SOLVED: Unable to display MsgBox from Service

[tremolux66]

I'm unable to display a message box from a compiled AutoIt alerting script that is executed from a service (also a compiled AutoIt script). I used $MB_SERVICE_NOTIFICATION, but the dialog doesn't appear and the alerting script continues as if the OK button had been clicked. The service script uses ShellExecute() to launch the alerter (as opposed to a *Wait() call) so it can continue processing. Note that we used Windows Service Wrapper (winsw) to turn the compiled script into a service but haven't identified any issues from it.

I tried the one-line execute example given in this thread: Message box timeout not working

; 2097152 = $MB_SERVICE_NOTIFICATION 
$iPID = Run(@AutoItExe & ' /AutoIt3ExecuteLine  "MsgBox(2097152, ''' & $sTitle & ''', ''' & $sText & ''')"')

without the timeout code, but no luck: the MsgBox does not appear. (In any case, we don't have AutoIt installed on the target system, so it would have to be converted into a .exe file.)

We're developing and unit-testing on Win 7 Enterprise; the target OS is Win 7 Pro, and the AutoIt version is 3.3.14.2.

Any solutions or suggestions will be much appreciated. Code fragments are below.

Thanks.

 

The following code fragment is the relevant portion of the alerting script that displays the MsgBox:

[...]

; Alert the operator that there's a problem with the recording
$sFeed = $aRecInfo[6]
$sSession = $aRecInfo[2]
$sTemp = $aRecInfo[4]
$sDate = _FormatDate($sTemp)
$sTemp = $aRecInfo[5]
$sTime = _FormatTime($sTemp)
_Debug2("Inactive recording feed " & $sFeed & ", Session=" & $sSession & ", Start Date/Time=" & _
                $sDate & " " & $sTime)
                
$sErrorMsg = "ERROR: Feed " & $sFeed & " for session " & $sSession & " stopped, notify reporter immediately"

$iMbFlag = $MB_SERVICE_NOTIFICATION

_Debug1("Displaying MsgBox...")
MsgBox($iMbFlag, "INTERVIEW RECORDING ERROR", $sErrorMsg)
_Debug1("Returned from MsgBox")

[...]

 

And the calling code fragment in the service is:

; Walk through the array backwards so we don't end up evaluating an index that doesn't exist
    For $iIndex = UBound($aFeedArray)-1 To 0 Step -1

        [...]
        
            ; Before timing-out the feed, check for a .mpgpart file (=> feed may still be recording)
            $sDirPath = $sDirTemp & "\" & $sFeedTemp & "\" & $aFeedArray[$iIndex][$cSessionName]
            $sMpgPartName = GetMpgPart($sDirPath, $sFeedTemp)
            If StringLen($sMpgPartName) > 0 Then
                ; If .mpgpart file name hasn't changed in more than $iDeadFeedTime seconds, then declare feed dead
                ; ========v Test code to force error v========
                $sMpgPartName = $aFeedArray[$iIndex][$cMpgPartName]
                ; ========^ Test code to force error ^========
                _Debug2("Just set $sMpgPartName to '" & $sMpgPartName & "', should fall into dead-feed code")
                If $sMpgPartName = $aFeedArray[$iIndex][$cMpgPartName] Then
                    ; Name is same => feed is dead: alert the operator and delete the feed w/out stop-processing
                    _Debug2("Feed " & $sFeedTemp & " looks dead -- alerting the operator")
                    _Debug2("Delete GUID " & $aFeedArray[$iIndex][$cGUID])

                    ; ======== Alert app execution ========
                    ; $sAlertApp = @ScriptDir & "\" & "RecAlert.exe"
                    $iChildPid = ShellExecute($sAlertApp, $sDirPath, "", "open")
                    _Debug2("Alert app: ShellExecute(): " & _RetStr($iChildPid, @error, @extended))
                    _ArrayDelete($aFeedArray, $iIndex)                  
                Else
                    ; Otherwise, the .mpgpart name has changed, reset the timer, store the name, and continue
                    _Debug2("Feed " & $sFeedTemp & " timeout, but has new .mpgpart file -- continuing")
                    $aFeedArray[$iIndex][$cDateTime] = TimerInit()
                    $aFeedArray[$iIndex][$cMpgPartName] = $sMpgPartName
                EndIf
                ContinueLoop
            EndIf

        [...]
        
    Next

 

Edited October 16, 2016 by tremolux66
Corrected a typo that crept into the code

[genius257]

Hi @tremolux66

Googled this question gave some pretty good results.

It seems like Windows Vista and above user interfaces generated by a service can't be seen.

There's some discussion in the links below, that may help you:

Show a message box from a Windows Service

Do you still use the MessageBox API in your Windows Service?

How to show message box in windows service

Edited October 15, 2016 by genius257
spell checking

[tremolux66]

@genius257 Thanks for the pointers. I had assumed it was an AutoIt coding issue so I went straight to the forum, but clearly it's not. Perhaps the MsgBox() Help page could be updated to clarify this.

Since our system only has one interactive user logged-in at a time, I can probably just modify the service & rewrite the alerter script so they use a named pipe.

Thanks again.

Edited October 16, 2016 by tremolux66
Fixed a typo.