' The complete code is located in the ReaderWriterLock class topic.
Imports System.Threading

Public Module Example
   Private rwl As New ReaderWriterLock()
   ' Define the shared resource protected by the ReaderWriterLock.
   Private resource As Integer = 0

' Requests a reader lock, upgrades the reader lock to the writer
' lock, and downgrades it to a reader lock again.
Sub UpgradeDowngrade(timeOut As Integer)
   Try
      rwl.AcquireReaderLock(timeOut)
      Try
         ' It's safe for this thread to read from the shared resource.
         Display("reads resource value " & resource)
         Interlocked.Increment(reads)
         
         ' To write to the resource, either release the reader lock and
         ' request the writer lock, or upgrade the reader lock. Upgrading
         ' the reader lock puts the thread in the write queue, behind any
         ' other threads that might be waiting for the writer lock.
         Try
            Dim lc As LockCookie = rwl.UpgradeToWriterLock(timeOut)
            Try
               ' It's safe for this thread to read or write from the shared resource.
               resource = rnd.Next(500)
               Display("writes resource value " & resource)
               Interlocked.Increment(writes)
            Finally
               ' Ensure that the lock is released.
               rwl.DowngradeFromWriterLock(lc)
            End Try
         Catch ex As ApplicationException
            ' The upgrade request timed out.
            Interlocked.Increment(writerTimeouts)
         End Try
         
         ' If the lock was downgraded, it's still safe to read from the resource.
         Display("reads resource value " & resource)
         Interlocked.Increment(reads)
      Finally
         ' Ensure that the lock is released.
         rwl.ReleaseReaderLock()
      End Try
   Catch ex As ApplicationException
      ' The reader lock request timed out.
      Interlocked.Increment(readerTimeouts)
   End Try
End Sub