I'm working on a script that's going to be used by multiple people across a network, and I need to create a unique value that remains consecutive. I know that simultaneous read and write operations on the same file can cause problems, so I want to lock a key file, read its current value, write back an incremented value, and then release the lock for the next user. But I'm struggling to maintain the lock during both the read and the write process. Once I unlock the file after reading, another process could potentially read it before I can lock it again to write the new value. I've tried using a retry approach, but it seems like there's a timing issue. I've posted my script here for reference, and would love any advice on how to improve this process.
1 Answer
Instead of closing and reopening the file before writing, just keep the file open for both reading and writing after you've locked it. Here’s a simplified flow: lock the file, read the value, update it, and then write it back while still locked. It reduces the risk of others accessing it in between. You’ll need to handle errors appropriately, of course!
Thanks a lot! I just tried this and it seems to work well. I think I might've made a typo before and that's what caused the issues. Appreciate the help!