FileSystemWatcher Changed event is raised twice

Question

I have an application where I am looking for a text file and if there are any changes made to the file I am using the OnChanged eventhandler to handle the event. I am using the NotifyFilters.LastWriteTime but still the event is getting fired twice. Here is the code.

public void Initialize()
{
   FileSystemWatcher _fileWatcher = new FileSystemWatcher();
  _fileWatcher.Path = "C:\\Folder";
  _fileWatcher.NotifyFilter = NotifyFilters.LastWrite;
  _fileWatcher.Filter = "Version.txt";
  _fileWatcher.Changed += new FileSystemEventHandler(OnChanged);
  _fileWatcher.EnableRaisingEvents = true;
}

private void OnChanged(object source, FileSystemEventArgs e)
{
   .......
}

In my case the OnChanged is called twice, when I change the text file version.txt and save it.

Answer 1

mostly for future me :)

I wrote a wrapper using Rx:

 public class WatcherWrapper : IDisposable
{
    private readonly FileSystemWatcher _fileWatcher;
    private readonly Subject<FileSystemEventArgs> _infoSubject;
    private Subject<FileSystemEventArgs> _eventSubject;

    public WatcherWrapper(string path, string nameFilter = "*.*", NotifyFilters? notifyFilters = null)
    {
        _fileWatcher = new FileSystemWatcher(path, nameFilter);

        if (notifyFilters != null)
        {
            _fileWatcher.NotifyFilter = notifyFilters.Value;
        }

        _infoSubject = new Subject<FileSystemEventArgs>();
        _eventSubject = new Subject<FileSystemEventArgs>();

        Observable.FromEventPattern<FileSystemEventArgs>(_fileWatcher, "Changed").Select(e => e.EventArgs)
            .Subscribe(_infoSubject.OnNext);
        Observable.FromEventPattern<FileSystemEventArgs>(_fileWatcher, "Created").Select(e => e.EventArgs)
            .Subscribe(_infoSubject.OnNext);
        Observable.FromEventPattern<FileSystemEventArgs>(_fileWatcher, "Deleted").Select(e => e.EventArgs)
            .Subscribe(_infoSubject.OnNext);
        Observable.FromEventPattern<FileSystemEventArgs>(_fileWatcher, "Renamed").Select(e => e.EventArgs)
            .Subscribe(_infoSubject.OnNext);

        // this takes care of double events and still works with changing the name of the same file after a while
        _infoSubject.Buffer(TimeSpan.FromMilliseconds(20))
            .Select(x => x.GroupBy(z => z.FullPath).Select(z => z.LastOrDefault()).Subscribe(
                infos =>
                {
                    if (infos != null)
                        foreach (var info in infos)
                        {
                            {
                                _eventSubject.OnNext(info);
                            }
                        }
                });

        _fileWatcher.EnableRaisingEvents = true;
    }

    public IObservable<FileSystemEventArgs> FileEvents => _eventSubject;


    public void Dispose()
    {
        _fileWatcher?.Dispose();
        _eventSubject.Dispose();
        _infoSubject.Dispose();
    }
}

Usage:

var watcher = new WatcherWrapper(_path, "*.info");
// all more complicated and scenario specific filtering of events can be done here    
watcher.FileEvents.Where(x => x.ChangeType != WatcherChangeTypes.Deleted).Subscribe(x => //do stuff)

Answer 2

I had to combine several ideas from the posts above and add file locking check to get it working for me:

FileSystemWatcher fileSystemWatcher;

private void DirectoryWatcher_Start()
{
    FileSystemWatcher fileSystemWatcher = new FileSystemWatcher
    {
        Path = @"c:\mypath",
        NotifyFilter = NotifyFilters.LastWrite,
        Filter = "*.*",
        EnableRaisingEvents = true
    };

    fileSystemWatcher.Changed += new FileSystemEventHandler(DirectoryWatcher_OnChanged);
}

private static void WaitUntilFileIsUnlocked(String fullPath, Action<String> callback, FileAccess fileAccess = FileAccess.Read, Int32 timeoutMS = 10000)
{
    Int32 waitMS = 250;
    Int32 currentMS = 0;
    FileInfo file = new FileInfo(fullPath);
    FileStream stream = null;
    do
    {
        try
        {
            stream = file.Open(FileMode.Open, fileAccess, FileShare.None);
            stream.Close();
            callback(fullPath);
            return;
        }
        catch (IOException)
        {
        }
        finally
        {
            if (stream != null)
                stream.Dispose();
        }
        Thread.Sleep(waitMS);
        currentMS += waitMS;
    } while (currentMS < timeoutMS);
}    

private static Dictionary<String, DateTime> DirectoryWatcher_fileLastWriteTimeCache = new Dictionary<String, DateTime>();

private void DirectoryWatcher_OnChanged(Object source, FileSystemEventArgs ev)
{
    try
    {
        lock (DirectoryWatcher_fileLastWriteTimeCache)
        {
            DateTime lastWriteTime = File.GetLastWriteTime(ev.FullPath);
            if (DirectoryWatcher_fileLastWriteTimeCache.ContainsKey(ev.FullPath))
            {
                if (DirectoryWatcher_fileLastWriteTimeCache[ev.FullPath].AddMilliseconds(500) >= lastWriteTime)
                    return;     // file was already handled
            }

            DirectoryWatcher_fileLastWriteTimeCache[ev.FullPath] = lastWriteTime;
        }

        Task.Run(() => WaitUntilFileIsUnlocked(ev.FullPath, fullPath =>
        {
            // do the job with fullPath...
        }));

    }
    catch (Exception e)
    {
        // handle exception
    }
}

Answer 3

Any duplicated OnChanged events from the FileSystemWatcher can be detected and discarded by checking the File.GetLastWriteTime timestamp on the file in question. Like so:

DateTime lastRead = DateTime.MinValue;

void OnChanged(object source, FileSystemEventArgs a)
{
    DateTime lastWriteTime = File.GetLastWriteTime(uri);
    if (lastWriteTime != lastRead)
    {
        doStuff();
        lastRead = lastWriteTime;
    }
    // else discard the (duplicated) OnChanged event
}

Answer 4

Sorry for the grave dig, but I've been battling this issue for a while now and finally came up with a way to handle these multiple fired events. I would like to thank everyone in this thread as I have used it in many references when battling this issue.

Here is my complete code. It uses a dictionary to track the date and time of the last write of the file. It compares that value, and if it is the same, it suppresses the events. It then sets the value after starting the new thread.

using System.Threading; // used for backgroundworker
using System.Diagnostics; // used for file information
private static IDictionary<string, string> fileModifiedTable = new Dictionary<string, string>(); // used to keep track of our changed events

private void fswFileWatch_Changed( object sender, FileSystemEventArgs e )
    {
        try
        {
           //check if we already have this value in our dictionary.
            if ( fileModifiedTable.TryGetValue( e.FullPath, out sEmpty ) )
            {              
                //compare timestamps      
                if ( fileModifiedTable[ e.FullPath ] != File.GetLastWriteTime( e.FullPath ).ToString() )
                {        
                    //lock the table                
                    lock ( fileModifiedTable )
                    {
                        //make sure our file is still valid
                        if ( File.Exists( e.FullPath ) )
                        {                               
                            // create a new background worker to do our task while the main thread stays awake. Also give it do work and work completed handlers
                            BackgroundWorker newThreadWork = new BackgroundWorker();
                            newThreadWork.DoWork += new DoWorkEventHandler( bgwNewThread_DoWork );
                            newThreadWork.RunWorkerCompleted += new RunWorkerCompletedEventHandler( bgwNewThread_RunWorkerCompleted );

                            // capture the path
                            string eventFilePath = e.FullPath;
                            List<object> arguments = new List<object>();

                            // add arguments to pass to the background worker
                            arguments.Add( eventFilePath );
                            arguments.Add( newEvent.File_Modified );

                            // start the new thread with the arguments
                            newThreadWork.RunWorkerAsync( arguments );

                            fileModifiedTable[ e.FullPath ] = File.GetLastWriteTime( e.FullPath ).ToString(); //update the modified table with the new timestamp of the file.
                            FILE_MODIFIED_FLAG.WaitOne(); // wait for the modified thread to complete before firing the next thread in the event multiple threads are being worked on.
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        catch ( IOException IOExcept )
        {
            //catch any errors
            postError( IOExcept, "fswFileWatch_Changed" );
        }
    }

Answer 5

I have changed the way I monitor files in directories. Instead of using the FileSystemWatcher I poll locations on another thread and then look at the LastWriteTime of the file.

DateTime lastWriteTime = File.GetLastWriteTime(someFilePath);

Using this information and keeping an index of a file path and it's latest write time I can determine files that have changed or that have been created in a particular location. This removes me from the oddities of the FileSystemWatcher. The main downside is that you need a data structure to store the LastWriteTime and the reference to the file, but it is reliable and easy to implement.

Answer 6

I was able to do this by added a function that checks for duplicates in an buffer array.

Then perform the action after the array has not been modified for X time using a timer: - Reset timer every time something is written to the buffer - Perform action on tick

This also catches another duplication type. If you modify a file inside a folder, the folder also throws a Change event.

Function is_duplicate(str1 As String) As Boolean
    If lb_actions_list.Items.Count = 0 Then
        Return False
    Else
        Dim compStr As String = lb_actions_list.Items(lb_actions_list.Items.Count - 1).ToString
        compStr = compStr.Substring(compStr.IndexOf("-") + 1).Trim

        If compStr <> str1 AndAlso compStr.parentDir <> str1 & "\" Then
            Return False
        Else
            Return True
        End If
    End If
End Function

Public Module extentions
<Extension()>
Public Function parentDir(ByVal aString As String) As String
    Return aString.Substring(0, CInt(InStrRev(aString, "\", aString.Length - 1)))
End Function
End Module