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Does FileOpen() have any race conditions?


IAMK
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I have a co-worker's c++ program creating/updating a log (.txt file), and I need my script to open that log and read it.

My code: 

Local $previousLogged = -1

While($fileUpdated = False)
    Local $logFile = FileOpen("logFile.txt", 1)
      
    If($previoudLogged <> FileReadLine($logFile, 1)) Then ;If .txt has been updated.      
        $fileUpdated = True
    EndIf
      
    FileClose($logFile)
    Sleep(200)
WEnd

Is it possible for the data I read to be incomplete? Or is it safe to assume that FileOpen() will get the file at the state when it was last closed (by c++)?

Thank you in advance.

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Concurent readers are OK. Reading a file which can possibly be written to simultaneously can lead to disaster. Concurent writing is sure to produce permanent errors at random times (some data will not be logged at times and/or data can be definitely corrupted).

Regular primitives for file I/O in Windows are not ACID regardless of the language used to develop a program handling files. You need to use a file cooperative locking machinery or, better, a database for that. A database is a perfect match for dealing with log files, both for ACID properties and ease of querying.

Give SQLite a try (see help).

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Another excellent RegExp tutorial. Don't forget downloading your copy of up-to-date pcretest.exe and pcregrep.exe here
RegExp tutorial: enough to get started
PCRE v8.33 regexp documentation latest available release and currently implemented in AutoIt beta.

SQLitespeed is another feature-rich premier SQLite manager (includes import/export). Well worth a try.
SQLite Expert (freeware Personal Edition or payware Pro version) is a very useful SQLite database manager.
An excellent eBook covering almost every aspect of SQLite3: a must-read for anyone doing serious work.
SQL tutorial (covers "generic" SQL, but most of it applies to SQLite as well)
A work-in-progress SQLite3 tutorial. Don't miss other LxyzTHW pages!
SQLite official website with full documentation (may be newer than the SQLite library that comes standard with AutoIt)

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I don't believe so but I have no guarantee. An important detail: are all concurent processes local or is the .log file accessed over a network ?

Anyway you'd better use just FileRead() to read it but you have no insurance either.

The ACID properties are only put in jeopardy while asynchronous writes are taking place.
Appending new data or rewriting the whole file from memory with new data appended are by far not atomic operations. They require a variable number of cache and disk read and writes to update both the file structures in the file system and the new data content. All of the low-level operations are done by kernel-mode drivers but there is no concept of transaction in NTFS volumes and local multitasking or asynchronous remote processes can step in while the whole thing is being done.

Storage media (rotating dust or SSDs) also have their own independant "life", which defies precise top-view analysis. Most user-grade disk controlers also lie when they return the "writen to disk" OK status, because they actually put data to disk sometime later.

A [R]DBMS is nothing else than a much more robust and ACID filesystem on top of the volume filesystem, with a fine-grain user-controlled granularity of feature-rich data structures, coming along with sophisticated command-line writes/updates and an agile Explorer on alien steroïds for querying.

This wonderful site allows debugging and testing regular expressions (many flavors available). An absolute must have in your bookmarks.
Another excellent RegExp tutorial. Don't forget downloading your copy of up-to-date pcretest.exe and pcregrep.exe here
RegExp tutorial: enough to get started
PCRE v8.33 regexp documentation latest available release and currently implemented in AutoIt beta.

SQLitespeed is another feature-rich premier SQLite manager (includes import/export). Well worth a try.
SQLite Expert (freeware Personal Edition or payware Pro version) is a very useful SQLite database manager.
An excellent eBook covering almost every aspect of SQLite3: a must-read for anyone doing serious work.
SQL tutorial (covers "generic" SQL, but most of it applies to SQLite as well)
A work-in-progress SQLite3 tutorial. Don't miss other LxyzTHW pages!
SQLite official website with full documentation (may be newer than the SQLite library that comes standard with AutoIt)

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