On a Windows Server 2012 R2 system, a Kotlin program uses [`FileChannel.tryLock()`][1] to hold an exclusive lock on a file, like this:

&lt;!-- language: lang-kotlin --&gt;

    val fileRw = RandomAccessFile(file, &quot;rw&quot;)
    fileRw.channel.tryLock()

With this lock in place, I *cannot* open the file with:

 - WordPad
 - Notepad++
 - Programmatically with C#, for any value of `FileShare`:

    &lt;!-- language: lang-c# --&gt;

        using (var fileStream = new FileStream(processIdPath, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read, FileShare.ReadWrite))
        using (var textReader = new StreamReader(fileStream))
        {
            textReader.ReadToEnd();
        }

 - From the command line, the [`type`][2] command:

    &lt;!-- language: lang-none --&gt;

        C:\some-directory&gt;type file.txt
        The process cannot access the file because another process has locked a portion of the file.

 - Internet Explorer (yes, I was desperate)

I *can* open it with Notepad.

How the heck is Notepad able to open a locked file that nothing else can?

  [1]: https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/11/docs/api/java.base/java/nio/channels/FileChannel.html#tryLock()
  [2]: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/type

All Notepad Solutions on Gang of Coders

Total of 1 Notepad Solutions

Notepad beats them all?