Try

    System.Reflection.Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location




Try this:

    AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory

(Just like here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2833959/how-to-find-windows-service-exe-path)

    Path.GetDirectoryName(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location)

This works for our windows service:

    //CommandLine without the first and last two characters
    //Path.GetDirectory seems to have some difficulties with these (special chars maybe?)
    string cmdLine = Environment.CommandLine.Remove(Environment.CommandLine.Length - 2, 2).Remove(0, 1);
    string workDir = Path.GetDirectoryName(cmdLine);  
This should give you the absolute path of the executable.


Another version of the above:

    string path = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location;
    FileInfo fileInfo = new FileInfo(path);
    string dir = fileInfo.DirectoryName;

Environment.CurrentDirectory returns current directory where program is running. In case of windows service, returns %WINDIR%/system32 path that is where executable will run rather than where executable deployed.

This should give you the path that the executable resides in:

    Environment.CurrentDirectory;

If not, you could try:

    Directory.GetParent(Assembly.GetEntryAssembly().Location).FullName

A more hacky, but functional way:

    Path.GetFullPath(&quot;a&quot;).TrimEnd(&#39;a&#39;)

:)

I came across an issue that makes me think there is bug in the 3.0 framework. When I try to use extension methods I get the following error: 

    Missing compiler required member
    &#39;System.Runtime.CompilerServices.ExtensionAttribute..ctor&#39;

When using this simple code:
  

    public static class StringUtils {
        static void TestExtension(this String targetString) {
                
        }
    }


The only way to make this compile error go away is to add the following code:

    namespace System.Runtime.CompilerServices {
        public class ExtensionAttribute : Attribute { }
    }

It&#39;s been a few months since I have used extensions methods, but I&#39;m pretty sure I didn&#39;t have to do this. Has anyone else come across this issue?

Error when using extension methods in C#

I&#39;ve used bash, csh, and tcsh.  But I asked [this question][1], and Jonathan informed me that csh isn&#39;t to be trusted.  So what Linux shell is good for development. and why?


  [1]: http://web.archive.org/web/20151121164806/http://stackoverflow.com/questions/198723/whats-in-your-cshrc

What Linux shell should I use?

How can I find out the folder where the windows service .exe file is installed dynamically?

    Path.GetFullPath(relativePath);

returns a path based on `C:\WINDOWS\system32` directory.

However, the `XmlDocument.Load(string filename)` method appears to be working against relative path inside the directory where the service .exe file is installed to.

Getting full path for Windows Service

How can I find out the folder where the windows service .exe file is installed dynamically?
<pre><code class="hljs language-ini">Path.GetFullPath(relativePath);
</code></pre>
returns a path based on <code>C:\WINDOWS\system32</code> directory.
However, the <code>XmlDocument.Load(string filename)</code> method appears to be working against relative path inside the directory where the service .exe file is installed to.

Let&#39;s say I have a class

    public class ItemController:Controller
    {
        public ActionResult Login(int id)
        {
            return View(&quot;Hi&quot;, id);
        }
    }

On a page that is not located at the Item folder, where `ItemController` resides, I want to create a link to the `Login` method. So which `Html.ActionLink` method I should use and what parameters should I pass?

Specifically, I am looking for the replacement of the method 

    Html.ActionLink(article.Title,
        new { controller = &quot;Articles&quot;, action = &quot;Details&quot;,
              id = article.ArticleID })

that has been retired in the recent ASP.NET MVC incarnation. 

HTML.ActionLink method

How can I encrypt and decrypt a string in C#?

Encrypt and decrypt a string in C#?

How can I use HttpWebRequest (.NET, C#) asynchronously?

How to use HttpWebRequest (.NET) asynchronously?

Probably a really simple one this - I&#39;m starting out with C# and need to add values to an array, for example:

    int[] terms;
    
    for(int runs = 0; runs &lt; 400; runs++)
    {
        terms[] = runs;
    }

For those who have used PHP, here&#39;s what I&#39;m trying to do in C#:

    $arr = array();
    for ($i = 0; $i &lt; 10; $i++) {
        $arr[] = $i;
    }

Adding values to a C# array

Getting the max value of an enum

When using resources such as brushes, templates and styles in WPF, they can be specified either as StaticResources 

    &lt;Rectangle Fill=&quot;{StaticResource MyBrush}&quot; /&gt;

or as a DynamicResource

    &lt;ItemsControl ItemTemplate=&quot;{DynamicResource MyItemTemplate}&quot;  /&gt;

Most of the times (always?), only one works and the other will throw exception during runtime. But I&#39;d like to know why:

  - What is the main difference. Like memory or performance implications
  - Are there rules in WPF like &quot;brushes are always static&quot; and &quot;templates are always dynamic&quot; etc.?

I **assume** the choice between Static vs Dynamic isn&#39;t as arbitrary as it seems... but I fail to see the pattern.

What&#39;s the difference between StaticResource and DynamicResource in WPF?

I&#39;ve been working for years with VS&#39;s debugger, but every now and then I come across a feature I have never noticed before, and think &quot;Damn! How could I have missed that? It&#39;s **so** useful!&quot;

[Disclaimer: These tips work in VS 2005 on a C# project, no guarantees for older incarnations of VS or other languages] 

### Keep track of object instances ###
Working with multiple instances of a given class? How can you tell them apart?
In pre-garbage collection programming days, it was easy to keep track of references - just look at the memory address. With .NET, you can&#39;t do that - objects can get moved around.
Fortunately, the watches view lets you right-click on a watch and select &#39;Make Object ID&#39;. 

&gt;&gt;![watches view][1] 

This appends a {1#}, {2#} etc. after the instance&#39;s value, effectively giving the instance a unique label. It looks like this: 
&gt;&gt; ![numbered instance][2]

The label is persisted for the lifetime of that object.

### Meaningful values for watched variables ###
By default, a watched variable&#39;s value is it&#39;s type. If you want to see its fields, you have to expand it, and this could take a long time (or even timeout!) if there are many fields or they do something complicated.

However, some predefined types show more meaningful information :

- strings show their actual contents
- lists and dictionaries show their elements count etc.

![meaningful info][3]

Wouldn&#39;t it be nice to have that for my own types? 

Hmm... 

...some quality time with .NET Reflector shows how easily this can be accomplished with the `DebuggerDisplay` attribute on my custom type:

    [System.Diagnostics.DebuggerDisplay(&quot;Employee: &#39;{Name}&#39;&quot;)]
    public class Employee {
        public string Name { get { ... } }
        ...
    }

... re-run, and...

![ta da!][4]

There&#39;s a lot more info on the subject here: [MSDN][5]

### Break on all exceptions ###
... even the ones that are handled in code!
I know, I&#39;m such a n00b for not knowing about this ever since I was born, but here it goes anyway - maybe this will help someone someday:

You can force a debugged process to break into debug mode each time an exception is thrown. Ever went on a bug hunt for hours only to come across a piece of code like this?

    try {
        runStrangeContraption();
    } catch(Exception ex) {
        /* TODO: Will handle this error later */
    }

Catching all exceptions is really handy in these cases.
This can be enabled from *Debug &gt; Exceptions... (Ctrl-Alt-E)*. Tick the boxes in the &#39;Thrown&#39; column for each type of exception you need.

-----

Those were a few forehead-slapping moments for me. 
Would you care to share yours?


  [1]: http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/461/52518188cq3.jpg
  [2]: http://img383.imageshack.us/img383/7351/11732685bl8.jpg
  [3]: http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/4808/37220487md1.jpg
  [4]: http://img60.imageshack.us/img60/926/79816018ha1.jpg
  [5]: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc163974.aspx

Visual Studio debugger tips &amp; tricks for .NET

I stumbled across this code and am too proud to go and ask the author what it means.

    Hashtable^ tempHash = gcnew Hashtable(iterators_);

    IDictionaryEnumerator^ enumerator = tempHash-&gt;GetEnumerator();

What is `gcnew` and how important is it to use that instead of simply `new`? (I&#39;m also stumped by the caret; I asked about that [over here](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/202463/what-does-the-caret-mean-in-cnet).)

What is gcnew?

Is there a way to set a different value for service startup timeout per service?
I can change it using the ServicesPipeTimeout registry key, but it&#39;s per machine ([http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824344][1]).

At the moment the only thing I thought about was to do all the time-consuming startup actions in a different thread.


  [1]: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824344

windows service startup timeout

I need to write robust code in .NET to enable a windows service (server 2003) to restart itself. What is the best way to so this? Is there some .NET API to do it?

How can a windows service programmatically restart itself?

I installed a windows service using installUtil.exe. 

After updating the code I used installUtil.exe again to install the service w/o uninstalling the original version first.
 
When I now try to uninstall the service, installUtil.exe completes the uninstall successfully, but the service still appears. 

If I try to change its properties, I receive the message &#39;service is marked for deletion&#39;. 

How can I force the deletion (preferrably w/o restarting the server)?

How to force uninstallation of windows service

I need to create some windows service which will execute every N period of time.  
The question is:  
Which timer control should I use: `System.Timers.Timer` or `System.Threading.Timer` one? Does it influence on something?  

I am asking because I heard many evidences to non correct work of `System.Timers.Timer` in windows services.  
Thank you.

Best Timer for using in a Windows service

I have a standard .NET windows service written in C#.

Can it install itself without using InstallUtil?
Should I use the service installer class? How should I use it?

I want to be able to call the following:

    MyService.exe -install

And it will have the same effect as calling:

    InstallUtil MyService.exe

Content Type	Original Author	Original Content on Stackoverflow
Question	Samuel Kim	View Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - C#	Greg Dean	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - C#	Curtis Yallop	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - C#	allwarr	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - C#	lowglider	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 5 - C#	Chris S	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 6 - C#	Amzath	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 7 - C#	TheSoftwareJedi	View Answer on Stackoverflow

Getting full path for Windows Service

C# Problem Overview

C# Solutions

Solution 1 - C#

Solution 2 - C#

Solution 3 - C#

Solution 4 - C#

Solution 5 - C#

Solution 6 - C#

Solution 7 - C#

What Linux shell should I use?

Error when using extension methods in C#

Attributions