Just upgraded to 5.10.20 of the CC, from 5.10.8.

I have a program which scans the client_state.xml file on a number of machines every 15 minutes, and gives a small snapshot of each machine (active project, current task % complete, queued WU).

It used the scheduler_state in the (active_task) section to determine which task was currently running:
(scheduler_state)2(/scheduler_state)
would indicate the running task.

As of 5.10.20, this tag no longer exists!

How is the "running task" in the (active_task_set) now indicated in client_state.xml?

It is better to use the RPCs to do this kind of thing. Reading the client_state.xml file can cause tasks to fail if you have it locked while BOINC is trying to write to it.

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BOINC WIKI

BOINCing since 2002/12/8

It is better to use the RPCs to do this kind of thing. Reading the client_state.xml file can cause tasks to fail if you have it locked while BOINC is trying to write to it.

No need to lock it, as I'm just reading. Been running this code since about day 1 of boinc, without a problem.

Even simply reading a file will take a lock on it ('shared' rather than 'exclusive', of course). If Boinc wants an exclusive lock when you have a shared lock, Boinc's attempt to grab the file will fail and it will retry after a short delay.

If you read it quickly enough, then Boinc will get the lock on the retry. If you're unlucky, and happen to have a new shared lock at the same moment that Boinc is retrying, then Boinc will fall over.

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