Checking if a File is Open or Exists

Keywords:  fileexist fileopen	Filesize==0

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Question:

How can i check if a file is open or closed?

I want to import a file to another program, and the file must be closed before I import it. How can I check to see if the file is open?

Answer:

There are a couple of tricks you can use.

1. Try FileExist. In many cases FileExist will return a 2 if the file exists but is open in read-deny mode.

   a=FileExist("yourfile")
   
   a==0 then no file.
   a==1 file exists. Looks OK.
   a==2 file exists. Not currently accessible.
   

2. Try FileSize. If a file is open or being written to, FileSize will return a 0. File in use:

   	Filesize==0
   

Put the two of them together with:

	While !FileExist("filename")
	   TimeDelay(1)
	endwhile
	While FileSize("filename")==0
	   TimeDelay(1)
	endwhile

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Article ID:   W13226

Filename:   Check if File is Open or Exists.txt