Form-less program...

Tex8503 said:

Hey Folks,
I'm trying to write a small PC based app that copies a file on a regular basis. I'm trying to make it as invisible as possible as I don't want users messing with it.

It basically should poll looking for a file and copy it if it exists. I decided I wanted a system tray icon though - So I'm using ControlsExDesktop.dll with the notifyicon and a context menu so a user could potentially quit if necessary.

The problem is that if I run a looped action, it freezes the GUI and I can't actuall click the context menu on the icon in the system tray. I thought the solution might be to run the check for the file it's looking for as its own thread using the threading library - leaving the main thread free for the GUI actions - but if i do that, then because there's no form action or regular looped action, the application closes - but if I run a looped action to keep it open, I'm still going to have issues.

Any ideas?

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taximania said:

Can't you use a Timer to check your file is there ?

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looped action

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taximania said:

Can't you use a Timer to check your file is there ?

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Sub App_Start
InitBitsAndBobs  'General code to run once
...
...
Begin: 'Label to loop round
...
...
... 'Program statements If this happens do something else etc
...
...
GoTo Begin
End Sub

taximania said:

DoEvents in the loop.

Bad programming technique, but might work

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Tex8503 said:

I would - but it won't keep the application running without a form open. I basically want to run the timer without a form.

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agraham said:

Running loops and DoEvents is a Bad Thing in an event driven environment as it burns processor cycles stopping the CPU getting to its idle loop where the power saving measures lie so shortening battery life.

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