VB.NET Language in a Nutshell, Second Edition

Name

SetAttr Procedure

Class

Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileSystem

Syntax

SetAttr(pathname, attributes)

pathname (required; String)

The name of the file or directory whose attributes are to be set

attributes (required; FileAttribute enumeration)

Numeric expression, FileAttribute enumerated constant, or global VB constant specifying the attributes

Description

Changes the attribute properties of a file

Rules at a Glance

• You can use any sum of the following constants to set the attributes of a file:

  Constant	Value	Description
  VbNormal	0	Normal
  VbReadOnly	1	Read-only
  VbHidden	2	Hidden
  VbSystem	4	System
  VbArchive	32	File has changed since last backup

  Each global constant has a corresponding constant in the FileAttribute enumeration. For example, vbNormal is identical to FileAttribute.Normal. The file-attribute constants vbDirectory, vbAlias, and vbVolume cannot be used when assigning attributes.

• File-attributes constants can be Ored to set more than one attribute at the same time. For example:

  SetAttr "SysFile.Dat", FileAttribute.System Or FileAttribute.Hidden

• pathname can include a drive letter. If a drive letter is not included in pathname, the current drive is assumed. The file path can be either a fully qualified path or a relative path from the current directory.

• pathname can include a folder name. If the folder name is not included in pathname, the current folder is assumed.

• Attempting to set the attributes of an open file will generate a runtime error.

Example ...