Platform SDK: Files and I/O

File Attributes

The GetFileInformationByHandle function retrieves information about a file and stores it in a structure of type BY_HANDLE_FILE_INFORMATION. This information includes creation time, file size, and attributes.

Eight characteristics called attributes may be associated with a file. The attributes can be one or more of the following values.

Attribute Meaning
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ARCHIVE The file or directory is an archive file. Applications use this attribute to mark files for backup or removal.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_COMPRESSED The file or directory is compressed. For a file, this means that all of the data in the file is compressed. For a directory, this means that compression is the default for newly created files and subdirectories.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DEVICE Reserved; do not use.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY The handle identifies a directory.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ENCRYPTED The file or directory is encrypted. For a file, this means that all data in the file is encrypted. For a directory, this means that encryption is the default for newly created files and subdirectories.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN The file or directory is hidden. It is not included in an ordinary directory listing.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL The file or directory has no other attributes set. This attribute is valid only if used alone.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NOT_CONTENT_INDEXED The file will not be indexed by the content indexing service.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_OFFLINE The data of the file is not immediately available. This attribute indicates that the file data has been physically moved to offline storage. This attribute is used by Remote Storage, the hierarchical storage management software in Microsoft® Windows® 2000. Applications should not arbitrarily change this attribute.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY The file or directory is read-only. Applications can read the file but cannot write to it or delete it. In the case of a directory, applications cannot delete it.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_REPARSE_POINT The file has an associated reparse point.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SPARSE_FILE The file is a sparse file.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SYSTEM The file or directory is part of the operating system or is used exclusively by the operating system.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_TEMPORARY The file is being used for temporary storage. File systems attempt to keep all of the data in memory for quicker access rather than flushing the data back to mass storage. A temporary file should be deleted by the application as soon as it is no longer needed.

An application can retrieve the file attributes by using the GetFileAttributes or GetFileAttributesEx function. The CreateFile and SetFileAttributes functions can set many of the attributes. However, applications cannot set all attributes. For more information on how to set these attributes, see SetFileAttributes.