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Check if a Particular File is Open in LabVIEW

by: Member
‎05-19-2023 10:29 AM
Last Edited by: Member migration-bot ‎10-12-2023 04:21 PM

Products and Environment

This section reflects the products and operating system used to create the example.

To download NI software, including the products shown below, visit ni.com/downloads.

    Software

  • LabVIEW

Code and Documents

Attachment

Description

This example covers how you check if a particular file is open on your computer in LabVIEW. You also can use this functionality to share a single file between multiple LabVIEW users or an .exe.

How to Use

Most of the File I/O VIs and Functions will give you an error if the file in question is open when the VI executes.

To check if a file is open, you can use a File I/O function, such as Open/Create/Replace File, and evaluate the error code to see if the file is open. For example, Open/Create/Replace File gives error code 5 if you attempt to open a file that is already open.

See the attached VI for an example.

checkiffileopen.png

Related Links

Determine the Active Window in LabVIEW

Example code from the Example Code Exchange in the NI Community is licensed with the MIT license.

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eanegkan
Member
Member
on
‎02-17-2026 05:08 AM
‎02-17-2026 05:08 AM

Note: The solution described is not guaranteed to work if a 3rd party application has opened the file. This is because some processes may create a temporary copy of the file during open/edit (non-locking), and only open the original version of the file during save. This example is only suitable for applications that use locking mechanisms (i.e. open and reserve the original file).

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