Is there a "try to lock, skip if timed out" operation in C#?

Question

I need to try to lock on an object, and if its already locked just continue (after time out, or without it).

The C# lock statement is blocking.

Answer 1

Ed's got the right function for you. Just don't forget to call Monitor.Exit(). You should use a try-finally block to guarantee proper cleanup.

if (Monitor.TryEnter(someObject))
{
    try
    {
        // use object
    }
    finally
    {
        Monitor.Exit(someObject);
    }
}

Answer 2

I believe that you can use Monitor.TryEnter().

The lock statement just translates to a Monitor.Enter() call and a try catch block.

Answer 3

I had the same problem, I ended up creating a class TryLock that implements IDisposable and then uses the using statement to control the scope of the lock:

public class TryLock : IDisposable
{
    private object locked;

    public bool HasLock { get; private set; }

    public TryLock(object obj)
    {
        if (Monitor.TryEnter(obj))
        {
            HasLock = true;
            locked = obj;
        }
    }

    public void Dispose()
    {
        if (HasLock)
        {
            Monitor.Exit(locked);
            locked = null;
            HasLock = false;
        }
    }
}

And then use the following syntax to lock:

var obj = new object();

using (var tryLock = new TryLock(obj))
{
    if (tryLock.HasLock)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Lock acquired..");
    }
}