Daily automated process

B

bmjnine

Hi all,

I am trying to setup a daily task in my .NET (1.1) application. The
application is a project management tool, and the daily task I am
trying to set up will check for overdue project deadlines, and send
out email reminders.

I have setup all the logic that checks deadlines & sends the emails,
and that works great. However, automating it has been a problem.

I have tried an approach using timers, and that works great for the
most part, but when the application is recycled/restarted every so
often on the server, it does not automatically
"start" (Application_Start) again until someone hits the site, and the
emails stop going out until that happens. I have read this is normal,
and it makes sense, resource-wise. However, the application is only
used by about 20 people in a closed Intranet environment, and I guess
sometimes no one hits the site for several days, causing the emails to
get sent out days late.

I have heard some references to using cache objects, but I don't know
much about how to do this. I haven't delved into because I would
assume the approach would fall under the same limitations as the above
(the application as to be "on" for it to work). Is this right?

And most unfortunately, I am not allowed to set up Windows Scheduled
Tasks OR Windows Services on the server. :(

If it were a public site, I would probably just set up a Scheduled
Task on one of my own machines to trigger it, but the site only
accessible from within their own network.

And I don't really want to ask my client (the manager of the group
that uses it) to setup a Scheduled Task on her own machine because it
would be unreliable (say if she goes on vacation or leaves the
company).

I (and the client) have pretty much given up on it, and she
understands much of it is due to the server limitations her IT dept.
is imposing. However, I thought I'd throw this out here to see if
there are any alternate suggestions before we ditch the effort.

Thanks so much,

Alyssa
 
A

Aidy

ASP is a request/response technology and isn't suited to what you're trying
to do. The only solution is to use something other than asp.net. A windows
service would be best bet, or an application running on a machine on the
same network that can access the database.

I know you say you're not allowed to install services etc but is there a
legitimate reason for that?
 
M

Mark Rae

And most unfortunately, I am not allowed to set up Windows Scheduled
Tasks OR Windows Services on the server. :(

If it were a public site, I would probably just set up a Scheduled
Task on one of my own machines to trigger it, but the site only
accessible from within their own network.

If it were a public site, I could understand not being able to install a
Windows service, but on an internal network that makes no sense at all...
 
B

bmjnine

well, i'm not allowed to install a Windows service on the actual
server because it is a shared server and they don't want the overhead/
risk. i'm hesitant to install a windows service on one of the actual
user's machines within the network because they all use laptops that
are not always on, and sometimes they go on vacation or leave the
company all together. i suppose i could find out if there are other
machines on that network that are always on that i could setup a
Windows service on (though i'm already expecting a "no") -- is that my
best bet?

excuse my niavete -- i'm new to the window service realm...

thanks,
alyssa
 
M

Mark Rae

well, i'm not allowed to install a Windows service on the actual
server because it is a shared server and they don't want the overhead/
risk. i'm hesitant to install a windows service on one of the actual
user's machines within the network because they all use laptops that
are not always on, and sometimes they go on vacation or leave the
company all together. i suppose i could find out if there are other
machines on that network that are always on that i could setup a
Windows service on (though i'm already expecting a "no") --

When you say 'shared server', what are we actually talking about...? Is the
web app being hosted at an external ISP...?
is that my best bet?

It's starting to sound like your only option...

Alternatively, is there not some sort of RDBMS in the solution...? Certainly
SQL Server can be configured e.g. to run a stored procedure at regular
intervals...
 
M

Mark Rae

well, i'm not allowed to install a Windows service on the actual
server because it is a shared server and they don't want the overhead/
risk. i'm hesitant to install a windows service on one of the actual
user's machines within the network because they all use laptops that
are not always on, and sometimes they go on vacation or leave the
company all together. i suppose i could find out if there are other
machines on that network that are always on that i could setup a
Windows service on (though i'm already expecting a "no") --

When you say 'shared server', what are we actually talking about...? Is the
web app being hosted at an external ISP...?
is that my best bet?

It's starting to sound like your only option...

Alternatively, is there not some sort of RDBMS in the solution...? Certainly
SQL Server can be configured e.g. to run a stored procedure at regular
intervals...
 
P

PS

Hi all,

I am trying to setup a daily task in my .NET (1.1) application. The
application is a project management tool, and the daily task I am
trying to set up will check for overdue project deadlines, and send
out email reminders.

I have setup all the logic that checks deadlines & sends the emails,
and that works great. However, automating it has been a problem.

I have tried an approach using timers, and that works great for the
most part, but when the application is recycled/restarted every so
often on the server, it does not automatically
"start" (Application_Start) again until someone hits the site, and the
emails stop going out until that happens. I have read this is normal,
and it makes sense, resource-wise. However, the application is only
used by about 20 people in a closed Intranet environment, and I guess
sometimes no one hits the site for several days, causing the emails to
get sent out days late.

I have heard some references to using cache objects, but I don't know
much about how to do this. I haven't delved into because I would
assume the approach would fall under the same limitations as the above
(the application as to be "on" for it to work). Is this right?

And most unfortunately, I am not allowed to set up Windows Scheduled
Tasks OR Windows Services on the server. :(

If it were a public site, I would probably just set up a Scheduled
Task on one of my own machines to trigger it, but the site only
accessible from within their own network.

And I don't really want to ask my client (the manager of the group
that uses it) to setup a Scheduled Task on her own machine because it
would be unreliable (say if she goes on vacation or leaves the
company).

I (and the client) have pretty much given up on it, and she
understands much of it is due to the server limitations her IT dept.
is imposing. However, I thought I'd throw this out here to see if
there are any alternate suggestions before we ditch the effort.

Some questions so that I can understand the infrastructure to propose a
solution. The server is a shared server but is only accessible from the
intranet. Is the server located at the same location as the clients? If it
is not then how is the networking configured to restrict access to only your
clients? Is there another server available to use for just the daily task?
 

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