NAME

       INN::Utils::Shlock - Wrapper around the shlock program

DESCRIPTION

       This Perl module wraps the shlock(1) program so that it can easily be used.  Calling
       shlock is more portable than using flock(2) and its corresponding Perl function because
       this function does not work as expected on all existing systems.

       See the shlock(1) documentation for more information.

       Using INN::Utils::Shlock is straight-forward:

           use lib '<pathnews>/lib/perl';
           use INN::Utils::Shlock;

           my $lockfile = "myprogram.LOCK";

           # Acquire a lock.
           INN::Utils::Shlock::lock($lockfile);

           # Do whatever you want.  The lock prevents concurrent accesses.

           # Unlock.
           INN::Utils::Shlock::unlock($lockfile);

       These two functions return 1 on success, 0 on failure.  For example, the success of
       (un)locking can be checked as:

           INN::Utils::Shlock::lock($lockfile)
               or die "cannot create lock file";

       or:

           if (! INN::Utils::Shlock::lock($lockfile, 4)) {
               die "giving up after 4 attempts to create lock file";
           }

       Instead of calling "unlock(lockfile)", the "releaselocks()" function can be called.  It
       removes any leftover locks, which is useful when several different locks are used.
       Another possible use is to call it in an END code block:

           END {
               # In case we bail out, while holding a lock.
               INN::Utils::Shlock::releaselocks();
           }

INTERFACE

       lock(lockfile)
           Tries to create a lock file named lockfile.

           This function returns 1 on success, 0 on failure.

       lock(lockfile, tries)
           Tries to create a lock file named lockfile.  If it fails, locking attempts are
           repeated once every 2 seconds for at most tries times (including the first
           unsuccessful attempt).

           This function returns 1 on success, 0 on failure.

       lock(lockfile, tries, delay)
           Tries to create a lock file named lockfile.  If it fails, locking attempts are
           repeated once every delay seconds for at most tries times (including the first
           unsuccessful attempt).

           Note that "lock(lockfile)" is equivalent to "lock(lockfile, 1, 2)".

           This function returns 1 on success, 0 on failure.

       releaselocks()
           Removes all the lock files previously created by calling the "lock(lockfile)"
           function.

           This function returns the number of removed lock files.

       unlock(lockfile)
           Removes the file named lockfile.

           This function returns 1 on success, 0 on failure.

HISTORY

       Documentation written by Julien Elie for InterNetNews.

SEE ALSO

       perl(1), shlock(1).