SQLiteDatabase multi-thread locking pattern

Question

I use this class to manage connection to underlying SQLiteDatabase

public class BasicDataSource {

    protected DatabaseHandler dbHelper;
    protected volatile SQLiteDatabase readable_database;
    protected volatile SQLiteDatabase writable_database;
    protected Object read_lock = new Object();
    protected Object write_lock = new Object();
    protected Context context;

    protected BasicDataSource(Context ctx) {
        dbHelper = DatabaseHandler.getInstance(ctx);
        getReadableDatabase();
        dbHelper.onCreate(getWritableDatabase());
        this.context = ctx;
    }

    public synchronized void close() {
        dbHelper.close();
    }

    protected void closeInsertHelpers(InsertHelper... helpers) {
        for (InsertHelper ih : helpers) {
            if (ih != null)
                ih.close();
        }
    }

    protected SQLiteDatabase getReadableDatabase() {
        synchronized (read_lock) {
            if (readable_database == null || !readable_database.isOpen()) {
                readable_database = dbHelper.getReadableDatabase();
            }
            return readable_database;
        }
    }

    protected SQLiteDatabase getWritableDatabase() {
        synchronized (write_lock) {
            if (writable_database == null || !writable_database.isOpen()) {
                writable_database = dbHelper.getWritableDatabase();
            }
            return writable_database;
        }
    }

    protected synchronized void open() throws SQLException {
        getReadableDatabase();
        getWritableDatabase();
    }
}

It contains two locks, one for read, second for write. But I'm still occasionally getting this kind of exception:

java.lang.RuntimeException: An error occured while executing doInBackground()
        at android.os.AsyncTask$3.done(AsyncTask.java:299)
        at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerSetException(FutureTask.java:273)
        at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.setException(FutureTask.java:124)
        at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerRun(FutureTask.java:307)
        at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:137)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1076)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:569)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:856)
Caused by: android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabaseLockedException: database is locked (code 5): , while compiling: PRAGMA journal_mode
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnection.nativePrepareStatement(Native Method)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnection.acquirePreparedStatement(SQLiteConnection.java:882)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnection.executeForString(SQLiteConnection.java:627)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnection.setJournalMode(SQLiteConnection.java:313)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnection.setWalModeFromConfiguration(SQLiteConnection.java:287)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnection.open(SQLiteConnection.java:215)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnection.open(SQLiteConnection.java:193)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnectionPool.openConnectionLocked(SQLiteConnectionPool.java:463)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnectionPool.open(SQLiteConnectionPool.java:185)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnectionPool.open(SQLiteConnectionPool.java:177)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase.openInner(SQLiteDatabase.java:804)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase.open(SQLiteDatabase.java:789)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase.openDatabase(SQLiteDatabase.java:694)
        at android.app.ContextImpl.openOrCreateDatabase(ContextImpl.java:804)
        at android.content.ContextWrapper.openOrCreateDatabase(ContextWrapper.java:221)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteOpenHelper.getDatabaseLocked(SQLiteOpenHelper.java:224)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteOpenHelper.getWritableDatabase(SQLiteOpenHelper.java:164)
        at com.mycompany.myapplication.sql.BasicDataSource.getWritableDatabase(BasicDataSource.java:57)
        at com.mycompany.myapplication.sql.datasources.SomeDataSource.fillUpDatabaseMethod(SomeDataSource.java:264)
        at com.mycompany.myapplication.sql.datasources.SomeDataSource.renewCacheMethod(SomeDataSource.java:560)
        at com.mycompany.myapplication.activities.lists.ListsActivity$Worker.doInBackground(ListsActivity.java:315)
        at com.mycompany.myapplication.activities.lists.ListsActivity$Worker.doInBackground(ListsActivity.java:1)
        at android.os.AsyncTask$2.call(AsyncTask.java:287)
        at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerRun(FutureTask.java:305)
        ... 4 more
android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabaseLockedException: database is locked (code 5): , while compiling: PRAGMA journal_mode
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnection.nativePrepareStatement(Native Method)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnection.acquirePreparedStatement(SQLiteConnection.java:882)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnection.executeForString(SQLiteConnection.java:627)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnection.setJournalMode(SQLiteConnection.java:313)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnection.setWalModeFromConfiguration(SQLiteConnection.java:287)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnection.open(SQLiteConnection.java:215)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnection.open(SQLiteConnection.java:193)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnectionPool.openConnectionLocked(SQLiteConnectionPool.java:463)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnectionPool.open(SQLiteConnectionPool.java:185)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteConnectionPool.open(SQLiteConnectionPool.java:177)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase.openInner(SQLiteDatabase.java:804)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase.open(SQLiteDatabase.java:789)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteDatabase.openDatabase(SQLiteDatabase.java:694)
        at android.app.ContextImpl.openOrCreateDatabase(ContextImpl.java:804)
        at android.content.ContextWrapper.openOrCreateDatabase(ContextWrapper.java:221)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteOpenHelper.getDatabaseLocked(SQLiteOpenHelper.java:224)
        at android.database.sqlite.SQLiteOpenHelper.getWritableDatabase(SQLiteOpenHelper.java:164)
        at com.mycompany.myapplication.sql.BasicDataSource.getWritableDatabase(BasicDataSource.java:57)
        at com.mycompany.myapplication.sql.datasources.SomeDataSource.fillUpDatabaseMethod(SomeDataSource.java:264)
        at com.mycompany.myapplication.sql.datasources.SomeDataSource.renewCacheMethod(SomeDataSource.java:560)
        at com.mycompany.myapplication.activities.lists.ListsActivity$Worker.doInBackground(ListsActivity.java:315)
        at com.mycompany.myapplication.activities.lists.ListsActivity$Worker.doInBackground(ListsActivity.java:1)
        at android.os.AsyncTask$2.call(AsyncTask.java:287)
        at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask$Sync.innerRun(FutureTask.java:305)
        at java.util.concurrent.FutureTask.run(FutureTask.java:137)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1076)
        at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:569)
        at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:856)

Which means, the database is somehow locked when trying to aquire lock in getWritableDatabase.

My SQLiteOpenHelper is singleton pattern, and DataSources are only using BasicDataSource as parent class.

What is the improvement I can do to avoid SQLiteDatabaseLockedException in showed code?

Answer 1

In SQLite, there can be arbitrarily many readers, but any writer blocks all other readers and writers.

You have to use a single lock for both readers and writers.

Please note that locks must be held as long as you're actually accessing the database.

---

If you want to support multiple readers, use a lock that implements ReadWriteLock, such as ReentrantReadWriteLock. Something like this:

class MyData {
    private final ReentrantReadWriteLock rwl = new ReentrantReadWriteLock();
    private final Lock r = rwl.readLock();
    private final Lock w = rwl.writeLock();

    public Data ReadSomething(int id) {
        r.lock();
        try {
            Cursor c = readableDatabase.query(...);
            return c.getString(0);
        } finally {
            r.unlock();
        }
    }

    public void ChangeSomething(int id, int value) {
        w.lock();
        try {
            writeableDatabase.update(...);
        } finally {
            w.unlock();
        }
    }
}