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How to implement solution with asynchronous file i/o in c# - stream reader not releasing file locks

👀 Views: 1454 đŸ’Ŧ Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-06-24
async-await file-io streamreader dotnet c# C#

I'm confused about I'm wondering if anyone has experience with I'm working through a tutorial and I'm currently working with a strange scenario with asynchronous file I/O in a .NET 5 application. I'm using `StreamReader` to read a large text file asynchronously, but I'm noticing that the file remains locked even after the reading operation is complete. This is causing issues when I try to write to the same file from another process. Here's a simplified version of my code: ```csharp public async Task<string> ReadFileAsync(string filePath) { using (var reader = new StreamReader(filePath)) { return await reader.ReadToEndAsync(); } } ``` I assumed that using the `using` statement would ensure that the `StreamReader` is properly disposed of after reading, but it seems like the file remains locked for several seconds after the method returns. I've tried wrapping the method in a `try-catch` block to ensure any exceptions are caught, but it executes without issues. Additionally, I checked if there are any other processes holding a lock on the file using tools like Process Explorer, but nothing shows up. I'm not using any special file access options when creating the `StreamReader`, so I'm not sure why this is happening. I also tried manually disposing of the `StreamReader` by calling `Dispose()` directly, but the scenario continues. Is there something I'm missing in terms of file access or disposal that could be causing this file lock? I'd appreciate any suggestions on how to ensure that the file is released immediately after reading, particularly in an asynchronous context. This is for a microservice running on Linux. The stack includes C# and several other technologies. The stack includes C# and several other technologies. For context: I'm using C# on macOS. Thanks for any help you can provide!