How To Get The Attributes Of A Given File For Windows App Development

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C++ Builder has specific Path Manipulation Routines that allows user to edit, extract, get and set drive name, directory name, file name, file extensions, .. etc and these methods are combined in Vcl.FileCtrl, System.IOUtils, System.SysUtils libraries. These path manipulation methods are easy to use and easy to get or set file path strings in that operating system. These can be used with other component properties like FileName property of OpenDialog, SaveDialog components.

Let’s see how we can use GetAttributes Method to get File Attributes from given a file or directory path String on Windows.

What does the GetAttributes method do?

The GetAttributes method (System::SysUtils::ExtractFileName) is a Path Manipulation Routine that used to obtain the attributes of a given file. The return value of GetAttributes is a set of TFileAttributes values; each value of the set represents a file attribute. To use this GetAtrributes method we need to include System.IOUtils.hpp.

Note that GetAttributes method raises an exception if the file or directory cannot be accessed or the path is invalid. If the Path parameter is a symbolic link and the FollowLink parameter is set to True, the method is performed on the target file (or directory). If the first condition is True, but the FollowLink parameter is set to False, the method will be performed on the symbolic link. If the link is broken, the method will always return False.

Syntax:

Here;
Path is the path to the file or directory for which the attributes are obtained.
FollowLink specifies whether the symbolic link is used.

Simple Example:

We can separate drives and folders in a path string with “\\” to define single \ and we can get attributes of a given file path string as below,

As you see in this example, we can easily check if the file is ReadOnly or not.

What is the TFileAttributes set?

TFileAttributes represents a set of file or directory attributes. It is a set of file or directory attributes. The TFileAttributes enumeration is used in file operation routines, which modify, read, or remove attributes from a file or directory. The following are possible values of TFileAttribute:

Value	Meaning
faReadOnly	Identifies read-only files or directories.
faHidden	Identifies hidden files or directories.
faSystem	Identifies system files or directories.
faDirectory	Identifies a directory.
faArchive	Identifies Windows archived files.
faDevice	Identifies Windows device files.
faNormal	Identifies normal files.
faTemporary	Identifies temporary files or directories.
faSparseFile	Identifies a sparse file. A sparse file is a large file filled mostly with zeros.
faReparsePoint	Identifies a reparse point. A reparse point is a block of user-defined data linked to a real file or directory.
faCompressed	Identifies a compressed file or directory.
faOffline	Identifies an offline file whose contents are unavailable.
faNotContentIndexed	Identifies a file that is skipped from the indexing operations.
faEncrypted	Identifies an encrypted file or directory.
faSymLink	Identifies a symbolic link.

Note that there are TFileAttributes enumeration and TFileAttribute without plural s. One defines all atributes other defines defined attribute (i.e. TFileAttribute::ReadOnly). So be careful about if it is singular or plural when you are using them, because both has different usage.

Is there a simple Windows app development C++ example of getting a file’s attributes?

This method is very useful when you want to check file attributes. Here is the simple full C++ Builder VCL Example,

We can use this method with path properties of other components. For example, here is a full example with OpenDialog componant that uses it’s FileName property,

In this example, user selects file by using OpenDialog file browser and it tries to check if this file attribute has faReadOnly feature.

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