Question

I am working on multi instance application. Is there any way in c# to know that how many instances are running currently.
I used one peice of code to count the window processes of my application name but that is not a good way.

string fileName = Process.GetCurrentProcess().MainModule.FileName;
int count = 0;
foreach (Process p in Process.GetProcesses())
{
    try
     {
        if (p.MainModule.FileName == fileName)
        {
            count++;
        }
    }
    catch { }
}

MessageBox.Show("Total Instances Running are " + count);

Can it be done by using semaphore or some increment and decrement counter that is incremented by one when new instance is created and decrement by one when a instance closes.

Answer 1

A Semaphore helps you count down, blocking you when you get to 0. You could use a global semaphore, but you’ll have to initialize it at a high enough-value and start counting down.

I think all in all, your own solution is probably the cleanest.