c# xml.Load() locking file on disk causing errors

Question

I have a simple class XmlFileHelper as follows:

public class XmlFileHelper {     #region Private Members      private XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();     private string xmlFilePath;      #endregion      #region Constructor      public XmlFileHelper(string xmlFilePath)     {         this.xmlFilePath = xmlFilePath;         xmlDoc.Load(xmlFilePath);     }      #endregion      #region Public Methods      public XmlNode SelectSingleNode(string xPathQuery)     {         return xmlDoc.SelectSingleNode(xPathQuery);     }      public string GetAttributeValueByName(XmlNode node, string attributeName)     {         return node.Attributes.GetNamedItem(attributeName).Value;     }      #endregion      #region Public Properties      public string XmlFilePath     {         get         {             return xmlFilePath;         }     }      #endregion } 

The issue is I am getting the following error on Load:

System.IO.IOException: The process cannot access the file ''C:\CvarUAT\ReportWriterSettings.xml'' **because it is being used by another process** 

this occurs when this class is used to by two running instances of a component running in parallel both attempting to load the xml file above, this is legitimate behaviour and required by the application.

I only want to read in the xml off disk once and release any reference to the file on disk and use an in memory representation from that point forward.

I would have assumed Load operates in a readonly fashion and would have no need to lock the file, what is my best way to achieve the desired result and get around this issue?

Thanks

Answer 1

You can do this

using (Stream s = File.OpenRead(xmlFilePath)) {     xmlDoc.Load(s); } 

instead of

xmlDoc.Load(xmlFilePath);