Opening a file's Shadow Copy if the current copy is in use

Question

I\'m trying to backup files on a server, but some of them are in use and cannot be opened. Instead, I\'d like to open their shadow copy if the current copy is in use. How ca

Answer 1

If you have control of the first process you can specify file handle share type

string contents1;
string contents2;
using (FileStream fs1 = new FileStream("test.txt", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite))
{
    using (var tr1 = new StreamReader(fs1))
    {
        using (FileStream fs2 = new FileStream("test.txt", FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite))
        {
            using (var tr2 = new StreamReader(fs2))
            {
                contents2 = tr2.ReadToEnd();
                contents1 = tr1.ReadToEnd();
            }
        }
    }
}

Console.WriteLine(contents1);
Console.WriteLine(contents2);