file read&write concurrency issue solution

In C#, if 2 processes are reading and writing to the same file, what is the best way to avoid process locking exceptions?

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/222089/in-c-if-2-processes-are-reading-and-writing-to-the-same-file-what-is-the-best

 

 

Solution:

 

 

You can open a file for writing and only lock write access, thereby allowing others to still read the file.

For example,

using (FileStream stream = new FileStream(@"C:/Myfile.txt", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.ReadWrite, FileShare.Read))
{
   // Do your writing here.
}

Other file access just opens the file for reading and not writing, and allows readwrite sharing.

using (FileStream stream = new FileStream(@"C:/Myfile.txt", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite))
{
   // Does reading  here.
}

If you want to ensure that readers will always read an up-to-date file, you will either need to use a locking file that indicates someone is writing to the file (though you may get a race condition if not carefully implemented) or make sure you block write-sharing when opening to read and handle the exception so you can try again until you get exclusive access.
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edited Oct 21 '08 at 14:58

   
answered Oct 21 '08 at 14:35
Jeff Yates
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But in this case, if I understand the workings correctly, you could read an incomplete file? – Mitchel Sellers Oct 21 '08 at 14:46
   
That is true, yes. That's always going to be the case if you allow more than one consumer to access the file. The only way to achieve this and synchronize is to either use a lock file, or to catch the access exception and try again until you get exclusive access. – Jeff Yates Oct 21 '08 at 14:56