Windows Service Template (C+)

The Windows Service template adds the necessary items needed to create a Windows Service application, a long-running executable application that runs in its own Windows session. For more information, see Introduction to Windows Service Applications.

The template automatically adds the essential project references and files to use as a starting point for your application:

  • References to these .NET Framework namespaces:

    • System.XML - Contains classes that provide standards-based support for processing XML.

    • System.Configuration.Install - Contains classes that allow you to write custom installers for your own components.

    • System.ServiceProcess - Contains classes that allow you to install and run services, which are long-running executables with no user interface.

    • System.Data - Contains classes that constitute the ADO.NET architecture, which is the primary data access method for managed applications.

    • System - Contains fundamental classes and base classes that define commonly used values and reference data types, events and event handlers, interfaces, attributes, and processing exceptions.

    • mscorlib - The assembly DLL that provides .NET Framework support.

  • Source files:

    • Service (.cpp file) - The main source file and entry point into the application that Visual Studio created for you. Identifies the project .dll file and the project namespace. Provide your own code in this file.

    • AssemblyInfo.cpp - The file that contains information (that is, attributes, files, resources, types, versioning information, signing information, and so on) for modifying the project's assembly metadata. For more information, see Assembly Concepts.

    • Stdafx.cpp - Used to build a precompiled header file named Win32.pch and a precompiled types file named StdAfx.obj.

  • Header files:

    • Service (.h file) - The main include file for the project, which contains all declarations, global symbols, and #include directives for other header files.

    • Service (.resx file) - An XML resource file whose BuildAction property is set to Embedded Resource.

    • Stdafx.h - Used to build a precompiled header file named Win32.pch and a precompiled types file named StdAfx.obj.

    • resource.h - A generated include file for app.rc.

  • Resource files:

    • app.rc - The resource script file of a program.

    • app.ico -The icon file of a program.

  • ReadMe.txt - A file describing each file in your project using the actual filenames created by the template.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Create Windows Services (C++ Programming)

Concepts

Introduction to Monitoring Performance Thresholds

Reference

Files Created for CLR Projects

Other Resources

Managing Solutions, Projects, and Files