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FileAttributes Enumeration
Visual Studio 2010
Provides attributes for files and directories.
This enumeration has a FlagsAttribute attribute that allows a bitwise combination of its member values.
Namespace: System.IOAssembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)
| Member name | Description | |
|---|---|---|
![]() | ReadOnly | The file is read-only. |
![]() | Hidden | The file is hidden, and thus is not included in an ordinary directory listing. |
![]() | System | The file is a system file. The file is part of the operating system or is used exclusively by the operating system. |
![]() | Directory | The file is a directory. |
![]() | Archive | The file's archive status. Applications use this attribute to mark files for backup or removal. |
![]() | Device | Reserved for future use. |
![]() | Normal | The file is normal and has no other attributes set. This attribute is valid only if used alone. |
![]() | 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. |
![]() | SparseFile | The file is a sparse file. Sparse files are typically large files whose data are mostly zeros. |
![]() | ReparsePoint | The file contains a reparse point, which is a block of user-defined data associated with a file or a directory. |
![]() | Compressed | The file is compressed. |
![]() | Offline | The file is offline. The data of the file is not immediately available. |
![]() | NotContentIndexed | The file will not be indexed by the operating system's content indexing service. |
![]() | 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. |
You can get attributes for files and directories by calling the GetAttributes method, and you can set them by calling the SetAttributes method.
It is not possible to change the compression status of a File object using the SetAttributes method.
Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows XP SP2 x64 Edition, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2
The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.
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