Exposing C# types from a windows service

How can I expose a class or an interface from a windows service written in C# and call its methods and properties from a client?

I doubt if that can be done. I would ideally not put any types within the Windows Service. I would create a separate Layer that will hold these classes. A Class Library is a better option and this can be accessed from any type of Client (Win Forms, Web Forms, another Service, etc)

You need to put the code in a Class Library and include that as a reference in the client. Then you can take advantage of .NET remoting or WCF to call methods in the service through a client.

If you can get ahold of the assembly where the types are defined you could load them but this is not ideal and I do not recommend it. You can rename the Service.exe to Service.dll and add it as a reference in your project. After all -- executables are just class libraries with an entry point :)

Instead of service write them in a COM server based dll and use it in your client.

I second WCF (or WS / remoting). After all, it is a service you're writing, right? Exposing the assembly would negate the purpose of the Windows Service, wouldn't it?

I'd go with hosting the WCF service inside the Windows service.

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Originally Posted by vcdebugger

Instead of service write them in a COM server based dll and use it in your client.

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If you went this route, you'd most likely want to go with a COM server exe; otherwise each of the clients consuming the COM object would have a separate copy of the COM dll (rather than one server/many clients). Not sure about the COM route though - it was great in its day or in the non-managed world, but the managed world has other options (that don't have the security restrictions that COM or DCOM has).

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Originally Posted by Arjay

If you went this route, you'd most likely want to go with a COM server exe; otherwise each of the clients consuming the COM object would have a separate copy of the COM dll (rather than one server/many clients). Not sure about the COM route though - it was great in its day or in the non-managed world, but the managed world has other options (that don't have the security restrictions that COM or DCOM has).

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thanks for the information. But how can we access the methods/objects from a COM server exe similar to COM server dll from the client side ?

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Originally Posted by Arjay

I'd go with hosting the WCF service inside the Windows service.

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can you pls throw some more light on this WCF and (or WS / remoting). I am bit new to this.
thanks in advance.

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Originally Posted by sknake

If you can get ahold of the assembly where the types are defined you could load them but this is not ideal and I do not recommend it. :)

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can you pls explain how exactly to load an assembly on the client side. Any link providing this info would be helpful.thanks in advance.

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Originally Posted by vcdebugger

can you pls throw some more light on this WCF and (or WS / remoting). I am bit new to this.
thanks in advance.

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WCF Tutorial

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Originally Posted by vcdebugger

can you pls explain how exactly to load an assembly on the client side. Any link providing this info would be helpful.thanks in advance.

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If you're using VS2008 or VS2005 just right click where it says references, click add reference, then find the DLL you're looking for and add it to the project.

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Originally Posted by vcdebugger

thanks for the information. But how can we access the methods/objects from a COM server exe similar to COM server dll from the client side ?

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This is getting off topic, but... In C++, one way to consume a COM server exe on the client is to import the tlb file. Depending on the type of interface, you may also have to generate a proxy. An excellent book on the subject is Beginning ATL 3 COM Programming.

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Originally Posted by vcdebugger

can you pls explain how exactly to load an assembly on the client side. Any link providing this info would be helpful.thanks in advance.

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Monolin already has answered this, but I'd also recommend getting a basic C# book and working through the exercises. There are a few 'step by step' or 'learn C# in xx days' books that would be a fine starting point.

thanks Arjay and monalin for all the info. It is helping me to learn C# very quickly..