Breaking Opportunistic Locks

Breaking an opportunistic lock is the process of degrading the lock that one client has on a file so that another client can open the file, with or without an opportunistic lock. When the other client requests the open operation, the server delays the open operation and notifies the client holding the opportunistic lock.

The client holding the lock then takes actions appropriate to the type of lock, for example abandoning read buffers, closing the file, and so on. Only when the client holding the opportunistic lock notifies the server that it is done does the server open the file for the client requesting the open operation. However, when a level 2 lock is broken, the server reports to the client that it has been broken but does not wait for any acknowledgment, as there is no cached data to be flushed to the server.

In acknowledging a break of any exclusive lock (filter, level 1, or batch), the holder of a broken lock cannot request another exclusive lock. It can degrade an exclusive lock to a level 2 lock or no lock at all. The holder typically releases the lock and closes the file when it is about to close the file anyway.

Applications are notified that an opportunistic lock is broken by using the hEvent member of the OVERLAPPED structure associated with the file on which the lock is broken. Applications may also use functions such as GetOverlappedResult and HasOverlappedIoCompleted.