• 0

[VB.NET] Delete File in process


Question

Ok gang,

I've got an interesting problem. I have a .net 2.0 app that goes off to a server to get a file and unzip it locally. This process is threaded. It's possible that during the first run through the process the end-user may need to stop the original process and go get a different file.

So, I abort the initial thread and start over. The issue? (Glad you asked) Seems that one or more files (the zip and possibly files from within the zip file, depending on how far along the initial process is) will not delete (File.Delete(path) as these files are in use my another process.

Exact error:

Description: The process cannot access the file 'c:\TestExtract\75872-01-1.ado' because it is being used by another process.

The code that is pulling the file from the zip is here:

--- BEGIN CODE CHUNK --------

If (sFileName <> String.Empty) Then

Dim StreamWriter As FileStream = File.Create(sDirectory & theEntry.Name)

Dim Size As Integer = 2048

Dim data(2048) As Byte

While (True)

Size = stmZipFile.Read(data, 0, data.Length)

If (Size > 0) Then

StreamWriter.Write(data, 0, Size)

Else

Exit While

End If

End While

StreamWriter.Close()

End If

--- END OF CODE CHUNK --------

Ive tried watching for the thread's abort request in that loop, but it never gets it. So I can't close the stream (arg)

I've looked to see if I can get the handle of the process that is using the file so I can kill the process and then the file... but so far no luck. I'm heading home now, but I'll check back in a few hours (it's 5pm est)

Thanks for any ideas.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/578013-vbnet-delete-file-in-process/
Share on other sites

4 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 0

The quickest thing that I would offer would be to have some type of boolean variable that the code chunk continuously checks within it's while(true) loop. such as

While(_cancelZip = false)
   Size = stmZipFile.Read(data, 0, data.Length)
   If (Size &gt; 0) Then
	  StreamWriter.Write(data, 0, Size)
   Else
	  Exit While
   End If
End While

_cancelZip should be a private member variable that can be accessed externally through an Exposed Property.

After this loop, check to see if _cancelZip = true. If it is, you must close this StreamWriter and then delete the file.

Does this make sense?

  • 0

There is a FileSystemWatcher component that you may be able to use. Have you looked into that?

EDIT: Re-read your question and the FileSystemWatcher probably isn't what you're looking for.

Anyway, you are right in looking for the Abort Thread request, but the fact that you aren't getting that means that you are most likely not threading properly. Although bleepjay's solution will probably work, it is clumsy and not the way it should be done with the advent of Threading in .NET. I recommend you look at some of the many threading tutorials online.

Here are a few links I Googled quickly, hope it's useful:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/01/07/vbnet/

http://www.devx.com/getHelpOn/10MinuteSolution/20365

http://www.stardeveloper.com/articles/disp...0404&page=1

http://blogs.msdn.com/dougturn/archive/200...and-vb-net.aspx

Edited by magik
  • 0
  bleepjay said:
The quickest thing that I would offer would be to have some type of boolean variable that the code chunk continuously checks within it's while(true) loop. such as

While(_cancelZip = false)
   Size = stmZipFile.Read(data, 0, data.Length)
   If (Size &gt; 0) Then
	  StreamWriter.Write(data, 0, Size)
   Else
	  Exit While
   End If
End While

_cancelZip should be a private member variable that can be accessed externally through an Exposed Property.

After this loop, check to see if _cancelZip = true. If it is, you must close this StreamWriter and then delete the file.

Does this make sense?

Hummm... the boolean is an intesting idea. I can set that, wait a moment and then kill the process. I'll give it a try in the morning.

magik,

As for the file system watcher... how would that help? I need to get a specific file at a specific time, not all the files (there are thousands of them!). But maybe you meant something else that I'm not getting.

  • 0

^ Yea, sorry, I didn't read your question fully the first time. I hope my edited post is of more use to you. :)

To clarify: Instead of looking for the Abort Request within your loop, you should have the loop within a Thread Process and then a separate Event Hander that Handles the Thread Abort Request. When that event is fired, it should halt the Thread Process.

Does that make more sense?

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Hey Nick! 👋 No worries at all — you're not alone in this, and it's great you're asking for help. Let me walk you through a simple, step-by-step fix using the tool mentioned on that AOMEI Partition Assistant guide — it really does the trick for many people with this exact issue! ✅ Here’s how to restore your USB back to full 256GB on Windows 11: Download & Install AOMEI Partition Assistant Go to the link you shared: AOMEI Partition Assistant and click the Download Freeware button. Insert your USB stick (Sandisk Ultra 256GB) Make sure it's properly connected. Wait for the system to detect it. Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Once open, you'll see all your connected drives listed. Locate your USB Drive Look for the one that says something like Disk X – Removable and shows only 3.1GB or so. Right-click on your USB Drive’s Partition Then select Delete Partition → confirm the deletion. Now, right-click on the unallocated space (it should now show full unallocated capacity) Choose Create Partition → format it as FAT32 or exFAT (recommended for larger drives) → click OK. Click “Apply” in the top left corner Then hit Proceed to execute the pending operations. Wait a bit... and boom! 🎉 Your USB should now be restored to its full 256GB capacity!
    • When Facebook bought Beat Saber, they promised exactly this would never happen. Facebook can’t not lie.
    • Depends on what you mean by "this data". Nvidia can show you quite a few of those as well in their performance overlay, and I guess they might've assumed that if anyone wants to see more, they'll just use Afterburner as the de facto standard. As for real framerate vs framegen framerate, I don't think they exactly want you to know, given that their marketing has been strongly focused on hiding the real framerate and pretending the generated one is all that matters...
    • Yeah, but that never works out well. You can just give your power user more options and they'll be happy. Your new generation can just go with whatever you think is the best default.
  • Recent Achievements

    • First Post
      Fuzz_c earned a badge
      First Post
    • First Post
      TIGOSS earned a badge
      First Post
    • Week One Done
      slackerzz earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      vivetool earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Reacting Well
      pnajbar earned a badge
      Reacting Well
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      710
    2. 2
      ATLien_0
      279
    3. 3
      Michael Scrip
      209
    4. 4
      +FloatingFatMan
      200
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      131
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!