Info for command and busy status

Question

Can anyone provide me with info on the busy status property returned by the info for command?
Under OS 9, I used that to determine if files were busy before attempting to process them.
Now, under OS X, it doesn't seem to be functional, the files are processed even if they really are busy, and the fider throws a message back at me saying so.
Basic scenario (repeated with any PostScript files found in folder):
set busyStatus to busy status of (info for epsFile as alias)
if busyStatus is false then
try
<distill file>
on error
return 10
end try
end if
if exists epsFile then
set busyStatus to busy status of (info for epsFile as alias)
if busyStatus is false then
try
delete epsFile
on error
return 10
end try
end if
end if
The folder being watched is a folder that graphic artists are writing PS files to directly from InDesign.
If the script runs and a PS file is in the process of being written, it still attempts to distill it, and it still attempts to delete it, and the result is a finder error.
I had assumed that the busy status would solve my problem, but it doesn't ever appear to return a true value.
I had also assumed that the try-on error block would catch the finder error and prevent it from displaying the dialog box, but it doesn't appear to.
I have found a few references to the fact that busy status isn't reliable, and may not work at all under OS X. Anyone have any ideas?

Answer 1

We used to use the watched folder feature of Acrobat. We just upgraded our process from OS 9/Acrobat 4 to OS X/Acrobat 7. What Adobe fails to tell you, is that the Standard version of Acrobat doesn't have watched folders. That is now only a feature of the Pro version.
I thought I could avoid paying $150 a copy to upgrade from Standard to Pro, just for that one feature.
I have previously used Applescript to create watched folders for a variety of automation tasks, and never had a problem. Because I have a lot of Applescript processes in place already that rely on being able to determine if a file is busy, I need to figure out how to do it with OS X.