The Program Tab defines the major service parameters.


It contains the following sections:

  • Service Identification
  • Program to Run as a Service


Note: Each field in the service definition panel relates directly to an XML attribute in the service configuration file.



The following table describes the fields provided on the Program tab.


FieldDescription
Service Identification
Short NameAn abbreviated or short name of the FireDaemon Pro service.

This name is the unique name by which the service is known in the Windows system.

This name defines the service registry key in HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\. This name can be used with the command line net stop and net start commands.

Note: The short name must begin with an alphabetic character (A to Z or a to z) and must not include any whitespace characters, such as space or tab, or any of the following special characters ':', '*', '?', '"', '<', '>', '|', '\', '/'.
Display NameA descriptive name of the service.

By default, the short name is used as the display name. The display name appears in the Windows Services application.

This value can contain spaces and punctuation characters.
Custom Prefix StringBy default, when a service is installed, the service short name is prefixed with "FireDaemon Service".

Select the checkbox to remove the prefix entirely or add your own custom prefix.
DescriptionAn extended description of the service.

The description field can be left blank. It can also implicitly reference messages within pre-existing DLLs. For example, @appmgmts.dll,-3251.
Startup TypeThis determines how the Service Control Manager treats the service when it is first created and whenever the system boots up.

The following are options available:
  • Manual
  • Automatic
  • Automatic (Delayed-Start)
  • Disabled


Note: The Automatic (Delayed-Start) option is only available on Windows Vista, Windows 2008, or later.

Program to Run as a Service
ProgramThe full path and name (including the file extension) of the program to be run as the service. For example, C:\Program Files\MyApp\myapp.exe.

System environment variables can be used to determine the complete path of the program. For example, %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\calc.exe.
Working DirectoryThe working directory of the program (specified in the Program field) to be run as a service.

The value must be a valid mapped drive path or Universal/Uniform Naming Convention (UNC) path to a network drive. For example, \\<servername>\<sharename>\<directory>.

System environment variables can be used to determine the complete path of the working directory. For example, %SYSTEMROOT%\system32.
ParametersThe optional list of command line parameters that are to be passed to the program at startup time.

If any parameter contains whitespace characters, it must be quoted, e.g. "string with spaces"
TypeThe following program type settings are available:
  • Always Running Program: Select this if the program is designed to continue running in the background. 
  • Self Completing Task: Select this if the program is designed to self-complete after a given period.