From: Paul Archer <paul@...>
Date: 2009-07-17T05:48:46+09:00
Subject: Re: making sure a file isn't being written/copied before moving

Tomorrow, Brian Candler wrote:

> Paul Archer wrote:
>> Can someone suggest an easy (or at least reliable)  way to make sure
>> that
>> any file I'm about to modify isn't being touched by another program?
>
> As you said yourself: rely on the atomic semantics of the filesystem.
> Rename it to an extension which the other program will not recognise, or
> into another directory which the other program won't be looking in.
>

Perhaps you missed it in my original post (or perhaps I simply wasn't 
clear), but I may be operating on files that are added arbitrarily. My 
concern is that the script starts acting on a file that is still being 
copied. Renaming it won't help there.

Paul