As a developer, you probably have tasks you’d like to automate — things like sending emails, generating reports, or cleaning up data on a schedule. So, how do you make that happen? That’s where services come in. They’re a great way to handle automation efficiently and reliably. services Let’s break down how you can set this up using services. Introduction Introduction Quartz is a popular open-source tool for scheduling and automation. At the heart of it is the Quartz Trigger, a core component of the Quartz Scheduler, a powerful job scheduling library available in both C# and Java. Quartz Trigger C# Java Official Documentation:  https://www.quartz-scheduler.org/documentation/ Official Documentation:  https://www.quartz-scheduler.org/documentation/ https://www.quartz-scheduler.org/documentation/ What is a trigger? What is a trigger? A Trigger defines when and how often a job should run.Think of it as theschedule attached to a job. schedule schedule When you schedule a job in Quartz, you provide: When you schedule a job in Quartz, you provide: A Job (what to do)
A Trigger (when to do it) A Job (what to do) A Trigger (when to do it) Types of Quartz Triggers Types of Quartz Triggers Simple Trigger Simple Trigger Simple Trigger Runs a job a specific number of times or at fixed intervals.
Example: run every 10 seconds, repeat 5 times. Runs a job a specific number of times or at fixed intervals. Example: run every 10 seconds, repeat 5 times. run every 10 seconds, repeat 5 times. Cron Trigger Cron Trigger Cron Trigger Uses a Cron expression (like in Unix/Linux Cronjobs) for more complex schedules.
Example: run every day at 2:00 AM. Uses a Cron expression (like in Unix/Linux Cronjobs) for more complex schedules. Example: run every day at 2:00 AM. run every day at 2:00 AM. What is a Cron expression? What is a Cron expression? A Cron Expression is a string with 6 or 7 fields that defines a schedule, specifying exactly whena job should run (down to seconds).It’s like acompact language for time-based scheduling. Cron Expression string with 6 or 7 fields exactly when compact language for time-based scheduling. Detailed expression: you can read it in their official documents. Detailed expression: you can read it in their official documents. The requirement is to read the file every 30 seconds. file every 30 seconds Let’s implement a Cron trigger in .NET 8. Cron trigger .NET 8. Project Settings Project Settings <Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <RootNamespace>CronImplementation</RootNamespace>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Quartz" Version="3.15.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Quartz.Plugins" Version="3.15.1" />
  </ItemGroup>

	<ItemGroup>
		<Content Include="jobs.xml" CopyToOutputDirectory="Always" />
	</ItemGroup>
</Project> <Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <RootNamespace>CronImplementation</RootNamespace>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <PackageReference Include="Quartz" Version="3.15.1" />
    <PackageReference Include="Quartz.Plugins" Version="3.15.1" />
  </ItemGroup>

	<ItemGroup>
		<Content Include="jobs.xml" CopyToOutputDirectory="Always" />
	</ItemGroup>
</Project> Program using Quartz;
using Quartz.Impl;
using Quartz.Xml;
using Quartz.Simpl;  // <-- needed for SimpleTypeLoadHelper

namespace CronImplementation
{
    class Program
    {
        static async Task Main(string[] args)
        {
            //Create a scheduler
            ISchedulerFactory factory = new StdSchedulerFactory();
            IScheduler scheduler = await factory.GetScheduler();

            //Create a type load helper (required by the new API)
            var typeLoadHelper = new SimpleTypeLoadHelper();
            typeLoadHelper.Initialize();

            //Use the new XMLSchedulingDataProcessor constructor
            var xmlProcessor = new XMLSchedulingDataProcessor(typeLoadHelper);

            //Ensure file path is an absolute
            string xmlPath = Path.Combine(AppContext.BaseDirectory, "jobs.xml");
            xmlProcessor.ProcessFileAndScheduleJobs(xmlPath, scheduler);

            Console.WriteLine(File.Exists(xmlPath));

            //Start the scheduler
            await scheduler.Start();

            Console.WriteLine("Quartz Scheduler started using XML configuration. Press any key to stop...");
            Console.ReadKey();

            await scheduler.Shutdown();
            Console.WriteLine("Scheduler stopped.");
        }
    }
} using Quartz;
using Quartz.Impl;
using Quartz.Xml;
using Quartz.Simpl;  // <-- needed for SimpleTypeLoadHelper

namespace CronImplementation
{
    class Program
    {
        static async Task Main(string[] args)
        {
            //Create a scheduler
            ISchedulerFactory factory = new StdSchedulerFactory();
            IScheduler scheduler = await factory.GetScheduler();

            //Create a type load helper (required by the new API)
            var typeLoadHelper = new SimpleTypeLoadHelper();
            typeLoadHelper.Initialize();

            //Use the new XMLSchedulingDataProcessor constructor
            var xmlProcessor = new XMLSchedulingDataProcessor(typeLoadHelper);

            //Ensure file path is an absolute
            string xmlPath = Path.Combine(AppContext.BaseDirectory, "jobs.xml");
            xmlProcessor.ProcessFileAndScheduleJobs(xmlPath, scheduler);

            Console.WriteLine(File.Exists(xmlPath));

            //Start the scheduler
            await scheduler.Start();

            Console.WriteLine("Quartz Scheduler started using XML configuration. Press any key to stop...");
            Console.ReadKey();

            await scheduler.Shutdown();
            Console.WriteLine("Scheduler stopped.");
        }
    }
} File Reading Job File Reading Job using Quartz;
 
namespace CronImplementation
{
    public class FileReadingJob : IJob
    {
        public Task Execute(IJobExecutionContext context)
        {
            string filePath = Path.Combine(AppContext.BaseDirectory, "file.txt");

            if (!File.Exists(filePath))
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"File not found: {filePath}");
                return Task.CompletedTask;
            }

            //Read all lines
            string[] lines = File.ReadAllLines(filePath);

            foreach (var line in lines)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(line);
            }
            Console.WriteLine($"FileReadingJob executed at: {DateTime.Now}");
            return Task.CompletedTask;
        }
    }
} using Quartz;
 
namespace CronImplementation
{
    public class FileReadingJob : IJob
    {
        public Task Execute(IJobExecutionContext context)
        {
            string filePath = Path.Combine(AppContext.BaseDirectory, "file.txt");

            if (!File.Exists(filePath))
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"File not found: {filePath}");
                return Task.CompletedTask;
            }

            //Read all lines
            string[] lines = File.ReadAllLines(filePath);

            foreach (var line in lines)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(line);
            }
            Console.WriteLine($"FileReadingJob executed at: {DateTime.Now}");
            return Task.CompletedTask;
        }
    }
} Jobs.xml <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<job-scheduling-data xmlns="http://quartznet.sourceforge.net/JobSchedulingData"
                     xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
                     version="2.0">

	
	<schedule>

		
		<job>
			<name>FileReadingJob</name>
			<group>group1</group>
			<description>Job that reads content from file</description>
			<job-type>CronImplementation.FileReadingJob, CronImplementation</job-type>
			
			<durable>true</durable>
			<recover>false</recover>
		</job>

		
		<trigger>
			<cron>
				<name>FileReadingJobTrigger</name>
				<group>group1</group>
				<job-name>FileReadingJob</job-name>
				<job-group>group1</job-group>
				<cron-expression>0/10 * * * * ?</cron-expression>
				
			</cron>
		</trigger>

	</schedule>
</job-scheduling-data> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<job-scheduling-data xmlns="http://quartznet.sourceforge.net/JobSchedulingData"
                     xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
                     version="2.0">

	
	<schedule>

		
		<job>
			<name>FileReadingJob</name>
			<group>group1</group>
			<description>Job that reads content from file</description>
			<job-type>CronImplementation.FileReadingJob, CronImplementation</job-type>
			
			<durable>true</durable>
			<recover>false</recover>
		</job>

		
		<trigger>
			<cron>
				<name>FileReadingJobTrigger</name>
				<group>group1</group>
				<job-name>FileReadingJob</job-name>
				<job-group>group1</job-group>
				<cron-expression>0/10 * * * * ?</cron-expression>
				
			</cron>
		</trigger>

	</schedule>
</job-scheduling-data> File.txt “This is the console app. This project explains the implementation of the Cron trigger in NET 8.” Output Output Summary Summary The Quartz trigger is platform-independent, meaning you can deploy your apps on both Windows and Linux servers without any issues. Another great feature is that it lets you assign different trigger schedules to multiple jobs, giving you more flexibility in how tasks are executed. You can also update or delete triggers by simply editing the XML file—no need to change the code. Just keep in mind that the service needs to be restarted for the changes to take effect.

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Automate Tasks in .NET 8 Using Quartz and Cron Triggers

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