Deploying a feature for custom sharepoint timer job

Question

To give some background, I am an ASP.net developer tasked with creating a calender event notification system with a lot of features beyond the out of the box calender. My application would read a list of SPList items, and send an email depending on some business criteria. So far, I was able to connect to the SharePoint and run all of my needed tasks using a console application.

My next step is to automate the process to run application daily and that is where I am stuck trying to convert this console application to an automated SharePoint feature (if I am using my terminology correctly).

I tried following tutorials (This is the one I am following now) but I am having problems with the deployment part as I never done this before. I can not seem to find any tutorials describing the deployment process. So far, my application just adds a new item to the list.

public override void Execute(Guid contentDbId)
    {
        // get a reference to the current site collection's content database
        SPWebApplication webApplication = this.Parent as SPWebApplication;
        SPContentDatabase contentDb = webApplication.ContentDatabases[contentDbId];

        // get a reference to the "Tasks" list in the RootWeb of the first site collection in the content database
        SPList taskList = contentDb.Sites[0].RootWeb.Lists["Tasks"];

        // create a new task, set the Title to the current day/time, and update the item
        SPListItem newTask = taskList.Items.Add();
        newTask["Title"] = DateTime.Now.ToString();
        newTask.Update();
    }

I am using VS2007 and my sharepoint is 2007

Here are my questions: 1- How can I build a .dll to move to the GAC without having a static void Main(string[] args) in my class? Am I using a wrong project file? 2- Given that I got the .dll, how can I create a feature?

Any help (or terminology correction) would be appreciated. I feel like this should be an easy task for someone who knows what they are doing. I just need some direction on what to do.

Answer 1

Ammar,

As you already have Console Application build up, I would suggest you to make a Scheduled Task on your SharePoint server to run your Console Application...

See how to Schedule a Task

However, you should get yourself WSPBuilder, this is very handy when working with MOSS or WSS!

And you can follow How to Create a Custom Timer Jobs in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0? to easily setup your Timer Job!

However, I was looking the link you are following... It seems like he has updated the article here and given much more detail...

I hope this helps!