Exclusive file locking - SOLVED

[tremolux66]

I've run into the problem where multiple script processes writing to a log file at the same time can interfere with one another. That is, file writes using FileWriteLine are not atomic, so a line of text from one process can have fragments of text from other processes mixed in with it. Exclusive file-locking should take care of the problem.

Looking through the standard UDFs, I see that _WinAPI_LockFile is available, but according to the MSDN documentation it doesn't block - it returns immediately if the lock can't be obtained - and there doesn't seem to be a UDF for the LockFileEx function. I considered writing my own UDF for LockFileEx, but some aspects (e.g., creating the OVERLAPPED structure and its members) look too complex for the amount of time I have available. I think approximating LockFileEx using LockFile could solve my problem, but I'd like to keep it simple while still working reliably. I'm not confident that (e.g.) a simple retry loop to simulate blocking will be adequate.

Any suggestions for a simple way to achieve exclusive file-locking with blocking?

Edited September 30, 2016 by tremolux66
Mark problem as solved

[orbs]

this is what you're looking for:

i have used it successfully in a very much similar scenario to yours.

[tremolux66]

Thanks, I'll  give that a try!

Edited September 28, 2016 by tremolux66
Typo

[tremolux66]

Works great - problem solved! All the log messages are stored perfectly.