Microsoft® .NET Distributed Applications: Integrating XML Web Services and .NET Remoting

The Back-End OrderProcessor Service

Now that the data classes have abstracted away the heavy lifting, the OrderProcessor has only one task remaining: to scan the Excel file and invoke the methods needed to add the order and order item records.

The OrderProcessor is created as a Windows service that runs uninterrupted on any computer (including a server or the sales manager’s workstation). For most of its life, it remains quietly idle. When a new Excel file appears in the designated directory, however, it springs into action, transferring the information into the database and moving the file to a new directory. To automate this task, the OrderProcessor uses the FileSystemWatcher class from the System.IO namespace. This class has a single purpose ...