If you want to schedule your PHP script or any other command on Windows Platform recursively after a fix interval of time then you can create a Windows Service for it. Windows service is very easy to create in Visual Studio.Net. I’m using C# language for this scheduler service you can also use VB.net for it. Basically we need this type of service if we want to execute some PHP script in background in a specific interval of time. For example, If you want to import data in bulk from some web service.

You need to follow these steps: -

• Create a project by using the Windows Service application template. This template creates a class for you that inherits from ServiceBase and writes much of the basic service code, such as the code to start the service.
• Write the code for the OnStart and OnStop procedures, and override any other methods that you want to redefine.
• Add the necessary installers for your service application. By default, a class that contains two or more installers is added to your application when you click the Add Installer link: one to install the process, and one for each associated service that your project contains.
• Build your project.
• Create a setup project to install your service, and then install it.
• Access the Windows 2000 Services Control Manager and start your service.

For more detail check “Walkthrough: Creating a Windows Service Application in the Component Designer” topic in MSDN.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Linq;
using System.ServiceProcess;
using System.Text;
using System.Timers;
 
namespace MyNewService
{
    public partial class MyNewService : ServiceBase
    {
        private Timer syncTimer = null;  
 
        public MyNewService()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }
 
        protected override void OnStart(string[] args)
        {
            syncTimer = new Timer();
            this.syncTimer.Interval = 180000;
            this.syncTimer.Elapsed += new System.Timers.ElapsedEventHandler(this.syncTimer_Tick);
            syncTimer.Enabled = true;
        }
 
        protected override void OnStop()
        {
            syncTimer.Enabled = false;
        }
 
        private void syncTimer_Tick(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            System.Diagnostics.Process.Start(@"C:\xampp\htdocs\task.bat");
        }  
    }
}

The task.bat file is a batch file. We are executing our PHP script through this batch file. First we set the path of directory where php.exe is located in your windows. The import.php is basically importing data in bulk from some web and we need to execute this script file background in every 3 minutes.

@echo off
cd\
set path=C:\xampp\php;
cd "C:\xampp\htdocs"
php import.php
exit