How to pass arguments to a console application if it is already running?

Question

I use a Console Application in Windows Mobile to handle incoming message interception. In the same console application i accept parameters (string args[]) which based on the parameters, register the message interceptor.

InterceptorType is a enum

static void Main(string[] args)
        {                 

            if (args[0] == "Location")
            {               

                addInterception(InterceptorType.Location, args[1],args[2]);
            } 

        }


private static void addInterception(InterceptorType type, string Location, string Number )
    {

        if (type == InterceptorType.Location)
        {

           using (MessageInterceptor interceptor = new MessageInterceptor(InterceptionAction.NotifyAndDelete, false))
           {

               interceptor.MessageCondition = new MessageCondition(MessageProperty.Sender, MessagePropertyComparisonType.Contains, Number, false);

               string myAppPath = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().CodeBase;

               interceptor.EnableApplicationLauncher("Location", myAppPath);

               interceptor.MessageReceived += new MessageInterceptorEventHandler(interceptor_MessageReceived);


           }


        }


    }


static void interceptor_MessageReceived(object sender, MessageInterceptorEventArgs e)
    {

        //Do something



    }

I made this a console application because i want it keep running in the background and intercept incoming messages.

This works fine for the first time. But the problem is that I have to keep calling the addInterception method to add subsequent interception rules. This makes the console application start again and again for each time i add a rule. How do i make this run only once and add more message interceptor rules?

Answer 1

Since you already have a method in place to call the command prompt once, update your logic with some simple looping so you can pass N commands.

EDIT: I wrote it a fully compileable example to show you exactly what I am talking about. Note how the child process can be called any number of times without re-launching. This is not just a simple command line launch with arguments being passed because that idea will lead to X processes which is exactly what you do not want.

PARENT PROCESS: (The one with System.Diagnostics.Process)

/// <summary>
    /// This is the calling application.  The one where u currently have System.Diagnostics.Process
    /// </summary>
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            System.Diagnostics.Process p = new Process();
            p.StartInfo.CreateNoWindow = false;
            p.StartInfo.UseShellExecute = false;
            p.StartInfo.FileName = @"C:\AppfolderThing\ConsoleApplication1.exe";
            p.StartInfo.RedirectStandardError = true;
            p.StartInfo.RedirectStandardInput = true;
            p.StartInfo.RedirectStandardOutput = true;


            p.Start();            
            p.OutputDataReceived += delegate(object sender, DataReceivedEventArgs e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Output received from application: {0}", e.Data);
            };
            p.ErrorDataReceived += delegate(object sender, DataReceivedEventArgs e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Output received from application: {0}", e.Data);
            };
            p.BeginErrorReadLine();
            p.BeginOutputReadLine();
            StreamWriter inputStream = p.StandardInput;
            inputStream.WriteLine(1);
            inputStream.WriteLine(2);
            inputStream.WriteLine(-1);//tell it to exit
            p.WaitForExit();
        }

    }

CHILD PROCESS:

    using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;

namespace ConsoleApplication3
{
    enum InterceptorType
    {
        foo,
        bar,
        zee,
        brah
    } 
    /// <summary>
    /// This is the child process called by System.Diagnostics.Process
    /// </summary>
    class Program
    {
        public static void Main()
        {
            while (true)
            {
                int command = int.Parse(Console.ReadLine());
                if (command == -1)
                    Environment.Exit(0);
                else
                    addInterception((InterceptorType)command, "some location", "0");
            }
        }
        private static void addInterception(InterceptorType type, string Location, string Number)
        {
            switch (type)
            {
                case InterceptorType.foo: Console.WriteLine("bind foo"); break;
                case InterceptorType.bar: Console.WriteLine("bind bar"); break;
                default: Console.WriteLine("default bind zee"); break;
            }

        }


        static void interceptor_MessageReceived(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            //Do something  
        }  
    }
}

Note that codeplex has a managed service library.