Mac OS X Tiger in a Nutshell

Name

SetFile

Synopsis

SetFile [options] files

Sets the HFS+ file attributes (metadata) of files. SetFile is installed with the Xcode Tools (/Developer/Tools). Since this directory isn’t in the shell’s search path by default, you might to need to specify SetFile’s pathname to invoke it. See also GetFileInfo .

Options

-a attribute

Set those file attributes that toggle on or off (sometimes called “Finder flags”). To set an attribute, provide that attribute’s letter as uppercase in attribute. To unset an attribute, provide the letter in lowercase. You can specify multiple attributes at once; any not specified will retain their current setting in files. Refer to Table 2-8 for the specific attributes.

Table 2-8. Attributes for use with SetFile’s -a option

Attribute	Set | unset	Meaning
Alias	A |a	File is/isn’t an alias.
Bundle	B | b	File has/hasn’t a bundle resource.
Custom Icon	C | c	File has/hasn’t a custom icon.
Desktop Item	D | d	File is/isn’t on the Desktop.
Extension	E | e	Filename extension is/isn’t hidden.
Inited	I | i	File is/isn’t init’ed.
Locked	L | l	File is/isn’t locked.
Shared	M | m	Multiple users can/can’t run file at once (applies to application files).
INIT	N | n	File has/hasn’t INIT resource.
System	S | s	File is/isn’t a system file (locks name).
Stationary	T | t	File is/isn’t a stationary file.
Invisible	V | v	File is/isn’t invisible to Finder.

-c creator

Set the file’s four-character ...