Mutex.TryOpenExisting Method

Definition

Opens a specified named mutex, if it already exists, and returns a value that indicates whether the operation succeeded.

Overloads

TryOpenExisting(String, Mutex)

Opens the specified named mutex, if it already exists, and returns a value that indicates whether the operation succeeded.

TryOpenExisting(String, MutexRights, Mutex)

Opens the specified named mutex, if it already exists, with the desired security access, and returns a value that indicates whether the operation succeeded.

TryOpenExisting(String, Mutex)

Opens the specified named mutex, if it already exists, and returns a value that indicates whether the operation succeeded.

public:
 static bool TryOpenExisting(System::String ^ name, [Runtime::InteropServices::Out] System::Threading::Mutex ^ % result);
[System.Security.SecurityCritical]
public static bool TryOpenExisting (string name, out System.Threading.Mutex result);
public static bool TryOpenExisting (string name, out System.Threading.Mutex? result);
public static bool TryOpenExisting (string name, out System.Threading.Mutex result);
[<System.Security.SecurityCritical>]
static member TryOpenExisting : string * Mutex -> bool
static member TryOpenExisting : string * Mutex -> bool
Public Shared Function TryOpenExisting (name As String, ByRef result As Mutex) As Boolean

Parameters

name
String

The name of the synchronization object to be shared with other processes. The name is case-sensitive. The backslash character (\) is reserved and may only be used to specify a namespace. For more information on namespaces, see the remarks section. There may be further restrictions on the name depending on the operating system. For example, on Unix-based operating systems, the name after excluding the namespace must be a valid file name.

result
Mutex

When this method returns, contains a Mutex object that represents the named mutex if the call succeeded, or null if the call failed. This parameter is treated as uninitialized.

Returns

true if the named mutex was opened successfully; otherwise, false. In some cases, false may be returned for invalid names.

Attributes

Exceptions

name is an empty string.

-or-

.NET Framework only: name is longer than MAX_PATH (260 characters).

name is null.

name is invalid. This can be for various reasons, including some restrictions that may be placed by the operating system, such as an unknown prefix or invalid characters. Note that the name and common prefixes "Global\" and "Local\" are case-sensitive. For some invalid names, the method may return false instead.

-or-

There was some other error. The HResult property may provide more information.

The name is too long. Length restrictions may depend on the operating system or configuration.

The named mutex exists, but the user does not have the security access required to use it.

Remarks

The name may be prefixed with Global\ or Local\ to specify a namespace. When the Global namespace is specified, the synchronization object may be shared with any processes on the system. When the Local namespace is specified, which is also the default when no namespace is specified, the synchronization object may be shared with processes in the same session. On Windows, a session is a login session, and services typically run in a different non-interactive session. On Unix-like operating systems, each shell has its own session. Session-local synchronization objects may be appropriate for synchronizing between processes with a parent/child relationship where they all run in the same session. For more information about synchronization object names on Windows, see Object Names.

If a synchronization object of the requested type exists in the namespace, the existing synchronization object is opened. If a synchronization object does not exist in the namespace, or a synchronization object of a different type exists in the namespace, false is returned.

To create the system mutex when it does not already exist, use one of the Mutex constructors that has a name parameter.

If you are uncertain whether a named mutex exists, use this method overload instead of the OpenExisting(String) method overload, which throws an exception if the mutex does not exist.

Multiple calls to this method that use the same value for name do not necessarily return the same Mutex object, even though the objects that are returned represent the same named system mutex.

This method overload is equivalent to calling the TryOpenExisting(String, MutexRights, Mutex) method overload and specifying MutexRights.Synchronize and MutexRights.Modify rights, combined by using the bitwise OR operation. Specifying the MutexRights.Synchronize flag allows a thread to wait on the mutex, and specifying the MutexRights.Modify flag allows a thread to call the ReleaseMutex method.

This method does not request ownership of the mutex.

Applies to

TryOpenExisting(String, MutexRights, Mutex)

Opens the specified named mutex, if it already exists, with the desired security access, and returns a value that indicates whether the operation succeeded.

public:
 static bool TryOpenExisting(System::String ^ name, System::Security::AccessControl::MutexRights rights, [Runtime::InteropServices::Out] System::Threading::Mutex ^ % result);
[System.Security.SecurityCritical]
public static bool TryOpenExisting (string name, System.Security.AccessControl.MutexRights rights, out System.Threading.Mutex result);
[<System.Security.SecurityCritical>]
static member TryOpenExisting : string * System.Security.AccessControl.MutexRights * Mutex -> bool
Public Shared Function TryOpenExisting (name As String, rights As MutexRights, ByRef result As Mutex) As Boolean

Parameters

name
String

The name of the synchronization object to be shared with other processes. The name is case-sensitive. The backslash character (\) is reserved and may only be used to specify a namespace. For more information on namespaces, see the remarks section. There may be further restrictions on the name depending on the operating system. For example, on Unix-based operating systems, the name after excluding the namespace must be a valid file name.

rights
MutexRights

A bitwise combination of the enumeration values that represent the desired security access.

result
Mutex

When this method returns, contains a Mutex object that represents the named mutex if the call succeeded, or null if the call failed. This parameter is treated as uninitialized.

Returns

true if the named mutex was opened successfully; otherwise, false. In some cases, false may be returned for invalid names.

Attributes

Exceptions

name is an empty string.

-or-

.NET Framework only: name is longer than MAX_PATH (260 characters).

name is null.

name is invalid. This can be for various reasons, including some restrictions that may be placed by the operating system, such as an unknown prefix or invalid characters. Note that the name and common prefixes "Global\" and "Local\" are case-sensitive. For some invalid names, the method may return false instead.

-or-

There was some other error. The HResult property may provide more information.

The name is too long. Length restrictions may depend on the operating system or configuration.

The named mutex exists, but the user does not have the security access required to use it.

Remarks

The name may be prefixed with Global\ or Local\ to specify a namespace. When the Global namespace is specified, the synchronization object may be shared with any processes on the system. When the Local namespace is specified, which is also the default when no namespace is specified, the synchronization object may be shared with processes in the same session. On Windows, a session is a login session, and services typically run in a different non-interactive session. On Unix-like operating systems, each shell has its own session. Session-local synchronization objects may be appropriate for synchronizing between processes with a parent/child relationship where they all run in the same session. For more information about synchronization object names on Windows, see Object Names.

If a synchronization object of the requested type exists in the namespace, the existing synchronization object is opened. If a synchronization object does not exist in the namespace, or a synchronization object of a different type exists in the namespace, false is returned.

To create the system mutex when it does not already exist, use one of the Mutex constructors that has a name parameter.

If you are uncertain whether a named mutex exists, use this method overload instead of the OpenExisting(String, MutexRights) method overload, which throws an exception if the mutex does not exist.

The rights parameter must include the MutexRights.Synchronize flag to allow threads to wait on the mutex, and the MutexRights.Modify flag to allow threads to call the ReleaseMutex method.

Multiple calls to this method that use the same value for name do not necessarily return the same Mutex object, even though the objects that are returned represent the same named system mutex.

This method does not request ownership of the mutex.

Applies to