timer configuration not working in console application c#

Question

I want to execute a function in every 20 seconds in my console application.

my function is below

public abstract class DownloadComponent
{
    private Timer timer;

    public DownloadComponent()
    {
        // Create and configure the timer
        timer = new Timer();
        timer.Interval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(20).TotalMilliseconds; // Set the interval to 2 minutes
        timer.Elapsed += TimerElapsed;
        timer.AutoReset = true; // Make the timer repeat

        // Start the timer
        timer.Start();
    }

    private void TimerElapsed(object sender, ElapsedEventArgs e)
    {
        // This method will be called every 2 minutes
        BulkZipDownload();
    }

    public abstract void BulkZipDownload();
}

public class BulkZipDownloadClass : DownloadComponent
{
    public BulkZipDownloadClass()
    {
        // Additional initialization if needed
    }

    public override void BulkZipDownload()
    {
        try
        {
            // Your bulk zip download logic here
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            // Handle exceptions appropriately
        }
    }
}

now the problem is TimerElapsed function is not getting executed, my application is executing till timer.Start(); code but TimerElapsed is not getting executed.

I had used Timer in multiple application but faced this issue for the first time and I am sure I am missing something very small.

Thank you for helping!!!

UPDATE: this is how I am executing the code.

private void DownloadComponentMethod()
{
    new BulkZipDownloadClass();
}
public static void Main()
{
    Program p = new Program();
    p.DownloadComponentMethod();
}

UPDATE 2: Meanwhile I had done something like below

public DownloadComponent()
{
    // Create and configure the timer
    //timer = new Timer();
    //timer.Interval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(20).TotalMilliseconds; // Set the interval to 2 minutes
    //timer.Elapsed += TimerElapsed;
    //timer.AutoReset = true; // Make the timer repeat

    //// Start the timer
    //timer.Start();
    int i = 1;
    while (i == 1)
    {
        BulkZipDownload();
        var seconds = TimeSpan.FromMinutes(2).TotalMilliseconds;
        System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(Convert.ToInt32(seconds));
    }
}

Answer 1

Look at what your program does:

private void DownloadComponentMethod()
{
    new BulkZipDownloadClass();
}
public static void Main()
{
    Program p = new Program();
    p.DownloadComponentMethod();
}

It:

1. Creates an instance of Program,
2. Invokes a method on that instance,
3. Within that method, creates an instance of BulkZipDownloadClass,
4. Immediately exits that method, effectively destroying that instance of BulkZipDownloadClass (the internals of garbage collection could be examined here, but it's not necessary because...),
5. Immediately exits the program.

This would all happen within the space of a few milliseconds. A 20-second timer won't be invoked in the space of a few milliseconds.

Keep the instance of BulkZipDownloadClass in scope, and keep the application running for at least 20 seconds. For example:

static void Main()
{
    var downloader = new BulkZipDownloadClass();
    Console.ReadLine();
}

After 20 seconds (indeed, every 20 seconds) the timer will execute, as long as no console input is provided. Another approach might be to sleep the main thread for some longer amount of time. For example:

static void Main()
{
    var downloader = new BulkZipDownloadClass();
    Thread.Sleep(999999);
}

These are just for testing and demonstration of course. It's not entirely clear what this application is really trying to do. But what is clear is that the application needs to be running in order to do it. An application that has stopped running won't continue to run.

If the goal is to have an indefinite ongoing background task, you might want to take a look at something like a Windows Service instead. Or perhaps an application that minimizes to the Windows System Tray. Or not even control timing within the application itself but have a simple application that just does this one task, and schedule it using some external task scheduler on the host system.