Develop Reference

C# how to check if a pdf file is open [duplicate]

I'm writing a program in C# that needs to repeatedly access 1 image file. Most of the time it works, but if my computer's running fast, it will try to access the file before it's been saved back to the filesystem and throw an error:
"File in use by another process"
I would like to find a way around this, but all my Googling has only yielded creating checks by using exception handling. This is against my religion, so I was wondering if anyone has a better way of doing it?

Updated NOTE on this solution: Checking with FileAccess.ReadWrite will fail for Read-Only files so the solution has been modified to check with FileAccess.Read.
ORIGINAL:
I've used this code for the past several years, and I haven't had any issues with it.
Understand your hesitation about using exceptions, but you can't avoid them all of the time:
protected virtual bool IsFileLocked(FileInfo file)
{
try
{
using(FileStream stream = file.Open(FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.None))
{
stream.Close();
}
}
catch (IOException)
{
//the file is unavailable because it is:
//still being written to
//or being processed by another thread
//or does not exist (has already been processed)
return true;
}
//file is not locked
return false;
}

You can suffer from a thread race condition on this which there are documented examples of this being used as a security vulnerability. If you check that the file is available, but then try and use it you could throw at that point, which a malicious user could use to force and exploit in your code.
Your best bet is a try catch / finally which tries to get the file handle.
try
{
using (Stream stream = new FileStream("MyFilename.txt", FileMode.Open))
{
// File/Stream manipulating code here
}
} catch {
//check here why it failed and ask user to retry if the file is in use.
}

Use this to check if a file is locked:
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
internal static class Helper
{
const int ERROR_SHARING_VIOLATION = 32;
const int ERROR_LOCK_VIOLATION = 33;
private static bool IsFileLocked(Exception exception)
{
int errorCode = Marshal.GetHRForException(exception) & ((1 << 16) - 1);
return errorCode == ERROR_SHARING_VIOLATION || errorCode == ERROR_LOCK_VIOLATION;
}
internal static bool CanReadFile(string filePath)
{
//Try-Catch so we dont crash the program and can check the exception
try {
//The "using" is important because FileStream implements IDisposable and
//"using" will avoid a heap exhaustion situation when too many handles
//are left undisposed.
using (FileStream fileStream = File.Open(filePath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.ReadWrite, FileShare.None)) {
if (fileStream != null) fileStream.Close(); //This line is me being overly cautious, fileStream will never be null unless an exception occurs... and I know the "using" does it but its helpful to be explicit - especially when we encounter errors - at least for me anyway!
}
}
catch (IOException ex) {
//THE FUNKY MAGIC - TO SEE IF THIS FILE REALLY IS LOCKED!!!
if (IsFileLocked(ex)) {
// do something, eg File.Copy or present the user with a MsgBox - I do not recommend Killing the process that is locking the file
return false;
}
}
finally
{ }
return true;
}
}
For performance reasons I recommend you read the file content in the same operation. Here are some examples:
public static byte[] ReadFileBytes(string filePath)
{
byte[] buffer = null;
try
{
using (FileStream fileStream = File.Open(filePath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.ReadWrite, FileShare.None))
{
int length = (int)fileStream.Length; // get file length
buffer = new byte[length]; // create buffer
int count; // actual number of bytes read
int sum = 0; // total number of bytes read
// read until Read method returns 0 (end of the stream has been reached)
while ((count = fileStream.Read(buffer, sum, length - sum)) > 0)
sum += count; // sum is a buffer offset for next reading
fileStream.Close(); //This is not needed, just me being paranoid and explicitly releasing resources ASAP
}
}
catch (IOException ex)
{
//THE FUNKY MAGIC - TO SEE IF THIS FILE REALLY IS LOCKED!!!
if (IsFileLocked(ex))
{
// do something?
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
}
finally
{
}
return buffer;
}
public static string ReadFileTextWithEncoding(string filePath)
{
string fileContents = string.Empty;
byte[] buffer;
try
{
using (FileStream fileStream = File.Open(filePath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.ReadWrite, FileShare.None))
{
int length = (int)fileStream.Length; // get file length
buffer = new byte[length]; // create buffer
int count; // actual number of bytes read
int sum = 0; // total number of bytes read
// read until Read method returns 0 (end of the stream has been reached)
while ((count = fileStream.Read(buffer, sum, length - sum)) > 0)
{
sum += count; // sum is a buffer offset for next reading
}
fileStream.Close(); //Again - this is not needed, just me being paranoid and explicitly releasing resources ASAP
//Depending on the encoding you wish to use - I'll leave that up to you
fileContents = System.Text.Encoding.Default.GetString(buffer);
}
}
catch (IOException ex)
{
//THE FUNKY MAGIC - TO SEE IF THIS FILE REALLY IS LOCKED!!!
if (IsFileLocked(ex))
{
// do something?
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
}
finally
{ }
return fileContents;
}
public static string ReadFileTextNoEncoding(string filePath)
{
string fileContents = string.Empty;
byte[] buffer;
try
{
using (FileStream fileStream = File.Open(filePath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.ReadWrite, FileShare.None))
{
int length = (int)fileStream.Length; // get file length
buffer = new byte[length]; // create buffer
int count; // actual number of bytes read
int sum = 0; // total number of bytes read
// read until Read method returns 0 (end of the stream has been reached)
while ((count = fileStream.Read(buffer, sum, length - sum)) > 0)
{
sum += count; // sum is a buffer offset for next reading
}
fileStream.Close(); //Again - this is not needed, just me being paranoid and explicitly releasing resources ASAP
char[] chars = new char[buffer.Length / sizeof(char) + 1];
System.Buffer.BlockCopy(buffer, 0, chars, 0, buffer.Length);
fileContents = new string(chars);
}
}
catch (IOException ex)
{
//THE FUNKY MAGIC - TO SEE IF THIS FILE REALLY IS LOCKED!!!
if (IsFileLocked(ex))
{
// do something?
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
}
finally
{
}
return fileContents;
}
Try it out yourself:
byte[] output1 = Helper.ReadFileBytes(#"c:\temp\test.txt");
string output2 = Helper.ReadFileTextWithEncoding(#"c:\temp\test.txt");
string output3 = Helper.ReadFileTextNoEncoding(#"c:\temp\test.txt");

I recently came across this issue and found this: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/standard/io/handling-io-errors.
Here, Microsoft describes the following method for checking if an IOException was due to a locked file:
catch (IOException e) when ((e.HResult & 0x0000FFFF) == 32 ) {
Console.WriteLine("There is a sharing violation.");
}

Just use the exception as intended. Accept that the file is in use and try again, repeatedly until your action is completed. This is also the most efficient because you do not waste any cycles checking the state before acting.
Use the function below, for example
TimeoutFileAction(() => { System.IO.File.etc...; return null; } );
Reusable method that times out after 2 seconds
private T TimeoutFileAction<T>(Func<T> func)
{
var started = DateTime.UtcNow;
while ((DateTime.UtcNow - started).TotalMilliseconds < 2000)
{
try
{
return func();
}
catch (System.IO.IOException exception)
{
//ignore, or log somewhere if you want to
}
}
return default(T);
}

Perhaps you could use a FileSystemWatcher and watch for the Changed event.
I haven't used this myself, but it might be worth a shot. If the filesystemwatcher turns out to be a bit heavy for this case, I would go for the try/catch/sleep loop.

The accepted answers above suffer an issue where if file has been opened for writing with a FileShare.Read mode or if the file has a Read-Only attribute the code will not work. This modified solution works most reliably, with two things to keep in mind (as true for the accepted solution also):
It will not work for files that has been opened with a write share mode
This does not take into account threading issues so you will need to lock it down or handle threading issues separately.
Keeping the above in mind, this checks if the file is either locked for writing or locked to prevent reading:
public static bool FileLocked(string FileName)
{
FileStream fs = null;
try
{
// NOTE: This doesn't handle situations where file is opened for writing by another process but put into write shared mode, it will not throw an exception and won't show it as write locked
fs = File.Open(FileName, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.ReadWrite, FileShare.None); // If we can't open file for reading and writing then it's locked by another process for writing
}
catch (UnauthorizedAccessException) // https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/y973b725(v=vs.110).aspx
{
// This is because the file is Read-Only and we tried to open in ReadWrite mode, now try to open in Read only mode
try
{
fs = File.Open(FileName, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.None);
}
catch (Exception)
{
return true; // This file has been locked, we can't even open it to read
}
}
catch (Exception)
{
return true; // This file has been locked
}
finally
{
if (fs != null)
fs.Close();
}
return false;
}

You can return a task which gives you a stream as soon as it becomes available. It's a simplified solution, but it is a good starting point. It's thread safe.
private async Task<Stream> GetStreamAsync()
{
try
{
return new FileStream("sample.mp3", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Write);
}
catch (IOException)
{
await Task.Delay(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1));
return await GetStreamAsync();
}
}
You can use this stream as usual:
using (var stream = await FileStreamGetter.GetStreamAsync())
{
Console.WriteLine(stream.Length);
}

static bool FileInUse(string path)
{
try
{
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(path, FileMode.OpenOrCreate))
{
fs.CanWrite
}
return false;
}
catch (IOException ex)
{
return true;
}
}
string filePath = "C:\\Documents And Settings\\yourfilename";
bool isFileInUse;
isFileInUse = FileInUse(filePath);
// Then you can do some checking
if (isFileInUse)
Console.WriteLine("File is in use");
else
Console.WriteLine("File is not in use");
Hope this helps!

Aside from working 3-liners and just for reference: If you want the full blown information - there is a little project on Microsoft Dev Center:
https://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsapps/How-to-know-the-process-704839f4
Now found at:
https://github.com/TacticalHorse/LockFinder/blob/master/LockFinder.cs
From the Introduction:
The C# sample code developed in .NET Framework 4.0 would help in
finding out which is the process that is having a lock on a file.
RmStartSession function which is included in rstrtmgr.dll has been
used to create a restart manager session and according to the return
result a new instance of Win32Exception object is created. After
registering the resources to a Restart Manager session via
RmRegisterRescources function, RmGetList function is invoked to check
what are the applications are using a particular file by enumerating
the RM_PROCESS_INFO array.
It works by connecting to the "Restart Manager Session".
The Restart Manager uses the list of resources registered with the session to
determine which applications and services must be shut down and restarted.
Resources can be identified by filenames, service short names, or
RM_UNIQUE_PROCESS structures that describe running applications.
It might be a little overengineered for your particular needs...
But if that is what you want, go ahead and grab the vs-project.

the only way I know of is to use the Win32 exclusive lock API which isn't too speedy, but examples exist.
Most people, for a simple solution to this, simply to try/catch/sleep loops.

Here is some code that as far as I can best tell does the same thing as the accepted answer but with less code:
public static bool IsFileLocked(string file)
{
try
{
using (var stream = File.OpenRead(file))
return false;
}
catch (IOException)
{
return true;
}
}
However I think it is more robust to do it in the following manner:
public static void TryToDoWithFileStream(string file, Action<FileStream> action,
int count, int msecTimeOut)
{
FileStream stream = null;
for (var i = 0; i < count; ++i)
{
try
{
stream = File.OpenRead(file);
break;
}
catch (IOException)
{
Thread.Sleep(msecTimeOut);
}
}
action(stream);
}

In my experience, you usually want to do this, then 'protect' your files to do something fancy and then use the 'protected' files. If you have just one file you want to use like this, you can use the trick that's explained in the answer by Jeremy Thompson. However, if you attempt to do this on lots of files (say, for example when you're writing an installer), you're in for quite a bit of hurt.
A very elegant way this can be solved is by using the fact that your file system will not allow you to change a folder name if one of the files there it's being used. Keep the folder in the same file system and it'll work like a charm.
Do note that you should be aware of the obvious ways this can be exploited. After all, the files won't be locked. Also, be aware that there are other reasons that can result in your Move operation to fail. Obviously proper error handling (MSDN) can help out here.
var originalFolder = #"c:\myHugeCollectionOfFiles"; // your folder name here
var someFolder = Path.Combine(originalFolder, "..", Guid.NewGuid().ToString("N"));
try
{
Directory.Move(originalFolder, someFolder);
// Use files
}
catch // TODO: proper exception handling
{
// Inform user, take action
}
finally
{
Directory.Move(someFolder, originalFolder);
}
For individual files I'd stick with the locking suggestion posted by Jeremy Thompson.

I once needed to upload PDFs to an online backup archive. But the backup would fail if the user had the file open in another program (such as PDF reader). In my haste, I attempted a few of the top answers in this thread but could not get them to work. What did work for me was trying to move the PDF file to its own directory. I found that this would fail if the file was open in another program, and if the move were successful there would be no restore-operation required as there would be if it were moved to a separate directory. I want to post my basic solution in case it may be useful for others' specific use cases.
string str_path_and_name = str_path + '\\' + str_filename;
FileInfo fInfo = new FileInfo(str_path_and_name);
bool open_elsewhere = false;
try
{
fInfo.MoveTo(str_path_and_name);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
open_elsewhere = true;
}
if (open_elsewhere)
{
//handle case
}

You can use my library for accessing files from multiple apps.
You can install it from nuget: Install-Package Xabe.FileLock
If you want more information about it check
https://github.com/tomaszzmuda/Xabe.FileLock
ILock fileLock = new FileLock(file);
if(fileLock.Acquire(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(15), true))
{
using(fileLock)
{
// file operations here
}
}
fileLock.Acquire method will return true only if can lock file exclusive for this object.
But app which uploading file must do it in file lock too.
If object is inaccessible metod returns false.

Would something like this help?
var fileWasWrittenSuccessfully = false;
while (fileWasWrittenSuccessfully == false)
{
try
{
lock (new Object())
{
using (StreamWriter streamWriter = new StreamWriter("filepath.txt"), true))
{
streamWriter.WriteLine("text");
}
}
fileWasWrittenSuccessfully = true;
}
catch (Exception)
{
}
}

Try and move/copy the file to a temp dir. If you can, it has no lock and you can safely work in the temp dir without getting locks. Else just try to move it again in x seconds.

I use this workaround, but i have a timespan between when i check the file locking with IsFileLocked function and when i open the file. In this timespan some other thread can open the file, so i will get IOException.
So, i added extra code for this. In my case i want load XDocument:
XDocument xDoc = null;
while (xDoc == null)
{
while (IsFileBeingUsed(_interactionXMLPath))
{
Logger.WriteMessage(Logger.LogPrioritet.Warning, "Deserialize can not open XML file. is being used by another process. wait...");
Thread.Sleep(100);
}
try
{
xDoc = XDocument.Load(_interactionXMLPath);
}
catch
{
Logger.WriteMessage(Logger.LogPrioritet.Error, "Load working!!!!!");
}
}
What do you think? Can i change some thing? Maybe i did not have to use IsFileBeingUsed function at all?
Thanks

I'm interested to see if this triggers any WTF reflexes. I have a process which creates and subsequently launches a PDF document from a console app. However, I was dealing with a frailty where if the user were to run the process multiple times, generating the same file without first closing the previously generated file, the app would throw an exception and die. This was a rather frequent occurrence because file names are based on sales quote numbers.
Rather than failing in such an ungraceful manner, I decided to rely on auto-incremented file versioning:
private static string WriteFileToDisk(byte[] data, string fileName, int version = 0)
{
try
{
var versionExtension = version > 0 ? $"_{version:000}" : string.Empty;
var filePath = Path.Combine(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory, $"{fileName}{versionExtension}.pdf");
using (var writer = new FileStream(filePath, FileMode.Create))
{
writer.Write(data, 0, data.Length);
}
return filePath;
}
catch (IOException)
{
return WriteFileToDisk(data, fileName, ++version);
}
}
Probably some more care can be given to the catch block to ensure I'm catching the correct IOException(s). I'll probably also clear out the app storage on startup since these files are intended to be temporary anyways.
I realize this goes beyond the scope of the OP's question of simply checking if the file is in use but this was indeed the problem I was looking to solve when I arrived here so perhaps it will be useful to someone else.

retry_possibility:
//somecode here
try
{
using(FileStream stream = file.Open(FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.None))
{
stream.Close();
}
//write or open your file here
}
catch (IOException)
{
DialogResult dialogResult = MessageBox.Show("This file is opened by you or another user. Please close it and press retry.\n"+ expFilePath, "File Locked", MessageBoxButtons.RetryCancel);
if (dialogResult == DialogResult.Retry)
{
goto retry_possibility;
}
else if (dialogResult == DialogResult.Cancel)
{
//do nothing
}
}

Why does the streamwriter in C# write multiple lines correctly one time and not the second time? [duplicate]

I have some code and when it executes, it throws a IOException, saying that
The process cannot access the file 'filename' because it is being used by
another process
What does this mean, and what can I do about it?

What is the cause?
The error message is pretty clear: you're trying to access a file, and it's not accessible because another process (or even the same process) is doing something with it (and it didn't allow any sharing).
Debugging
It may be pretty easy to solve (or pretty hard to understand), depending on your specific scenario. Let's see some.
Your process is the only one to access that file
You're sure the other process is your own process. If you know you open that file in another part of your program, then first of all you have to check that you properly close the file handle after each use. Here is an example of code with this bug:
var stream = new FileStream(path, FileAccess.Read);
var reader = new StreamReader(stream);
// Read data from this file, when I'm done I don't need it any more
File.Delete(path); // IOException: file is in use
Fortunately FileStream implements IDisposable, so it's easy to wrap all your code inside a using statement:
using (var stream = File.Open("myfile.txt", FileMode.Open)) {
// Use stream
}
// Here stream is not accessible and it has been closed (also if
// an exception is thrown and stack unrolled
This pattern will also ensure that the file won't be left open in case of exceptions (it may be the reason the file is in use: something went wrong, and no one closed it; see this post for an example).
If everything seems fine (you're sure you always close every file you open, even in case of exceptions) and you have multiple working threads, then you have two options: rework your code to serialize file access (not always doable and not always wanted) or apply a retry pattern. It's a pretty common pattern for I/O operations: you try to do something and in case of error you wait and try again (did you ask yourself why, for example, Windows Shell takes some time to inform you that a file is in use and cannot be deleted?). In C# it's pretty easy to implement (see also better examples about disk I/O, networking and database access).
private const int NumberOfRetries = 3;
private const int DelayOnRetry = 1000;
for (int i=1; i <= NumberOfRetries; ++i) {
try {
// Do stuff with file
break; // When done we can break loop
}
catch (IOException e) when (i <= NumberOfRetries) {
// You may check error code to filter some exceptions, not every error
// can be recovered.
Thread.Sleep(DelayOnRetry);
}
}
Please note a common error we see very often on StackOverflow:
var stream = File.Open(path, FileOpen.Read);
var content = File.ReadAllText(path);
In this case ReadAllText() will fail because the file is in use (File.Open() in the line before). To open the file beforehand is not only unnecessary but also wrong. The same applies to all File functions that don't return a handle to the file you're working with: File.ReadAllText(), File.WriteAllText(), File.ReadAllLines(), File.WriteAllLines() and others (like File.AppendAllXyz() functions) will all open and close the file by themselves.
Your process is not the only one to access that file
If your process is not the only one to access that file, then interaction can be harder. A retry pattern will help (if the file shouldn't be open by anyone else but it is, then you need a utility like Process Explorer to check who is doing what).
Ways to avoid
When applicable, always use using statements to open files. As said in previous paragraph, it'll actively help you to avoid many common errors (see this post for an example on how not to use it).
If possible, try to decide who owns access to a specific file and centralize access through a few well-known methods. If, for example, you have a data file where your program reads and writes, then you should box all I/O code inside a single class. It'll make debug easier (because you can always put a breakpoint there and see who is doing what) and also it'll be a synchronization point (if required) for multiple access.
Don't forget I/O operations can always fail, a common example is this:
if (File.Exists(path))
File.Delete(path);
If someone deletes the file after File.Exists() but before File.Delete(), then it'll throw an IOException in a place where you may wrongly feel safe.
Whenever it's possible, apply a retry pattern, and if you're using FileSystemWatcher, consider postponing action (because you'll get notified, but an application may still be working exclusively with that file).
Advanced scenarios
It's not always so easy, so you may need to share access with someone else. If, for example, you're reading from the beginning and writing to the end, you have at least two options.
1) share the same FileStream with proper synchronization functions (because it is not thread-safe). See this and this posts for an example.
2) use FileShare enumeration to instruct OS to allow other processes (or other parts of your own process) to access same file concurrently.
using (var stream = File.Open(path, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.Read))
{
}
In this example I showed how to open a file for writing and share for reading; please note that when reading and writing overlaps, it results in undefined or invalid data. It's a situation that must be handled when reading. Also note that this doesn't make access to the stream thread-safe, so this object can't be shared with multiple threads unless access is synchronized somehow (see previous links). Other sharing options are available, and they open up more complex scenarios. Please refer to MSDN for more details.
In general N processes can read from same file all together but only one should write, in a controlled scenario you may even enable concurrent writings but this can't be generalized in few text paragraphs inside this answer.
Is it possible to unlock a file used by another process? It's not always safe and not so easy but yes, it's possible.

Using FileShare fixed my issue of opening file even if it is opened by another process.
using (var stream = File.Open(path, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.ReadWrite))
{
}

Problem
one is tying to open file System.IO.File.Open(path, FileMode) with this method and want a shared access on file but
if u read documentation of System.IO.File.Open(path, FileMode) it is explicitly saying its does not allow sharing
Solution
use you have to use other override with FileShare
using FileStream fs = System.IO.File.Open(filePath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.Read);
with FileShare.Read

Had an issue while uploading an image and couldn't delete it and found a solution. gl hf
//C# .NET
var image = Image.FromFile(filePath);
image.Dispose(); // this removes all resources
//later...
File.Delete(filePath); //now works

As other answers in this thread have pointed out, to resolve this error you need to carefully inspect the code, to understand where the file is getting locked.
In my case, I was sending out the file as an email attachment before performing the move operation.
So the file got locked for couple of seconds until SMTP client finished sending the email.
The solution I adopted was to move the file first, and then send the email. This solved the problem for me.
Another possible solution, as pointed out earlier by Hudson, would've been to dispose the object after use.
public static SendEmail()
{
MailMessage mMailMessage = new MailMessage();
//setup other email stuff
if (File.Exists(attachmentPath))
{
Attachment attachment = new Attachment(attachmentPath);
mMailMessage.Attachments.Add(attachment);
attachment.Dispose(); //disposing the Attachment object
}
}

I got this error because I was doing File.Move to a file path without a file name, need to specify the full path in the destination.

The error indicates another process is trying to access the file. Maybe you or someone else has it open while you are attempting to write to it. "Read" or "Copy" usually doesn't cause this, but writing to it or calling delete on it would.
There are some basic things to avoid this, as other answers have mentioned:
In FileStream operations, place it in a using block with a FileShare.ReadWrite mode of access.
For example:
using (FileStream stream = File.Open(path, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.ReadWrite))
{
}
Note that FileAccess.ReadWrite is not possible if you use FileMode.Append.
I ran across this issue when I was using an input stream to do a File.SaveAs when the file was in use. In my case I found, I didn't actually need to save it back to the file system at all, so I ended up just removing that, but I probably could've tried creating a FileStream in a using statement with FileAccess.ReadWrite, much like the code above.
Saving your data as a different file and going back to delete the old one when it is found to be no longer in use, then renaming the one that saved successfully to the name of the original one is an option. How you test for the file being in use is accomplished through the
List<Process> lstProcs = ProcessHandler.WhoIsLocking(file);
line in my code below, and could be done in a Windows service, on a loop, if you have a particular file you want to watch and delete regularly when you want to replace it. If you don't always have the same file, a text file or database table could be updated that the service always checks for file names, and then performs that check for processes & subsequently performs the process kills and deletion on it, as I describe in the next option. Note that you'll need an account user name and password that has Admin privileges on the given computer, of course, to perform the deletion and ending of processes.
When you don't know if a file will be in use when you are trying to save it, you can close all processes that could be using it, like Word, if it's a Word document, ahead of the save.
If it is local, you can do this:
ProcessHandler.localProcessKill("winword.exe");
If it is remote, you can do this:
ProcessHandler.remoteProcessKill(computerName, txtUserName, txtPassword, "winword.exe");
where txtUserName is in the form of DOMAIN\user.
Let's say you don't know the process name that is locking the file. Then, you can do this:
List<Process> lstProcs = new List<Process>();
lstProcs = ProcessHandler.WhoIsLocking(file);
foreach (Process p in lstProcs)
{
if (p.MachineName == ".")
ProcessHandler.localProcessKill(p.ProcessName);
else
ProcessHandler.remoteProcessKill(p.MachineName, txtUserName, txtPassword, p.ProcessName);
}
Note that file must be the UNC path: \\computer\share\yourdoc.docx in order for the Process to figure out what computer it's on and p.MachineName to be valid.
Below is the class these functions use, which requires adding a reference to System.Management. The code was originally written by Eric J.:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Management;
namespace MyProject
{
public static class ProcessHandler
{
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
struct RM_UNIQUE_PROCESS
{
public int dwProcessId;
public System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComTypes.FILETIME ProcessStartTime;
}
const int RmRebootReasonNone = 0;
const int CCH_RM_MAX_APP_NAME = 255;
const int CCH_RM_MAX_SVC_NAME = 63;
enum RM_APP_TYPE
{
RmUnknownApp = 0,
RmMainWindow = 1,
RmOtherWindow = 2,
RmService = 3,
RmExplorer = 4,
RmConsole = 5,
RmCritical = 1000
}
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
struct RM_PROCESS_INFO
{
public RM_UNIQUE_PROCESS Process;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = CCH_RM_MAX_APP_NAME + 1)]
public string strAppName;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = CCH_RM_MAX_SVC_NAME + 1)]
public string strServiceShortName;
public RM_APP_TYPE ApplicationType;
public uint AppStatus;
public uint TSSessionId;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
public bool bRestartable;
}
[DllImport("rstrtmgr.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
static extern int RmRegisterResources(uint pSessionHandle,
UInt32 nFiles,
string[] rgsFilenames,
UInt32 nApplications,
[In] RM_UNIQUE_PROCESS[] rgApplications,
UInt32 nServices,
string[] rgsServiceNames);
[DllImport("rstrtmgr.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
static extern int RmStartSession(out uint pSessionHandle, int dwSessionFlags, string strSessionKey);
[DllImport("rstrtmgr.dll")]
static extern int RmEndSession(uint pSessionHandle);
[DllImport("rstrtmgr.dll")]
static extern int RmGetList(uint dwSessionHandle,
out uint pnProcInfoNeeded,
ref uint pnProcInfo,
[In, Out] RM_PROCESS_INFO[] rgAffectedApps,
ref uint lpdwRebootReasons);
/// <summary>
/// Find out what process(es) have a lock on the specified file.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="path">Path of the file.</param>
/// <returns>Processes locking the file</returns>
/// <remarks>See also:
/// http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa373661(v=vs.85).aspx
/// http://wyupdate.googlecode.com/svn-history/r401/trunk/frmFilesInUse.cs (no copyright in code at time of viewing)
///
/// </remarks>
static public List<Process> WhoIsLocking(string path)
{
uint handle;
string key = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
List<Process> processes = new List<Process>();
int res = RmStartSession(out handle, 0, key);
if (res != 0) throw new Exception("Could not begin restart session. Unable to determine file locker.");
try
{
const int ERROR_MORE_DATA = 234;
uint pnProcInfoNeeded = 0,
pnProcInfo = 0,
lpdwRebootReasons = RmRebootReasonNone;
string[] resources = new string[] { path }; // Just checking on one resource.
res = RmRegisterResources(handle, (uint)resources.Length, resources, 0, null, 0, null);
if (res != 0) throw new Exception("Could not register resource.");
//Note: there's a race condition here -- the first call to RmGetList() returns
// the total number of process. However, when we call RmGetList() again to get
// the actual processes this number may have increased.
res = RmGetList(handle, out pnProcInfoNeeded, ref pnProcInfo, null, ref lpdwRebootReasons);
if (res == ERROR_MORE_DATA)
{
// Create an array to store the process results
RM_PROCESS_INFO[] processInfo = new RM_PROCESS_INFO[pnProcInfoNeeded];
pnProcInfo = pnProcInfoNeeded;
// Get the list
res = RmGetList(handle, out pnProcInfoNeeded, ref pnProcInfo, processInfo, ref lpdwRebootReasons);
if (res == 0)
{
processes = new List<Process>((int)pnProcInfo);
// Enumerate all of the results and add them to the
// list to be returned
for (int i = 0; i < pnProcInfo; i++)
{
try
{
processes.Add(Process.GetProcessById(processInfo[i].Process.dwProcessId));
}
// catch the error -- in case the process is no longer running
catch (ArgumentException) { }
}
}
else throw new Exception("Could not list processes locking resource.");
}
else if (res != 0) throw new Exception("Could not list processes locking resource. Failed to get size of result.");
}
finally
{
RmEndSession(handle);
}
return processes;
}
public static void remoteProcessKill(string computerName, string userName, string pword, string processName)
{
var connectoptions = new ConnectionOptions();
connectoptions.Username = userName;
connectoptions.Password = pword;
ManagementScope scope = new ManagementScope(#"\\" + computerName + #"\root\cimv2", connectoptions);
// WMI query
var query = new SelectQuery("select * from Win32_process where name = '" + processName + "'");
using (var searcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(scope, query))
{
foreach (ManagementObject process in searcher.Get())
{
process.InvokeMethod("Terminate", null);
process.Dispose();
}
}
}
public static void localProcessKill(string processName)
{
foreach (Process p in Process.GetProcessesByName(processName))
{
p.Kill();
}
}
[DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
public static extern bool MoveFileEx(string lpExistingFileName, string lpNewFileName, int dwFlags);
public const int MOVEFILE_DELAY_UNTIL_REBOOT = 0x4;
}
}

I had this problem and it was solved by following the code below
var _path=MyFile.FileName;
using (var stream = new FileStream
(_path, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite))
{
// Your Code! ;
}

I had a very specific situation where I was getting an "IOException: The process cannot access the file 'file path'" on the line
File.Delete(fileName);
Inside an NUnit test that looked like:
Assert.Throws<IOException>(() =>
{
using (var sr = File.OpenText(fileName) {
var line = sr.ReadLine();
}
});
File.Delete(fileName);
It turns out NUnit 3 uses something they call "isolated context" for exception assertions. This probably runs on a separate thread.
My fix was to put the File.Delete in the same context.
Assert.Throws<IOException>(() =>
{
try
{
using (var sr = File.OpenText(fileName) {
var line = sr.ReadLine();
}
}
catch
{
File.Delete(fileName);
throw;
}
});

I had the following scenario that was causing the same error:
Upload files to the server
Then get rid of the old files after they have been uploaded
Most files were small in size, however, a few were large, and so attempting to delete those resulted in the cannot access file error.
It was not easy to find, however, the solution was as simple as Waiting "for the task to complete execution":
using (var wc = new WebClient())
{
var tskResult = wc.UploadFileTaskAsync(_address, _fileName);
tskResult.Wait();
}

In my case this problem was solved by Opening the file for Shared writing/reading. Following are the sample codes for shared reading and writing:-
Stream Writer
using(FileStream fs = new FileStream("D:\\test.txt",
FileMode.Append, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.ReadWrite))
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(fs))
{
sw.WriteLine("any thing which you want to write");
}
Stream Reader
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream("D:\\test.txt", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite))
using (StreamReader rr=new StreamReader(fs))
{
rr.ReadLine())
}

My below code solve this issue, but i suggest
First of all you need to understand what causing this issue and try the solution which you can find by changing code
I can give another way to solve this issue but better solution is to check your coding structure and try to analyse what makes this happen,if you do not find any solution then you can go with this code below
try{
Start:
///Put your file access code here
}catch (Exception ex)
{
//by anyway you need to handle this error with below code
if (ex.Message.StartsWith("The process cannot access the file"))
{
//Wait for 5 seconds to free that file and then start execution again
Thread.Sleep(5000);
goto Start;
}
}

File Delete, it's being used by another process [duplicate]

I have some code and when it executes, it throws a IOException, saying that
The process cannot access the file 'filename' because it is being used by
another process
What does this mean, and what can I do about it?

What is the cause?
The error message is pretty clear: you're trying to access a file, and it's not accessible because another process (or even the same process) is doing something with it (and it didn't allow any sharing).
Debugging
It may be pretty easy to solve (or pretty hard to understand), depending on your specific scenario. Let's see some.
Your process is the only one to access that file
You're sure the other process is your own process. If you know you open that file in another part of your program, then first of all you have to check that you properly close the file handle after each use. Here is an example of code with this bug:
var stream = new FileStream(path, FileAccess.Read);
var reader = new StreamReader(stream);
// Read data from this file, when I'm done I don't need it any more
File.Delete(path); // IOException: file is in use
Fortunately FileStream implements IDisposable, so it's easy to wrap all your code inside a using statement:
using (var stream = File.Open("myfile.txt", FileMode.Open)) {
// Use stream
}
// Here stream is not accessible and it has been closed (also if
// an exception is thrown and stack unrolled
This pattern will also ensure that the file won't be left open in case of exceptions (it may be the reason the file is in use: something went wrong, and no one closed it; see this post for an example).
If everything seems fine (you're sure you always close every file you open, even in case of exceptions) and you have multiple working threads, then you have two options: rework your code to serialize file access (not always doable and not always wanted) or apply a retry pattern. It's a pretty common pattern for I/O operations: you try to do something and in case of error you wait and try again (did you ask yourself why, for example, Windows Shell takes some time to inform you that a file is in use and cannot be deleted?). In C# it's pretty easy to implement (see also better examples about disk I/O, networking and database access).
private const int NumberOfRetries = 3;
private const int DelayOnRetry = 1000;
for (int i=1; i <= NumberOfRetries; ++i) {
try {
// Do stuff with file
break; // When done we can break loop
}
catch (IOException e) when (i <= NumberOfRetries) {
// You may check error code to filter some exceptions, not every error
// can be recovered.
Thread.Sleep(DelayOnRetry);
}
}
Please note a common error we see very often on StackOverflow:
var stream = File.Open(path, FileOpen.Read);
var content = File.ReadAllText(path);
In this case ReadAllText() will fail because the file is in use (File.Open() in the line before). To open the file beforehand is not only unnecessary but also wrong. The same applies to all File functions that don't return a handle to the file you're working with: File.ReadAllText(), File.WriteAllText(), File.ReadAllLines(), File.WriteAllLines() and others (like File.AppendAllXyz() functions) will all open and close the file by themselves.
Your process is not the only one to access that file
If your process is not the only one to access that file, then interaction can be harder. A retry pattern will help (if the file shouldn't be open by anyone else but it is, then you need a utility like Process Explorer to check who is doing what).
Ways to avoid
When applicable, always use using statements to open files. As said in previous paragraph, it'll actively help you to avoid many common errors (see this post for an example on how not to use it).
If possible, try to decide who owns access to a specific file and centralize access through a few well-known methods. If, for example, you have a data file where your program reads and writes, then you should box all I/O code inside a single class. It'll make debug easier (because you can always put a breakpoint there and see who is doing what) and also it'll be a synchronization point (if required) for multiple access.
Don't forget I/O operations can always fail, a common example is this:
if (File.Exists(path))
File.Delete(path);
If someone deletes the file after File.Exists() but before File.Delete(), then it'll throw an IOException in a place where you may wrongly feel safe.
Whenever it's possible, apply a retry pattern, and if you're using FileSystemWatcher, consider postponing action (because you'll get notified, but an application may still be working exclusively with that file).
Advanced scenarios
It's not always so easy, so you may need to share access with someone else. If, for example, you're reading from the beginning and writing to the end, you have at least two options.
1) share the same FileStream with proper synchronization functions (because it is not thread-safe). See this and this posts for an example.
2) use FileShare enumeration to instruct OS to allow other processes (or other parts of your own process) to access same file concurrently.
using (var stream = File.Open(path, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.Read))
{
}
In this example I showed how to open a file for writing and share for reading; please note that when reading and writing overlaps, it results in undefined or invalid data. It's a situation that must be handled when reading. Also note that this doesn't make access to the stream thread-safe, so this object can't be shared with multiple threads unless access is synchronized somehow (see previous links). Other sharing options are available, and they open up more complex scenarios. Please refer to MSDN for more details.
In general N processes can read from same file all together but only one should write, in a controlled scenario you may even enable concurrent writings but this can't be generalized in few text paragraphs inside this answer.
Is it possible to unlock a file used by another process? It's not always safe and not so easy but yes, it's possible.

Using FileShare fixed my issue of opening file even if it is opened by another process.
using (var stream = File.Open(path, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.ReadWrite))
{
}

Problem
one is tying to open file System.IO.File.Open(path, FileMode) with this method and want a shared access on file but
if u read documentation of System.IO.File.Open(path, FileMode) it is explicitly saying its does not allow sharing
Solution
use you have to use other override with FileShare
using FileStream fs = System.IO.File.Open(filePath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.Read);
with FileShare.Read

Had an issue while uploading an image and couldn't delete it and found a solution. gl hf
//C# .NET
var image = Image.FromFile(filePath);
image.Dispose(); // this removes all resources
//later...
File.Delete(filePath); //now works

As other answers in this thread have pointed out, to resolve this error you need to carefully inspect the code, to understand where the file is getting locked.
In my case, I was sending out the file as an email attachment before performing the move operation.
So the file got locked for couple of seconds until SMTP client finished sending the email.
The solution I adopted was to move the file first, and then send the email. This solved the problem for me.
Another possible solution, as pointed out earlier by Hudson, would've been to dispose the object after use.
public static SendEmail()
{
MailMessage mMailMessage = new MailMessage();
//setup other email stuff
if (File.Exists(attachmentPath))
{
Attachment attachment = new Attachment(attachmentPath);
mMailMessage.Attachments.Add(attachment);
attachment.Dispose(); //disposing the Attachment object
}
}

I got this error because I was doing File.Move to a file path without a file name, need to specify the full path in the destination.

The error indicates another process is trying to access the file. Maybe you or someone else has it open while you are attempting to write to it. "Read" or "Copy" usually doesn't cause this, but writing to it or calling delete on it would.
There are some basic things to avoid this, as other answers have mentioned:
In FileStream operations, place it in a using block with a FileShare.ReadWrite mode of access.
For example:
using (FileStream stream = File.Open(path, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.ReadWrite))
{
}
Note that FileAccess.ReadWrite is not possible if you use FileMode.Append.
I ran across this issue when I was using an input stream to do a File.SaveAs when the file was in use. In my case I found, I didn't actually need to save it back to the file system at all, so I ended up just removing that, but I probably could've tried creating a FileStream in a using statement with FileAccess.ReadWrite, much like the code above.
Saving your data as a different file and going back to delete the old one when it is found to be no longer in use, then renaming the one that saved successfully to the name of the original one is an option. How you test for the file being in use is accomplished through the
List<Process> lstProcs = ProcessHandler.WhoIsLocking(file);
line in my code below, and could be done in a Windows service, on a loop, if you have a particular file you want to watch and delete regularly when you want to replace it. If you don't always have the same file, a text file or database table could be updated that the service always checks for file names, and then performs that check for processes & subsequently performs the process kills and deletion on it, as I describe in the next option. Note that you'll need an account user name and password that has Admin privileges on the given computer, of course, to perform the deletion and ending of processes.
When you don't know if a file will be in use when you are trying to save it, you can close all processes that could be using it, like Word, if it's a Word document, ahead of the save.
If it is local, you can do this:
ProcessHandler.localProcessKill("winword.exe");
If it is remote, you can do this:
ProcessHandler.remoteProcessKill(computerName, txtUserName, txtPassword, "winword.exe");
where txtUserName is in the form of DOMAIN\user.
Let's say you don't know the process name that is locking the file. Then, you can do this:
List<Process> lstProcs = new List<Process>();
lstProcs = ProcessHandler.WhoIsLocking(file);
foreach (Process p in lstProcs)
{
if (p.MachineName == ".")
ProcessHandler.localProcessKill(p.ProcessName);
else
ProcessHandler.remoteProcessKill(p.MachineName, txtUserName, txtPassword, p.ProcessName);
}
Note that file must be the UNC path: \\computer\share\yourdoc.docx in order for the Process to figure out what computer it's on and p.MachineName to be valid.
Below is the class these functions use, which requires adding a reference to System.Management. The code was originally written by Eric J.:
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Management;
namespace MyProject
{
public static class ProcessHandler
{
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
struct RM_UNIQUE_PROCESS
{
public int dwProcessId;
public System.Runtime.InteropServices.ComTypes.FILETIME ProcessStartTime;
}
const int RmRebootReasonNone = 0;
const int CCH_RM_MAX_APP_NAME = 255;
const int CCH_RM_MAX_SVC_NAME = 63;
enum RM_APP_TYPE
{
RmUnknownApp = 0,
RmMainWindow = 1,
RmOtherWindow = 2,
RmService = 3,
RmExplorer = 4,
RmConsole = 5,
RmCritical = 1000
}
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential, CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
struct RM_PROCESS_INFO
{
public RM_UNIQUE_PROCESS Process;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = CCH_RM_MAX_APP_NAME + 1)]
public string strAppName;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.ByValTStr, SizeConst = CCH_RM_MAX_SVC_NAME + 1)]
public string strServiceShortName;
public RM_APP_TYPE ApplicationType;
public uint AppStatus;
public uint TSSessionId;
[MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)]
public bool bRestartable;
}
[DllImport("rstrtmgr.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Unicode)]
static extern int RmRegisterResources(uint pSessionHandle,
UInt32 nFiles,
string[] rgsFilenames,
UInt32 nApplications,
[In] RM_UNIQUE_PROCESS[] rgApplications,
UInt32 nServices,
string[] rgsServiceNames);
[DllImport("rstrtmgr.dll", CharSet = CharSet.Auto)]
static extern int RmStartSession(out uint pSessionHandle, int dwSessionFlags, string strSessionKey);
[DllImport("rstrtmgr.dll")]
static extern int RmEndSession(uint pSessionHandle);
[DllImport("rstrtmgr.dll")]
static extern int RmGetList(uint dwSessionHandle,
out uint pnProcInfoNeeded,
ref uint pnProcInfo,
[In, Out] RM_PROCESS_INFO[] rgAffectedApps,
ref uint lpdwRebootReasons);
/// <summary>
/// Find out what process(es) have a lock on the specified file.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="path">Path of the file.</param>
/// <returns>Processes locking the file</returns>
/// <remarks>See also:
/// http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa373661(v=vs.85).aspx
/// http://wyupdate.googlecode.com/svn-history/r401/trunk/frmFilesInUse.cs (no copyright in code at time of viewing)
///
/// </remarks>
static public List<Process> WhoIsLocking(string path)
{
uint handle;
string key = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
List<Process> processes = new List<Process>();
int res = RmStartSession(out handle, 0, key);
if (res != 0) throw new Exception("Could not begin restart session. Unable to determine file locker.");
try
{
const int ERROR_MORE_DATA = 234;
uint pnProcInfoNeeded = 0,
pnProcInfo = 0,
lpdwRebootReasons = RmRebootReasonNone;
string[] resources = new string[] { path }; // Just checking on one resource.
res = RmRegisterResources(handle, (uint)resources.Length, resources, 0, null, 0, null);
if (res != 0) throw new Exception("Could not register resource.");
//Note: there's a race condition here -- the first call to RmGetList() returns
// the total number of process. However, when we call RmGetList() again to get
// the actual processes this number may have increased.
res = RmGetList(handle, out pnProcInfoNeeded, ref pnProcInfo, null, ref lpdwRebootReasons);
if (res == ERROR_MORE_DATA)
{
// Create an array to store the process results
RM_PROCESS_INFO[] processInfo = new RM_PROCESS_INFO[pnProcInfoNeeded];
pnProcInfo = pnProcInfoNeeded;
// Get the list
res = RmGetList(handle, out pnProcInfoNeeded, ref pnProcInfo, processInfo, ref lpdwRebootReasons);
if (res == 0)
{
processes = new List<Process>((int)pnProcInfo);
// Enumerate all of the results and add them to the
// list to be returned
for (int i = 0; i < pnProcInfo; i++)
{
try
{
processes.Add(Process.GetProcessById(processInfo[i].Process.dwProcessId));
}
// catch the error -- in case the process is no longer running
catch (ArgumentException) { }
}
}
else throw new Exception("Could not list processes locking resource.");
}
else if (res != 0) throw new Exception("Could not list processes locking resource. Failed to get size of result.");
}
finally
{
RmEndSession(handle);
}
return processes;
}
public static void remoteProcessKill(string computerName, string userName, string pword, string processName)
{
var connectoptions = new ConnectionOptions();
connectoptions.Username = userName;
connectoptions.Password = pword;
ManagementScope scope = new ManagementScope(#"\\" + computerName + #"\root\cimv2", connectoptions);
// WMI query
var query = new SelectQuery("select * from Win32_process where name = '" + processName + "'");
using (var searcher = new ManagementObjectSearcher(scope, query))
{
foreach (ManagementObject process in searcher.Get())
{
process.InvokeMethod("Terminate", null);
process.Dispose();
}
}
}
public static void localProcessKill(string processName)
{
foreach (Process p in Process.GetProcessesByName(processName))
{
p.Kill();
}
}
[DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
public static extern bool MoveFileEx(string lpExistingFileName, string lpNewFileName, int dwFlags);
public const int MOVEFILE_DELAY_UNTIL_REBOOT = 0x4;
}
}

I had this problem and it was solved by following the code below
var _path=MyFile.FileName;
using (var stream = new FileStream
(_path, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite))
{
// Your Code! ;
}

I had a very specific situation where I was getting an "IOException: The process cannot access the file 'file path'" on the line
File.Delete(fileName);
Inside an NUnit test that looked like:
Assert.Throws<IOException>(() =>
{
using (var sr = File.OpenText(fileName) {
var line = sr.ReadLine();
}
});
File.Delete(fileName);
It turns out NUnit 3 uses something they call "isolated context" for exception assertions. This probably runs on a separate thread.
My fix was to put the File.Delete in the same context.
Assert.Throws<IOException>(() =>
{
try
{
using (var sr = File.OpenText(fileName) {
var line = sr.ReadLine();
}
}
catch
{
File.Delete(fileName);
throw;
}
});

I had the following scenario that was causing the same error:
Upload files to the server
Then get rid of the old files after they have been uploaded
Most files were small in size, however, a few were large, and so attempting to delete those resulted in the cannot access file error.
It was not easy to find, however, the solution was as simple as Waiting "for the task to complete execution":
using (var wc = new WebClient())
{
var tskResult = wc.UploadFileTaskAsync(_address, _fileName);
tskResult.Wait();
}

In my case this problem was solved by Opening the file for Shared writing/reading. Following are the sample codes for shared reading and writing:-
Stream Writer
using(FileStream fs = new FileStream("D:\\test.txt",
FileMode.Append, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.ReadWrite))
using (StreamWriter sw = new StreamWriter(fs))
{
sw.WriteLine("any thing which you want to write");
}
Stream Reader
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream("D:\\test.txt", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite))
using (StreamReader rr=new StreamReader(fs))
{
rr.ReadLine())
}

My below code solve this issue, but i suggest
First of all you need to understand what causing this issue and try the solution which you can find by changing code
I can give another way to solve this issue but better solution is to check your coding structure and try to analyse what makes this happen,if you do not find any solution then you can go with this code below
try{
Start:
///Put your file access code here
}catch (Exception ex)
{
//by anyway you need to handle this error with below code
if (ex.Message.StartsWith("The process cannot access the file"))
{
//Wait for 5 seconds to free that file and then start execution again
Thread.Sleep(5000);
goto Start;
}
}

Reading file contents from many processes at the same time

I have a class library that gets called from a windows service, the class library can be called many times at the same time.
I have an issue where i have to read file contents in my class, so i get the error that the file is being used by another process if the class is getting called by many processes.
This is how i read the file content:
File.ReadAllBytes("path");
What is the best solution in this case ?
Thank you

The following code demonstrates to access a file by setting its share permissions. The first using block creates and writes file, second and third using blocks access and read the file.
var fileName = "test.txt";
using (var fsWrite = new FileStream(fileName, FileMode.OpenOrCreate, FileAccess.Write, FileShare.ReadWrite))
{
var content = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes("test");
fsWrite.Write(content, 0, content.Length);
fsWrite.Flush();
using (var fsRead_1 = new FileStream(fileName, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite))
{
var bufRead_1 = new byte[fsRead_1.Length];
fsRead_1.Read(bufRead_1, 0, bufRead_1.Length);
Console.WriteLine("fsRead_1:" + Encoding.UTF8.GetString(bufRead_1));
using (var fsRead_2 = new FileStream(fileName, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite))
{
var bufRead_2 = new byte[fsRead_2.Length];
fsRead_2.Read(bufRead_2, 0, bufRead_2.Length);
Console.WriteLine("fsRead_2:" + Encoding.UTF8.GetString(bufRead_2));
}
}
}

You need to synchronize the access to the whole file using standard thread synchronization approaches.
The simplest one is Monitor using lock statement:
public class A
{
private static readonly object _sync = new object();
public void DoStuff()
{
// All threads trying to enter this critical section will
// wait until the first to enter exits it
lock(_sync)
{
byte[] buffer = File.ReadAllBytes(#"C:\file.jpg");
}
}
}
Note
Firstly, I was understanding OP was accessing the file from different processes, but when I double-checked the statement:
I have a class library that gets called from a windows service, the
class library can be called many times at the same time.
...I realized OP is calling a method which reads all bytes from some file within the same Windows service instance.

Use Mutex for syncing among different processes. File.ReadAllBytes uses a FileAccess.Read and FileShare.Read when reads the file, so normally you don't need to use any locks here. So you get this exception because the file is being written somewhere (or at least is locked for writing).
Solution 1 - if you are the one who writes this file
private static Mutex mutex;
public void WriteFile(string path)
{
Mutex mutex = GetOrCreateMutex();
try
{
mutex.WaitOne();
// TODO: ... write file
}
finally
{
mutex.ReleaseMutex();
}
}
public byte[] ReadFile(string path)
{
// Note: If you just read the file, this lock is completely unnecessary
// because ReadAllFile uses Read access. This just protects the file
// being read and written at the same time
Mutex mutex = GetOrCreateMutex();
try
{
mutex.WaitOne();
return File.ReadAllBytes(path);
}
finally
{
mutex.ReleaseMutex();
}
}
private static Mutex GetOrCreateMutex()
{
try
{
mutex = Mutex.OpenExisting("MyMutex");
}
catch (WaitHandleCannotBeOpenedException)
{
mutex = new Mutex(false, "MyMutex");
}
}
Remark: A ReadWriteLock would be better here because you can read a file safely parallelly when it is not being written; however, there is no built-in inter-process read-write lock in .NET. Here is an example how you can implement one with Mutex and Semaphor types.
Solution 2 - if you just read the file
You must simply being prepared that the file can be locked when it is being written by a 3rd process:
public byte[] TryReadFile(string path, int maxTry)
{
Exception e;
for (int i = 0; i < maxTry; i++)
{
try
{
return File.ReadAllBytes(path);
}
catch (IOException io)
{
e = io;
Thread.Sleep(100);
}
}
throw e; // or just return null
}

Create 2 FileStream on the same file in the same process

I'm trying to create a temporary file that will be automatically deleted.
stream = new FileStream(
tmpFilePath,
FileMode.OpenOrCreate,
FileAccess.ReadWrite,
FileShare.ReadWrite,
4096,
FileOptions.DeleteOnClose|FileOptions.RandomAccess
);
This file will be used by a 3rd party API which will also create a FileStream:
stream = new FileStream(
tmpFilePath,
FileMode.Open,
FileAccess.Read,
FileShare.Read);
I think I've tried all possible combination of flags but I always get a "The process cannot access the file 'XXX' because it is being used by another process..."
Am I doing something wrong? Is there a way around?

According to the documentation, yes.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.fileshare.aspx
Excerpt:
Read: Allows subsequent opening of the file for reading. If this flag is not specified, any request to open the file for reading (by this process or another process) will fail until the file is closed. However, even if this flag is specified, additional permissions might still be needed to access the file.

I have exactly the same use case and encounter the same problem. What I try is using (FileShare.ReadWrite | FileShare.Delete) for both streams and it works.

In my experience, a FileStream opened with FileOptions.DeleteOnClose cannot be opened by passing the file path to another FileStream regardless of the FileShare value.
When you own all the code (clearly not your case, sorry) DuplicateHandle can be used to open a DeleteOnClose file multiple times, even from different processes.
Here's some example code for .NET 4.5.1.
using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using Microsoft.Win32.SafeHandles;
namespace Example
{
public static class DuplicatedHandleExample
{
[DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
private static extern bool DuplicateHandle(
SafeFileHandle hSourceProcessHandle,
IntPtr hSourceHandle,
SafeFileHandle hTargetProcessHandle,
out SafeFileHandle lpTargetHandle,
UInt32 dwDesiredAccess,
bool bInheritHandle,
UInt32 dwOptions);
[DllImport("kernel32.dll")]
private static extern SafeFileHandle OpenProcess(
UInt32 dwDesiredAccess,
bool bInheritHandle,
int dwProcessId);
private const UInt32 PROCESS_DUP_HANDLE = 0x0040;
private const UInt32 DUPLICATE_SAME_ACCESS = 0x0002;
public static void CreateFileInProcessA()
{
try
{
// open new temp file with FileOptions.DeleteOnClose
string tempFilePath = Path.Combine(Path.GetTempPath(), Guid.NewGuid().ToString("D"));
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(tempFilePath, FileMode.CreateNew,
FileAccess.ReadWrite, FileShare.Read | FileShare.Write | FileShare.Delete,
4096, FileOptions.DeleteOnClose))
{
// put a message in the temp file
fs.Write(new[] { (byte)'h', (byte)'i', (byte)'!' }, 0, 3);
fs.Flush();
// put our process ID and file handle on clipboard
string data = string.Join(",",
Process.GetCurrentProcess().Id.ToString(),
fs.SafeFileHandle.DangerousGetHandle().ToString());
Clipboard.SetData(DataFormats.UnicodeText, data);
// show messagebox (while holding file open!) and wait for user to click OK
MessageBox.Show("Temp File opened. Process ID and File Handle copied to clipboard. Click OK to close temp file.");
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.ToString());
}
}
public static void OpenFileInProcessB()
{
try
{
// get process ID and file handle from clipboard
string data = (string)Clipboard.GetData(DataFormats.UnicodeText);
string[] dataParts = data.Split(',');
int sourceProcessId = int.Parse(dataParts[0]);
IntPtr sourceFileHandle = new IntPtr(Int64.Parse(dataParts[1]));
// get handle to target process
using (SafeFileHandle sourceProcessHandle =
OpenProcess(PROCESS_DUP_HANDLE, false, sourceProcessId))
{
// get handle to our process
using (SafeFileHandle destinationProcessHandle =
OpenProcess(PROCESS_DUP_HANDLE, false, Process.GetCurrentProcess().Id))
{
// duplicate handle into our process
SafeFileHandle destinationFileHandle;
DuplicateHandle(sourceProcessHandle, sourceFileHandle,
destinationProcessHandle, out destinationFileHandle,
0, false, DUPLICATE_SAME_ACCESS);
// get a FileStream wrapper around it
using (FileStream fs = new FileStream(destinationFileHandle, FileAccess.ReadWrite, 4096))
{
// read file contents
fs.Position = 0;
byte[] buffer = new byte[100];
int numBytes = fs.Read(buffer, 0, 100);
string message = Encoding.ASCII.GetString(buffer, 0, numBytes);
// show messagebox (while holding file open!) and wait for user to click OK
MessageBox.Show("Found this message in file: " + message + Environment.NewLine +
"Click OK to close temp file");
}
}
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
MessageBox.Show(ex.ToString());
}
}
}
}

It sounds as if you may want to use a memory mapped file as a method to share a single file with multiple processes.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.memorymappedfiles.memorymappedfile.aspx

The problem is that you still have the first stream you created open. You need to create the file, then release it (close stream), then have the 3rd party API do it's work, then delete the file. Wrapping all this up in a class that is IDispoable might be a nice solution; create and release the file in the contructor, method wrap the 3rd party work, delete in the dispose method.

You can pass existing stream to 3-rd party Api, or if you want only read only mode for 3-rd party Api pass StreamReader instance
using (var stream = new FileStream("trace.txt", FileMode.OpenOrCreate,FileAccess.ReadWrite))
{
using (var anotherStream = new StreamReader(stream))
{
//magic here
}
}

This sequence of calls will only work if the third party API uses FileShare.ReadWrite, or your open uses FileAccess.Read.
You are opening it read/write, while allowing others to also open it read/write.
The third-party code is trying to open it read-only, while allowing others to also have it open, but only as read-only. Since you still have it open read-write, this fails.
Assuming that you can't change the third-party code, you will need to adopt the following pattern instead:
Open the file as you currently are, but without the DeleteOnClose flag.
Write any content that you need the other code to read.
Close the file.
Optionally reopen it with FileAccess.Read (and possibly DeleteOnClose).
Call the third party code.
Do any other reading (but not writing) that you want.