Main Page

Using the FileShare Enumeration

When you open a file, you can specify the file-sharing mode you want to use in some of the FileStream constructors (you don't have to specify a file-sharing mode with other FileStream constructors). For example, if you want to allow other programs to read a file at the same time you're working with it, you use the file-sharing mode FileShare.Read. The various possible file-sharing modes are part of the FileShare enumeration, and you can find the members of this enumeration in Table 13.11.

Table 13.11: Members of the FileShare enumeration.

Member	Means
None	The file cannot be shared. Other processes cannot access it.
Read	The file also may be opened by other processes for reading.
ReadWrite	The file also may be opened by other processes for reading and writing.
Write	The file also may be opened by other processes for writing.