Windows Service for Text Processing
Budget: $250 – $750 USD
I need a Windows-native service that quietly runs in the background, starts with the operating system, and handles data-processing duties on plain-text files that I place in a designated folder myself. In practice, I will copy or drag-and-drop the files into that watched location; the service should pick them up automatically, process them, and move or rename them once finished so nothing is handled twice.
Core expectations
• Continuous folder monitoring without user interaction
• Reliable parsing or transformation of each text file (the exact routine can be hard-coded or read from a simple config—whichever you find cleaner)
• Clear logging to a daily rolling log file so I can trace successes and exceptions
• Graceful error handling that never lets the service crash; failed files should be moved to an “Error” subfolder with the reason noted in the log
• Standard Windows Service controls—install, start, stop, restart—via sc.exe or PowerShell
Deliverable
A compiled service (preferably .NET 6 or higher) plus well-commented source code and a brief README explaining any prerequisites and how to modify the input/output paths.
I will test by dropping a handful of sample .txt files into the folder and confirming that the service:
1. Detects them within a few seconds
2. Processes each only once
3. Writes a success record to the log and relocates the processed file
If you have an idea for improving the workflow—such as making the folder path configurable from appsettings.json—let me know; I am open to sensible tweaks that keep the install simple.
Core expectations
• Continuous folder monitoring without user interaction
• Reliable parsing or transformation of each text file (the exact routine can be hard-coded or read from a simple config—whichever you find cleaner)
• Clear logging to a daily rolling log file so I can trace successes and exceptions
• Graceful error handling that never lets the service crash; failed files should be moved to an “Error” subfolder with the reason noted in the log
• Standard Windows Service controls—install, start, stop, restart—via sc.exe or PowerShell
Deliverable
A compiled service (preferably .NET 6 or higher) plus well-commented source code and a brief README explaining any prerequisites and how to modify the input/output paths.
I will test by dropping a handful of sample .txt files into the folder and confirming that the service:
1. Detects them within a few seconds
2. Processes each only once
3. Writes a success record to the log and relocates the processed file
If you have an idea for improving the workflow—such as making the folder path configurable from appsettings.json—let me know; I am open to sensible tweaks that keep the install simple.