Introduction to File attributes in C#

In this article, we will learn about file attributes in C#, how to set or get file attributes, and the FileAttributes Enum.

FileAttributes Enum

The file Attributes is an Enum that contains attributes fields that can be set or get when dealing with files or directories.

Here are the lists of the fields of the FileAttributes Enum:

Field	Description
Archive	Windows processes set this attribute whenever a file is modified.
Compressed	The file is compressed.
Device	The file is reserved.
Encrypted	The File or directory is encrypted.
Hidden	The file is hidden.
Device	The file is Reserved.
Normal	The file is standard and has no special attributes
NoScrubData	The file or directory is excluded from the data integrity scan.
NotContentIndexed	The file will not be indexed by OS indexing service.
Offline	The file is offline.
ReadOnly	The file is read-only.
ReparsePoint	The file contains user-defined data associated with a file or directory.
SparseFile	The file is a sparse file.
System	The file is a system file
Temporary	The file is temporary.

Get file attributes

        private void frmMain_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
            string FileName = "MyFile.txt";
            string FilePath = Application.StartupPath + "\" + FileName;
            FileAttributes attributes = File.GetAttributes(FilePath);
            MessageBox.Show(" The file attribute is: " + attributes.ToString());
        }

Set file attributes

The File.SetAttributes methods set the specified attributes of the file.

For example, if a file is hidden, you can show the file by removing its hidden attribute, and vise versa.

        private void frmMain_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
            string FileName = "MyFile.txt";
            string FilePath = Application.StartupPath + "\" + FileName;
            FileAttributes attributes = File.GetAttributes(FilePath);
   

            if ((attributes & FileAttributes.Hidden) == FileAttributes.Hidden)
            {
                // Remove the Hidden Attribute
                attributes = attributes & ~FileAttributes.Hidden;

                File.SetAttributes(FilePath, attributes);
                MessageBox.Show("The file " + FileName + " is no longer Hidden");

            }
            else
            {
                // Add Hidden Attribute
                File.SetAttributes(FilePath, File.GetAttributes(FilePath) | FileAttributes.Hidden);
                MessageBox.Show("The file " + FileName + " is now Hidden");
            }


        }

Get File attribute

To check the attribute’s value of the file you have to get the current file attributes first and use bitwise AND operator.

For example, if you need to check whether a particular file is read-only or not, use the following piece of code.

        private void frmMain_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
            string FileName = "MyFile.txt";
            string FilePath = Application.StartupPath + "\" + FileName;
        
            bool isReadOnly = ((File.GetAttributes(FilePath) & FileAttributes.ReadOnly) == FileAttributes.ReadOnly);

            MessageBox.Show("File " + FileName + "  is ReadyOnly? " + isReadOnly);
        }

Add file attributes to the existing ones

To set attributes to the existing ones get, the current file attributes first and then use bitwise OR operator with the specific attribute.

For example, add read-only and archive attribute to the file.

        private void frmMain_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
            string FileName = "MyFile.txt";
            string FilePath = Application.StartupPath + "\" + FileName;

            File.SetAttributes(FilePath, File.GetAttributes(FilePath) | (FileAttributes.Archive |
                                                                FileAttributes.ReadOnly));
            FileAttributes attributes = File.GetAttributes(FilePath);

            MessageBox.Show("File " + FileName + "  attributes: " + attributes);
        }

Delete file attributes

To delete file attributes get the attributes of the file first and use & operator to remove an attribute. For example, the code below will delete the attribute, Hidden:

        private void frmMain_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
            string FileName = "MyFile.txt";
            string FilePath = Application.StartupPath + "\" + FileName;

            File.SetAttributes(FilePath, File.GetAttributes(FilePath) & ~FileAttributes.Hidden);
            FileAttributes attributes = File.GetAttributes(FilePath);

            MessageBox.Show("File " + FileName + "  attributes: " + attributes);
        }

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