Wait for file to be freed by process

How do I wait for the file to be free so that ss.Save() can overwrite it with a new one? If I run this twice close together(ish), I get a generic GDI+ error.

///<summary>
/// Grabs a screen shot of the App and saves it to the C drive in jpg
///</summary>
private static String GetDesktopImage(DevExpress.XtraEditors.XtraForm whichForm)
{
    Rectangle bounds = whichForm.Bounds;

    // This solves my problem but creates a clutter issue
    // var timeStamp = DateTime.Now.ToString("ddd-MMM-dd-yyyy-hh-mm-ss");
    // var fileName = "C:\\HelpMe" + timeStamp + ".jpg";

    var fileName = "C:\\HelpMe.jpg";
    File.Create(fileName);
    using (Bitmap ss = new Bitmap(bounds.Width, bounds.Height))
    using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(ss))
    {
        g.CopyFromScreen(whichForm.Location, Point.Empty, bounds.Size);
        ss.Save(fileName, ImageFormat.Jpeg);
    }

    return fileName;
}

A function like this will do it:

public static bool IsFileReady(string filename)
{
    // If the file can be opened for exclusive access it means that the file
    // is no longer locked by another process.
    try
    {
        using (FileStream inputStream = File.Open(filename, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.None))
            return inputStream.Length > 0;
    }
    catch (Exception)
    {
        return false;
    }
}

Stick it in a while loop and you have something which will block until the file is accessible:

public static void WaitForFile(string filename)
{
    //This will lock the execution until the file is ready
    //TODO: Add some logic to make it async and cancelable
    while (!IsFileReady(filename)) { }
}

If you check access before writing to the file some other process might snatch the access again before you manage to do your write. Therefor I would suggest one of the following two:

1. Wrap what you want to do in a retry scope that won't hide any other error
2. Create a wrapper method that waits until you can get a stream and use that stream

getting a stream

private FileStream GetWriteStream(string path, int timeoutMs)
{
    var time = Stopwatch.StartNew();
    while (time.ElapsedMilliseconds < timeoutMs)
    {
        try
        {
            return new FileStream(path, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write);
        }
        catch (IOException e)
        {
            // access error
            if (e.HResult != -2147024864)
                throw;
        }
    }

    throw new TimeoutException($"Failed to get a write handle to {path} within {timeoutMs}ms.");
}

then use it like this:

using (var stream = GetWriteStream("path"))
{
    using (var writer = new StreamWriter(stream))
        writer.Write("test");
}

retry scope

private void WithRetry(Action action, int timeoutMs = 1000)
{
    var time = Stopwatch.StartNew();
    while(time.ElapsedMilliseconds < timeoutMs)
    {
        try
        {
            action();
            return;
        }
        catch (IOException e)
        {
            // access error
            if (e.HResult != -2147024864)
                throw;
        }
    }
    throw new Exception("Failed perform action within allotted time.");
}

and then use WithRetry(() => File.WriteAllText(Path.Combine(_directory, name), contents));