tommorris · July 11, 2009 18:10
diff --git a/gistfile1.txt b/gistfile1.txt
 I want to build a really simple script to use on Windows. I know
 nothing about Windows programming.

 Scenario:
 I've got a shitty DSL line that doesn't have much bandwidth.
 I want to prioritise certain applications. I've got some services
 on my Linux box that I want to turn off when a user on a particular
 Windows machine is running certain applications.

 Plan:
 I'd like to write a script that runs in Windows that monitors what
 applications are running every so often and if certain apps *are*
 running, it would trigger various commands which would be sent to
 the Linux box.

 I'm thinking of writing this in something like IronRuby.
 Then all I'd have to do would be to poll the .NET framework's
 System.Diagnostics.Process.GetProcesses() class method which
 the documentation says should return an array of Process objects
 which I could iterate through and match the title to the ProcessName
 object property.

 I was then planning to have it so that if it matches, the script
 would trigger off a System.Net.HttpWebRequest instance to POST back
 to the server a message saying that the app is running. Or maybe just
 use the standard Ruby net/http class.

 I'm hoping to deploy this to a Windows XP machine. I'm not sure
 what version of .NET is running on the machine.

 Questions:
 1. Am I on the right track?
 2. Is IronRuby a sensible choice (considering I use Ruby and JRuby
   on Mac and Linux)? I can do IronPython if that's better. I haven't
   really got time to learn C# or VB.NET, and I'd rather do this in
   Vim than have to install Visual Studio on a borrowed Windows machine
   (did I mention that I don't have a working Windows machine of my own?)
 3. Is there already an app that would do this without me having to bother?
 4. How do I package this up? Can I just have it floating around in, say,
   C:\Documents and Settings\$username\script.rb (or whatever)?
 5. What's the .NET equivalent of crontab? I want to be able to set this
   script to run every, say, ten or fifteen minutes. How would I do that
   in Windows.

 Feel free to e-mail me any advice <[email protected]> or just 'fork'
 this Gist. I'm rather looking forward to stepping outside my Mac/Linux
 comfort zone and writing some code to run on Windows. And .NET looks like
 it might not be a total trainwreck like the usual Windows stuff which I
 am unfortunately familar with. ;) -tm
	I want to build a really simple script to use on Windows. I know
	nothing about Windows programming.

	Scenario:
	I've got a shitty DSL line that doesn't have much bandwidth.
	I want to prioritise certain applications. I've got some services
	on my Linux box that I want to turn off when a user on a particular
	Windows machine is running certain applications.

	Plan:
	I'd like to write a script that runs in Windows that monitors what
	applications are running every so often and if certain apps are
	running, it would trigger various commands which would be sent to
	the Linux box.

	I'm thinking of writing this in something like IronRuby.
	Then all I'd have to do would be to poll the .NET framework's
	System.Diagnostics.Process.GetProcesses() class method which
	the documentation says should return an array of Process objects
	which I could iterate through and match the title to the ProcessName
	object property.

	I was then planning to have it so that if it matches, the script
	would trigger off a System.Net.HttpWebRequest instance to POST back
	to the server a message saying that the app is running. Or maybe just
	use the standard Ruby net/http class.

	I'm hoping to deploy this to a Windows XP machine. I'm not sure
	what version of .NET is running on the machine.

	Questions:
	1. Am I on the right track?
	2. Is IronRuby a sensible choice (considering I use Ruby and JRuby
	on Mac and Linux)? I can do IronPython if that's better. I haven't
	really got time to learn C# or VB.NET, and I'd rather do this in
	Vim than have to install Visual Studio on a borrowed Windows machine
	(did I mention that I don't have a working Windows machine of my own?)
	3. Is there already an app that would do this without me having to bother?
	4. How do I package this up? Can I just have it floating around in, say,
	C:\Documents and Settings\$username\script.rb (or whatever)?
	5. What's the .NET equivalent of crontab? I want to be able to set this
	script to run every, say, ten or fifteen minutes. How would I do that
	in Windows.

	Feel free to e-mail me any advice <[email protected]> or just 'fork'
	this Gist. I'm rather looking forward to stepping outside my Mac/Linux
	comfort zone and writing some code to run on Windows. And .NET looks like
	it might not be a total trainwreck like the usual Windows stuff which I
	am unfortunately familar with. ;) -tm