There is no microsoft.public.dotnet.framework.windowsservice group, so I am
posting this question here.

Can an object of class PrintDocument work properly in a windows service? The
VS.NET2003 designer allowed me to drop a PrintDocument control onto the
design page of my windows service. I am using version 1.1 of the framework.

Problem: The eventLog1.WriteEntry("inside PrintPage event handler") is never
executed, while the other WriteEntry messages appear correctly in my event
log.

Here is the code that I added to my service:

using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Data.SqlClient;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Printing;
using System.ServiceProcess;

namespace MyPrintService
{
    public class MyPrintService : System.ServiceProcess.ServiceBase
    {
        private System.Diagnostics.EventLog eventLog1;
        private System.Timers.Timer timer1;
        private System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument printDocument1;
        private System.Drawing.Font printFont;

....

        private void InitializeComponent()
        {
            this.eventLog1 = new System.Diagnostics.EventLog();
            this.timer1 = new System.Timers.Timer();
            this.printDocument1 = new System.Drawing.Printing.PrintDocument();
            this.printFont = new System.Drawing.Font("Arial", 10);

            ((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this.eventLog1)).BeginInit();
            ((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this.timer1)).BeginInit();
            //
            // timer1
            //
            this.timer1.Enabled = true;
            this.timer1.Interval = 10000;
            this.timer1.Elapsed += new
System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(this.timer1_Elapsed);
            //
            // printDocument1
            //
            this.printDocument1.PrintPage += new
System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventHandler(this.printDocument1_PrintPage);
            //
            // MyPrintService
            //
            this.ServiceName = "MyPrintService";
            ((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this.eventLog1)).EndInit();
            ((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(this.timer1)).EndInit();

        }

        private void timer1_Elapsed(object sender, System.Timers.ElapsedEventArgs e)
        {
            int id = FindOrderToPrint();
            eventLog1.WriteEntry("timer elapsed with id = " + id.ToString());
            if (id > 0)
            {
                eventLog1.WriteEntry("call to PrintOrder");
                PrintOrder(id);
            }
        }

        private int FindOrderToPrint()
        {
            int OrderID;
            try
            {
                // sqlConnection1.Open();
                // SqlCommand cmdGetOrderID = new SqlCommand(...);
                // OrderID = (int)cmdGetOrderID.ExecuteScalar();
                OrderID = 10;
                eventLog1.WriteEntry("Order ID " + OrderID.ToString() + " sent to
cashier");
                sqlConnection1.Close();
            }
            catch
            {
                OrderID = -1;
                eventLog1.WriteEntry("no file to print");
            }
            return OrderID;
        }

        private void PrintOrder(int OrderID)
        {
            eventLog1.WriteEntry("print OrderID = " + OrderID.ToString());
            this.printDocument1.Print();
        }

        private void printDocument1_PrintPage(object sender,
System.Drawing.Printing.PrintPageEventArgs e)
        {
            eventLog1.WriteEntry("inside PrintPage event handler");
            e.Graphics.DrawString("Test string to print", this.printFont,
System.Drawing.Brushes.Black, 50, 50);
            e.HasMorePages = false;
        }
    }
}

Found a caution from Microsoft not to do this.
"Classes within the System.Drawing.Printing namespace are not supported for
use within a Windows service or ASP.NET application or service. Attempting to
use these classes from within one of these application types may produce
unexpected problems, such as diminished service performance and run-time
exceptions.
"

found it at http://windowssdk.msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpref11/html/n_system_drawing_printing.asp



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