FileAttributes Enumeration (System.IO)

FileAttributes Enumeration

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Microsoft Visual Studio 2005/.NET Framework 2.0

Other versions are also available for the following:

.NET Framework Class Library

FileAttributes Enumeration

Provides attributes for files and directories.

This enumeration has a FlagsAttribute attribute that allows a bitwise combination of its member values.

Namespace: System.IO
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

<SerializableAttribute> _
<FlagsAttribute> _
<ComVisibleAttribute(True)> _
Public Enumeration FileAttributes

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim instance As FileAttributes

[SerializableAttribute] 
[FlagsAttribute] 
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)] 
public enum FileAttributes

C++

[SerializableAttribute] 
[FlagsAttribute] 
[ComVisibleAttribute(true)] 
public enum class FileAttributes

/** @attribute SerializableAttribute() */ 
/** @attribute FlagsAttribute() */ 
/** @attribute ComVisibleAttribute(true) */ 
public enum FileAttributes

JScript

SerializableAttribute 
FlagsAttribute 
ComVisibleAttribute(true) 
public enum FileAttributes

Members

	Member name	Description
	Archive	The file's archive status. Applications use this attribute to mark files for backup or removal.
	Compressed	The file is compressed.
	Device	Reserved for future use.
	Directory	The file is a directory.
	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 directories.
	Hidden	The file is hidden, and thus is not included in an ordinary directory listing.
	Normal	The file is normal and has no other attributes set. This attribute is valid only if used alone.
	NotContentIndexed	The file will not be indexed by the operating system's content indexing service.
	Offline	The file is offline. The data of the file is not immediately available.
	ReadOnly	The file is read-only.
	ReparsePoint	The file contains a reparse point, which is a block of user-defined data associated with a file or a directory.
	SparseFile	The file is a sparse file. Sparse files are typically large files whose data are mostly zeros.
	System	The file is a system file. The file is part of the operating system or is used exclusively by the operating system.
	Temporary	The file is temporary. 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.

Remarks

For an example of creating a file and writing text to a file, see How to: Write Text to a File. For an example of reading text from a file, see How to: Read Text from a File. For an example of reading from and writing to a binary file, see How to: Read and Write to a Newly Created Data File.

All these attributes correspond to those in WinNT.h. Not all attributes are applicable to both files and directories.

Platforms

Windows 98, Windows 2000 SP4, Windows CE, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Starter Edition

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see System Requirements.

Version Information

.NET Framework

Supported in: 2.0, 1.1, 1.0

.NET Compact Framework

Supported in: 2.0, 1.0

Reference

System.IO Namespace

Other Resources

File and Stream I/O
How to: Read Text from a File
How to: Write Text to a File