Platform SDK: Files and I/O

SetFileAttributes

The SetFileAttributes function sets a file's attributes.

BOOL SetFileAttributes(
  LPCTSTR lpFileName,      // file name
  DWORD dwFileAttributes   // attributes
);

Parameters

lpFileName

[in] Pointer to a string that specifies the name of the file whose attributes are to be set.

Windows NT/2000: In the ANSI version of this function, the name is limited to MAX_PATH characters. To extend this limit to nearly 32,000 wide characters, call the Unicode version of the function and prepend "\\?\" to the path. For more information, see File Name Conventions.

Windows 95/98: This string must not exceed MAX_PATH characters.

dwFileAttributes

[in] Specifies the file attributes to set for the file. This parameter can be one or more of the following values. However, all other values override FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL.

Attribute	Meaning
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ARCHIVE	The file is an archive file. Applications use this attribute to mark files for backup or removal.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN	The file is hidden. It is not included in an ordinary directory listing.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL	The file 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 Windows 2000. Applications should not arbitrarily change this attribute.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY	The file is read-only. Applications can read the file but cannot write to it or delete it.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SYSTEM	The file is part of the operating system or is used exclusively by it.
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.

Return Values

If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero.

If the function fails, the return value is zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

The following table describes how to set the attributes that cannot be set using SetFileAttributes.

Attribute	How to Set
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_COMPRESSED	To set a file's compression state, use the DeviceIoControl function with the FSCTL_SET_COMPRESSION operation.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DEVICE	Reserved; do not use.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY	Files cannot be converted into directories. To create a directory, use the CreateDirectory or CreateDirectoryEx function.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ENCRYPTED	To create an encrypted file, use the CreateFile function with the FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ENCRYPTED attribute. To convert an existing file into an encrypted file, use the EncryptFile function.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_REPARSE_POINT	To associate a reparse point with a file, use the DeviceIoControl function with the FSCTL_SET_REPARSE_POINT operation.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SPARSE_FILE	To set a file's sparse attribute, use the DeviceIoControl function with the FSCTL_SET_SPARSE operation.

Requirements

  Windows NT/2000: Requires Windows NT 3.1 or later.
  Windows 95/98: Requires Windows 95 or later.
  Header: Declared in Winbase.h; include Windows.h.
  Library: Use Kernel32.lib.
  Unicode: Implemented as Unicode and ANSI versions on Windows NT/2000.

SetFileAttributes

Parameters

Return Values

Remarks

Requirements

See Also