Inter-process communication

[kiladan]

Hi

I have to build an application with a comms backend, all using .net

The requirement is that the communication code is obviously run in a seperate thread, in this case i would like to run it as a windows service.

Now i need to be able to communicate with that service from a windows forms application, and at first it seems that MSMQ would be the thing to use for that..

Now the interesting thing is that this might be needed to run within the compact framework at some point as well, and im not sure if windows services or MSMQ is included in the compact framework.

Can anybody clarify things here for me?
thanks

[TheExtreme]

my thought would be, if you are going to write it as a service anyway and you want to have access from a wide range of clients "compact framework", etc. Why not write the service as a web service and use XML as your inter-process com method.

[kiladan]

No can do, the backend needs to be able to run on the compact framework device as well... see im not sure if a 'windows service' per se will run on the compact framework...

... and then also if MSMQ will also work there too.

Compact framework aside, does using a service and msmq sound like a reasonable solution?

as for the web service idea, we aren't looking for that kind of distribution.. Im seeing the client mostly being run on the same machine as the service, and certainly not available as a web service.

The 'backend' software is for controlling a hardware device...
this is not the kind of thing that really would need web type exposure.

thanks

[TheExtreme]

framework aside, does using a service and msmq sound like a reasonable solution?

If you are running all layers on the same device I would simply process the comm part Async on a sepearate thread in its own AppDomain.

[kiladan]

Then communicate via Events? or a still use a mediator class of some kind to manage communications?? or maybe MSMQ.

[TheExtreme]

I would use Async Call back methods.

[kiladan]

thanks for the help

So far what ive looked at for these two topics this path seems pretty complex or maybe badly explained...

can anybody point me at any good articles/books for this kind of architecture? particulary the remoting..

thanks