c# - Prevent multiple instance of a service - best approach?

Question

So what do you think is the best way to prevent multiple threads of a C# Windows service running simultaneously (the service is using a timer with the OnElapsed event) ?

Using lock() or mutex ?

I can't seem to grasp the concept of the mutex, but using lock() seems to work fine for my case.

Should I spend the time learning how to use the mutex anyways?

Answer 1

Make your timer a one-shot, and re-initialize it in the elapsed event handler. For example, if you're using System.Timers.Timer, you'd initialize it like this:

myTimer.Elapsed = timer1Elapsed;
myTimer.Interval = 1000; // every second
myTimer.AutoReset = false; // makes it fire only once
myTimer.Enabled = true;

And your elapsed event handler:

void timerElapsed(object source, ElapsedEventArgs e)
{
    // do whatever needs to be done
    myTimer.Start(); // re-enables the timer
}

The drawback to this is that the timer doesn't fire on one second intervals. Rather, it fires one second after the last tick's processing finishes.