Python Programming On Win32

Querying the Status of a Service

Finally, we can do something useful with the service. The simplest thing is to query the current status of the service. win32service.QueryServiceStatus() does this:

>>> status=win32service.QueryServiceStatus(hs)
>>> status
(32, 4, 5, 0, 0, 0, 0)
>>>

So what does this say? A quick check of Appendix B gives the data returned for a service status, but briefly, the information includes:

• The type of service.

• The current state of the service, i.e., is it running, stopped, stopping, etc.

• The type of controls the service accepts, i.e., can it be stopped, paused, etc.

• A Win32 error code, as set by the service. This is typically set once the service stops.

• A service-specific error code. This is typically set once the service stops.

• The service’s checkpoint. See Appendix B for details.

• The service’s wait-hint. See Appendix B for details.

Armed with this information, you can create a function to print a description of the service status:

>>> def PrintServiceStatus(status): ... svcType, svcState, svcControls, err, svcErr, svcCP, svcWH = status ... if svcType & win32service.SERVICE_WIN32_OWN_PROCESS: ... print "The service runs in its own process" ... if svcType & win32service.SERVICE_WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS: ... print "The service shares a process with other services" ... if svcType & win32service.SERVICE_INTERACTIVE_PROCESS: ... print "The service can interact with the desktop" ... # Other svcType flags not shown. ... if svcState==win32service.SERVICE_STOPPED: ... print ...