How Can I Access a File in Use by Another Process in VB.NET and C#?

Working with Files Accessed by Other Applications

Attempting to access a file currently being written to by another application often results in an "access denied" error. This guide demonstrates a solution using VB.NET and C# to handle this situation.

Both VB.NET and C# offer methods to open files with shared access. By employing FileShare.ReadWrite, multiple programs can simultaneously access the same file.

Here's how to implement this:

VB.NET Example:

Using logFileStream = New FileStream("c:\test.txt", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite)
    Using logFileReader = New StreamReader(logFileStream)
        While Not logFileReader.EndOfStream
            Dim line As String = logFileReader.ReadLine()
            ' Process each line of the file here
        End While
    End Using
End Using

C# Example:

// Open the file with shared read/write access
using (FileStream logFileStream = new FileStream("c:\test.txt", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite))
using (StreamReader logFileReader = new StreamReader(logFileStream))
{
    // Read and process the file
    while (!logFileReader.EndOfStream)
    {
        string line = logFileReader.ReadLine();
        // Process each line of the file here
    }
}

The using statement (or try-finally block) is crucial for ensuring proper resource cleanup and release of the file handle. This prevents potential conflicts and ensures efficient resource management.

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