Scheduled Task Code for a Windows Form - winforms

Question

I made a Windows Form Application and it works great.
But now I got a requirement that needs that the application reads parameters to be able to run as a Scheduled Task.
I made my research and with the instructions
Environment.GetCommandLineArgs();
I can read and do stuff with the parameters, that will replace the user interaction like the combo selection that the application requires,etc.
My big questions is Where do you place the code?
A) Code After the InitializeComponent() in the form. (I dont understand if the code in the form_load will enter if I use it as a hidden Scheduled Task)
B) In the Program.cs after the Application.Run(new Form1());
C) Any other place

Answer 1

be able to run as a Scheduled Task
With no user interaction (and thus no need for a user interface), a Console Application would be ideal for this. And the main entry point for a Console Application is Program.cs. Therein, command-line arguments are even by default passed to the entry point:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
// "args" contains command line arguments
}
So I suspect the ideal setup here would be to have two separately deployed application instances (one as a Windows Form Applications and one as a Console Application), which share business logic in a Class Library, and separately handle the two different usage scenarios you describe.
Think of it like this... Why try to force the same tool to do two very different jobs when you can just use the right tool for each job? (Golden hammers are traditionally bad things.)
If you really want to use the Windows Forms Application as the scheduled task, then it too has the same Program.cs entry point. By default it's usually something like this:
[STAThread]
static void Main()
{
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
Application.Run(new Form1());
}
But the behavior of the entry point is the same. You can simply add the method arguments and perform logic based on that command-line input. Perhaps something like this:
[STAThread]
static void Main(string[] args)
{
if (CheckForSomeArg(args))
{
// perform the automated tasks, pretend to be a Console Application
}
else
{
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
Application.Run(new Form1());
}
}
So if the command-line arguments you're looking for are given, the "scheduled task" is performed. Otherwise, the user interface is displayed.