The lockfile package exports a LockFile class which provides a simple API for locking files. Unlike the Windows msvcrt.locking function, the fcntl.lockf and flock functions, and the deprecated posixfile module, the API is identical across both Unix (including Linux and Mac) and Windows platforms. The lock mechanism relies on the atomic nature of the link (on Unix) and mkdir (on Windows) system calls. An implementation based on SQLite is also provided, more as a demonstration of the possibilities it provides than as production-quality code.
Note: In version 0.9 the API changed in two significant ways:
- It changed from a module defining several classes to a package containing several modules, each defining a single class.
- Where classes had been named SomethingFileLock before the last two words have been reversed, so that class is now SomethingLockFile.
The previous module-level definitions of LinkFileLock, MkdirFileLock and SQLiteFileLock will be retained until the 1.0 release.
To install:
python setup.py install