GetFileAttributes
The GetFileAttributes
function returns attributes for a specified file or directory.
DWORD GetFileAttributes(
|
LPCTSTR lpFileName |
// address of the
name of a file or directory |
|
); |
|
Parameters
lpFileName
Points to a
null-terminated string that specifies the name of a file or directory.
Windows
NT:
There is a
default string size limit for paths of MAX_PATH characters. This limit is
related to how the GetFileAttributes function parses paths. An
application can transcend this limit and send in paths longer than MAX_PATH
characters by calling the wide (W) version of GetFileAttributes and
prepending \\?\ to the path. The \\?\ tells the function to turn off path parsing; it lets
paths longer than MAX_PATH be used with GetFileAttributesW. This also
works with UNC names. The \\?\ is ignored as part of the path. For example, \\?\C:\myworld\private is seen as C:\myworld\private , and \\?\UNC\bill_g_1\hotstuff\coolapps is seen as \\bill_g_1\hotstuff\coolapps .
Windows
95:
The lpFileName
string must not exceed MAX_PATH characters. Windows 95 does not support the \\?\ prefix.
Return Values
If the
function succeeds, the return value contains the attributes of the specified
file or directory.
If the
function fails, the return value is 0xFFFFFFFF. To get extended error
information, call GetLastError.
The
attributes can be one or more of the following values:
|
Value |
Meaning |
|
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ARCHIVE |
The file or
directory is an archive file or directory. Applications use this flag 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_DIRECTORY |
The file
or directory is a directory. |
|
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_OFFLINE |
The data of
the file is not immediately available. Indicates that the file data has been
physically moved to offline storage. |
|
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_SYSTEM |
The file or
directory is part of, 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. |
See Also