python 2.7.6 threading on Windows 10 : The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process

Question

I have a Python 2.7.6 script that will launch threads (inheriting from threading.Thread) of execution in parallel. Each will access thread-specific files and output some logs there.

However in my main console, I sometimes get a message "The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process.". I do not know from which thread it came from or which file is being mentioned here.

How can I go about inquiring ?

Answer 1

Process Monitor should be able to help.

Add the following filters:

• Process Name - contains - python - Include, because you use Python
• Result - is - SUCCESS - Exclude, because you're interested in errors
• Result - is - BUFFER OVERFLOW - Exclude, because buffer overflows are normal (the buffer will be increased and the read operation will be retried)

Thus you should be able to find the sharing violation:

Now that you know what you're looking for, you can of course define a much simpler filter:

• Result - is - SHARING VIOLATION - Include

Code for testing the settings before applying them in production:

import shutil
with open("test.txt", "wb") as file:
    shutil.move("test.txt", "test2.txt")

Double clicking on the entry should give you the thread ID and file name: