FAQ

Thursday, April 23, 2009

General

• Why Scheduler?
• I want to distribute DemiCode Scheduler with my application. Can I do that?
• Do you provide the source code for DemiCode Scheduler as part of the product?
• Is it possible to get a demo version to try it out?

Technical

• Can I host DemiCode Scheduler in a web application?
• Does this product use Windows Scheduled Tasks to run tasks?
• I have just installed DemiCode Scheduler but the Scheduler Service fails to start. Why?

General

Why Scheduler?

The primary idea is to bring task scheduling functionality into your own .NET applications as a simple class library without dependencies to external services.

I want to distribute DemiCode Scheduler with my application. Can I do that?

Definitely. We offer you royalty free redistribution rights of the Scheduler runtime components.

Do you provide the source code for DemiCode Scheduler as part of the product?

We are currently not distributing the source code. Contact us and describe your needs and we will evaluate your case.

Is it possible to get a demo version to try it out?

Yes! You can get a 30-day trial here.

Technical

Can I host DemiCode Scheduler in a web application?

Using the Scheduler within a web application is not supported. In order to wait for time to elapse the Scheduler needs to be hosted in long-running processes such as WinForms or Windows service applications. An example is the Scheduler Service provided with the product.

Does this product use Windows Scheduled Tasks to run tasks?

DemiCode Scheduler is completely independent of the Windows Task Scheduler service. It uses the .NET Framework Timer system to schedule tasks and runs within your application or the Scheduler service provided with the product. With the ability to configure built-in schedules and plug in custom schedules DemiCode Scheduler is easily more flexible than the Windows Task Scheduler service.

I have just installed DemiCode Scheduler but the Scheduler Service fails to start. Why?

This could be due to a known issue with Windows operating systems like Windows Server 2003 and 2008.
On startup of the scheduler service the operating system tries to validate the digital signature on the executable. Unless the operating system is able to do this within the standard 30 second startup timeout set by the Service Control Manager (SCM) the process will be terminated and a timeout error is reported in the System event log. It is usually sufficient to retry starting the service.

If a retry is not enough, verify that your computer have access to the internet. The verification process contacts a third party web site (e.g. VeriSign.com) in order to download certificate validation information. If this site cannot be contacted from your environment, validation will timeout and service start will fail.

If internet connectivity is not an option in your environment or digitally signed binaries are otherwise not feasible, we have included a set of unsigned binaries with the DemiCode Scheduler installer (version 1.1.4 and later). This option must be manually selected during installation. The unsigned binaries will be installed to C:\Program Files\DemiCode\Scheduler 1.1\Unsigned Binaries.