run a Console Application within a timer job

Question

I need to run a console application within the execute method of a timer job in SharePoint 2010. Please guide me to do this by providing samples or links or hints.

Answer 1

Not sure why you would want to run an external application from a SharePoint timer job, however, you could try using the Process() class in C# (this isn't a SharePoint-specific example, but is how you launch external processes from .NET code):

Console.WriteLine("Running"); 
Process pr = new Process(); 
pr.StartInfo.FileName = "Notepad.exe"; 
pr.StartInfo.Arguments = "test.dat"; 
pr.Start(); 
while (pr.HasExited == false)
     if ((DateTime.Now.Second % 5) == 0)
     { // Show a tick every five seconds.
         Console.Write(".");
         System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(1000);
     }

Sample from: http://omegacoder.com/?p=119

I'm not sure if SharePoint will allow this, but it's worth a shot.