Is using FileSystemWatchers sharing the same event handler safe?

Is it safe having multiple FileSystemWatchers watching different directories using the same event handler?

Class Snippets
    Private _watchPaths As New List(Of String) From {"x:\Dir1", "x:\Dir2"}
    Private _watchers As List(Of FileSystemWatcher)
    Private _newFiles As New BlockingCollection(Of String)

    Sub Watch()
        Dim _watchPaths As New List(Of String) From {"x:\Dir1", "x:\Dir2"}
        Dim watchers As List(Of FileSystemWatcher)

        For Each path In _watchPaths
            Dim watcher As New FileSystemWatcher
            AddHandler watcher.Created, Sub(s, e)
            _trace.DebugFormat("New file {0}", e.FullPath)
            'Do a little more stuff
            _newFiles.Add(e.FullPath)
            End Sub
        Next
    End Sub
End Class

Or must we wrap the FileSystemWatcher in a Class like the following to make the event handlers thread-safe?

Class FileWatcher
    Private _fileSystemWatcher As New FileSystemWatcher

    Public Sub Start(path As String, filter As String, action As Action(Of Object, FileSystemEventArgs))
        With _fileSystemWatcher
            .Path = path
            .Filter = filter
            .EnableRaisingEvents = True
            AddHandler .Created, Sub(s, e)
            action(s, e)
            End Sub
        End With
    End Sub

    Public Sub [Stop]()
        _fileSystemWatcher.Dispose()
    End Sub
End Class

Here the usage of the helper Class:

Sub Watch
    For Each path In _watchPaths
        Dim Watcher as new FileWatcher
        watcher.Start(path, "*.txt"), Sub(s, e)
        _trace.DebugFormat("New file {0}", e.FullPath)
        'Do a little more stuff
        _newFiles.Add(e.FullPath)
        End Sub)      
    Next
End Sub

Solution

Events raised by the FileSystemWatcher are, by default, raised on thread pool threads. Which means any data used within the event handler is "shared"--regardless of whether you have multiple handlers. You should guard (e.g. lock access) this shared data to avoid corruption.

Alternatively, you can use FileSystemWatcher.SynchronizingObject to provide a synchronization context so that all events raised on a FileSystemWatcher occur on a single, or a known thread. This is typically done if your event handlers touch GUI elements.