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 GetFileAttributes

Retrieves a set of FAT file system attributes for a specified file or directory.

To get more attribute information, use the GetFileAttributesEx function.

To perform this operation as a transacted operation, use the [GetFileAttributesTransacted] function.

Syntax

    DWORD WINAPI GetFileAttributes(  
      __in  LPCTSTR lpFileName
    );

Parameters

• lpFileName
  The name of the file or directory.

In the ANSI version of this function, the name is limited to MAX_PATH characters. To extend this limit to 32,767 wide characters, call the Unicode version of the function and prepend "\\?\" to the path. For more information, see Naming a File.

Return Value

If the function succeeds, the return value contains the attributes of the specified file or directory.

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

The attributes can be one or more of the following values.

Return code/value Description FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ARCHIVE 32 0x20
A file or directory that is an archive file or directory. Applications use this attribute to mark files for backup or removal.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_COMPRESSED 2048 0x800 A file or directory that is compressed. For a file, all of the data in the file is compressed. For a directory, compression is the default for newly created files and subdirectories. FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DEVICE 64 0x40 Reserved; do not use. FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY 16 0x10 The handle that identifies a directory. FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ENCRYPTED 16384 0x4000 A file or directory that is encrypted. For a file, all data streams in the file are encrypted. For a directory, encryption is the default for newly created files and subdirectories. FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN 2 0x2 The file or directory is hidden. It is not included in an ordinary directory listing. FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL 128 0x80 A file or directory that does not have other attributes set. This attribute is valid only when used alone. FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NOT_CONTENT_INDEXED 8192 0x2000 The file is not to be indexed by the content indexing service. FILE_ATTRIBUTE_OFFLINE 4096 0x1000 The data of a file is not available immediately. This attribute indicates that the file data is physically moved to offline storage. This attribute is used by Remote Storage, which is the hierarchical storage management software. Applications should not arbitrarily change this attribute. FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY 1 0x1 A file or directory that is read-only. For a file, applications can read the file, but cannot write to it or delete it. For a directory, applications cannot delete it. FILE_ATTRIBUTE_REPARSE_POINT 1024 0x400 A file or directory that has an associated reparse point, or a file that is a symbolic link. FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SPARSE_FILE 512 0x200 A file that is a sparse file. FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SYSTEM 4 0x4 A file or directory that the operating system uses a part of, or uses exclusively. FILE_ATTRIBUTE_TEMPORARY 256 0x100 A file that is being used for temporary storage. File systems avoid writing data back to mass storage if sufficient cache memory is available, because typically, an application deletes a temporary file after the handle is closed. In that scenario, the system can entirely avoid writing the data. Otherwise, the data is written after the handle is closed. FILE_ATTRIBUTE_VIRTUAL 65536 0x10000 A file is a virtual file.

Remarks

When GetFileAttributes is called on a directory that contains a volume mount point, the file attributes returned are those of the directory where the volume mount point is set, not those of the root directory in a target mounted volume. To obtain the file attributes of a mounted volume, call GetVolumeNameForVolumeMountPoint to obtain the name of the target volume. Then use the resulting name in a call to GetFileAttributes. The results are the attributes of the root directory on the target volume.

If you call GetFileAttributes for a network share, the function fails, and GetLastError returns ERROR_BAD_NETPATH. You must specify a path to a subfolder on that share.

Symbolic link behavior—If the path points to a symbolic link, the function returns attributes for the symbolic link.

Transacted Operations

If a file is open for modification in a transaction, no other thread can open the file for modification until the transaction is committed. So if a transacted thread opens the file first, any subsequent threads that try modifying the file before the transaction is committed receives a sharing violation. If a non-transacted thread modifies the file before the transacted thread does, and the file is still open when the transaction attempts to open it, the transaction receives the error ERROR_TRANSACTIONAL_CONFLICT.

Requirements

• Client Requires Windows Vista, Windows XP, or Windows 2000 Professional.
• Server Requires Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, or Windows 2000 Server.
• Header Declared in WinBase.h; include Windows.h.
• Library Use Kernel32.lib.
• DLL Requires Kernel32.dll.
• Unicode Implemented as GetFileAttributesW (Unicode) and GetFileAttributesA (ANSI).

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Notebook exported on Monday, 7 July 2008, 18:56:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time