484883 - Allow the disabling of file locking in SQLite

Status: RESOLVED INACTIVE

(Core :: SQLite and Embedded Database Bindings, defect)

Description

[Shawn Wilsher :sdwilsh]

We should consider allowing people to pref off file locking in SQLite.  This can impact people who use buggy networked file systems, and turning it off my fix their issue.  From drh:
You can have SQLite use dot-file locking, or no locking at all.
You are right.  It is a broken filesystem.  But we still have to work around it, don't we....
For your use of SQLite do you really have to have file locking?  Do you ever have two or more open connections to the same database file? [we do not, or at least, should not]
If that is the case, you can open your database connections using sqlite3_open_v2() and specify a VFS of "unix-none" and it will skip the file locking all together.  Should work anywhere, then.
Maybe make it an option for rare users who want to run FF with their home directory mounted on a broken filesystem?

Comment 1

[lohphat]

This is a critical issue for FF profiles located in the Windows offline file cache.

e.g.
H: is mapped to a network home directory where the FF user profile is. 

h: is marked as "available offline" so that its contents are replicated in the local cache.

When FF is stated when disconnected you get a sql file locking error.

Comment 2

[Dan Mosedale (:dmosedale, :dmose)]

It's not clear to me how to prioritize this for Thunderbird 3, but I'm hoping that if someone answers the question posed in bug 503374 comment 14, that will help shed some light on the issue.

Comment 3

[Dan Mosedale (:dmosedale, :dmose)]

Bug 503374 comments 8 and 15, it would be great to have this fixed, but not at the cost of preventing all the other recent Thunderbird work from getting into the hands of end users (i.e. if this were the last bug standing, we wouldn't block on it).  Changing from [tb3needs] to [tb3wants].

Comment 4

[Marco Bonardo [:mak]]

a part of this has been implemented in bug 433129, on linux systems is now possible to use the excl-unix vfs that solves most of the problems (though it's slower than default locking).

Comment 5

[BMO Automation]

Per policy at https://wiki.mozilla.org/Bug_Triage/Projects/Bug_Handling/Bug_Husbandry#Inactive_Bugs. If this bug is not an enhancement request or a bug not present in a supported release of Firefox, then it may be reopened.