InUse

Inuse is a term used in computing to describe the state of a resource that is currently being utilized by a process or user. In many systems, a resource may be marked as in use to prevent conflicting access, data corruption, or interference with ongoing operations. The concept can appear as a boolean flag (in use / not in use), a status field such as in_use, or a resource naming convention like inuse.

Contexts where inuse appears include file systems, operating systems, databases, and application programming. In file systems and OSes, files, devices, or memory regions may be flagged as in use when opened or allocated, often triggering exclusive or shared locking to coordinate access among processes. In databases, rows, pages, or tables may be marked as in use while a transaction holds locks, guiding concurrency control and isolation. In software applications, user interfaces may display resources as in use to indicate that another user or process is currently editing or consuming them. API and service designs may expose in-use status to prevent race conditions or to coordinate distributed operations.

Implementation patterns for managing inuse include explicit locking mechanisms (locks, semaphores), reference counting, and lease-based approaches where a client must renew ownership to retain access. Timeouts and cleanup routines help prevent resources from remaining in use due to crashes. Potential challenges involve race conditions, stale in-use states, and ensuring proper release of resources.

See also: mutual exclusion, resource locking, concurrency control, reference counting, leases.