxMSTSCLib.AxMsRdpClient9NotSafeForScripting();
form.Controls.Add(rdpConnection);
rdpConnection.Server = server;
rdpConnection.Domain = domain;
rdpConnection.UserName = user;
rdpConnection.AdvancedSettings9.ClearTextPassword = password;
rdpConnection.AdvancedSettings9.EnableCredSspSupport = true;
if (true)
{
rdpConnection.OnDisconnected += RdpConnectionOnOnDisconnected;
rdpConnection.OnLoginComplete += RdpConnectionOnOnLoginComplete;
rdpConnection.OnLogonError += RdpConnectionOnOnLogonError;
}
rdpConnection.Connect();
rdpConnection.Enabled = false;
rdpConnection.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;
Application.Run(form);
};
form.Show();
}
var rdpClientThread = new Thread(ProcessTaskThread) { IsBackground = true };
rdpClientThread.SetApartmentState(ApartmentState.STA);
rdpClientThread.Start();
while (rdpClientThread.IsAlive)
{
Task.Delay(500).GetAwaiter().GetResult();
}
}
private void RdpConnectionOnOnLogonError(object sender, IMsTscAxEvents_OnLogonErrorEvent e)
{
LogonErrorCode = e.lError;
}
private void RdpConnectionOnOnLoginComplete(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
if (LogonErrorCode == -2)
{
Debug.WriteLine($" ## New Session Detected ##");
Task.Delay(10000).GetAwaiter().GetResult();
}
var rdpSession = (AxMsRdpClient9NotSafeForScripting)sender;
rdpSession.Disconnect();
}
private void RdpConnectionOnOnDisconnected(object sender, IMsTscAxEvents_OnDisconnectedEvent e)
{
Environment.Exit(0);
}
}
}
What about the LogonUser function?
http://winapi.freetechsecrets.com/win32/WIN32LogonUser.htm