Standard way to perform file locks in Java?

two questions:  

1.  If the server crashes after creating the lock, will the channel lock block upon restart?

2.  what does the channel do?

also, what occurs if the file does not exist?

This always throws and exception... any idea what is going on?

                  f = new File(fileString);

                  // Try acquiring the lock without blocking. This method returns
                  // null or throws an exception if the file is already locked.
                  Document doc;

                  FileChannel channel = null;
                  FileLock lock = null;

                  if (f.exists()) {
                        try {
                              // Get a file channel for the file
                              channel = new RandomAccessFile(f, "rw").getChannel();

                              // Use the file channel to create a lock on the file.
                              // This method blocks until it can retrieve the lock.
                              lock = channel.lock();

                              lock = channel.tryLock();

ok, that was dumb, i'm not supposed to call lock and then trylock, just one or the other.

however,  I want to call

doc = saxReader.read(f);

with the lock on (the reason I am locking is to make sure no one else is using the file while I am reading and writing to it), the saxReader is throwing an exception.


            

> the reason I am locking is to make sure no one else is using the file while I am reading and writing to it

the OS should look after that for you.

If I just use the OS for that, can I make a blocking call without using the Lock mechanism without hand coding a while loop?

also, do you know why the sasReader.read(f) is throwing an error?

because u have a lock on it

ok, to clarify what  I am trying to do:

I have an append only file, and when someone is appending it, no one should be reading or writing to it.  (pretty standard).

So, i need some mechanism for this to occur.  However, rather than a call failing on File Open, I'm looking to block until the file is released.  Is this not what locks are supposed to be used for?  

No file locks don't work like that.

I see, ok.  is there any standard way to do that or should I wrap a while look into a method, effectively blocking...?

yes I'd be encapsulating access to that file in a class, and using synchronisation to control access to it.