MATLAB Function Reference |
Set or get attributes of file or directory
Syntax
fileattrib fileattrib('name') fileattrib('name','attrib
') fileattrib('name','attrib
','users
') fileattrib('name','attrib
','users
','s
') [status,message,messageid] = fileattrib('name','attrib
','users
','s
')
Description
The fileattrib
function is like the DOS attrib
command or the UNIX chmod
command.
fileattrib
displays the attributes for the current directory. Values are as follows.
Value |
Description |
0 |
Attribute is off |
1 |
Attribute is set (on) |
NaN |
Attribute does not apply |
fileattrib('name')
displays the attributes for name
, where name
is the absolute or relative pathname for a directory or file. Use the wildcard *
at the end of name
to view attributes for all matching files.
fileattrib('name','
sets the attribute for attrib
')
name
, where name
is the absolute or relative pathname for a directory or file. Specify the +
qualifier before the attribute to set it, and specify the -
qualifier before the attribute to clear it. Use the wildcard *
at the end of name
to set attributes for all matching files. Values for attrib
are as follows.
Value for attrib |
Description |
a |
Archive (Windows only) |
h |
Hidden file (Windows only) |
s |
System file (Windows only) |
w |
Write access (Windows and UNIX) |
x |
Executable (UNIX only) |
For example, fileattrib('myfile.m','+w')
makes myfile.m
a writable file.
fileattrib('name','
sets the attribute for attrib
','users
')
name
, where name
is the absolute or relative pathname for a directory or file, and defines which users are affected by attrib
, where users
is applicable only for UNIX systems. For more information about these attributes, see UNIX reference information for chmod
. The default value for users
is u
. Values for users
are
Value for users |
Description |
a |
All users |
g |
Group of users |
o |
All other users |
u |
Current user |
fileattrib('name','
sets the attribute for attrib
','users
','s
')
name
, where name
is the absolute or relative pathname for a file or a directory and its contents, and defines which users are affected by attrib
. Here the s
specifies that attrib
be applied to all contents of name
, where name
is a directory.
[status,message,messageid] =
fileattrib('name','
sets the attribute for attrib
','users
','s
')
name
, returning the status, a message, and the MATLAB error message ID (see error
and lasterr
). Here, status
is 1
for success and is 0
for error. If attrib
, users
, and s
are not specified, and status
is 1
, message
is a structure containing the file attributes and messageid
is blank. If status
is 0
, messageid
contains the error. If you use a wildcard *
at the end of name
, mess
will be a structure.
Get Attributes of File
To view the attributes of myfile.m
, type
Name: 'd:/work/myfile.m' archive: 0 system: 0 hidden: 0 directory: 0 UserRead: 1 UserWrite: 0 UserExecute: 1 GroupRead: NaN GroupWrite: NaN GroupExecute: NaN OtherRead: NaN OtherWrite: NaN OtherExecute: NaN
UserWrite
is 0
, meaning myfile.m
is read only. The Group
and Other
values are NaN
because they do not apply to the current operating system, Windows.
Set File Attribute
To make myfile.m
become writable, type
Running fileattrib('myfile.m')
now shows UserWrite
to be 1
.
Set Attributes for Specified Users
To make the directory d:/work/results
be a read-only directory for all users, type
The -
preceding the write attribute, w
, specifies that write status is removed.
Set Multiple Attributes for Directory and Its Contents
To make the directory d:/work/results
and all its contents be read only and be hidden, on Windows, type
fileattrib('d:/work/results','+h-w','','s')
Because users
is not applicable on Windows systems, its value is empty. Here, s
applies the attribute to the contents of the specified directory.
Return Status and Structure of Attributes
To return the attributes for the directory results
to a structure, type
stat = 1 mess = Name: 'd:\work\results' archive: 0 system: 0 hidden: 0 directory: 1 UserRead: 1 UserWrite: 1 UserExecute: 1 GroupRead: NaN GroupWrite: NaN GroupExecute: NaN OtherRead: NaN OtherWrite: NaN OtherExecute: NaN
The operation was successful as indicated by the status, stat
, being 1
. The structure mess
contains the file attributes. Access the attribute values in the structure. For example, typing
Return Attributes with Wildcard for Name
Return the attributes for all files in the current directory whose names begin with new
.
stat = 1 mess = 1x3 struct array with fields: Name archive system hidden directory UserRead UserWrite UserExecute GroupRead GroupWrite GroupExecute OtherRead OtherWrite OtherExecute
The results indicate there are three matching files. To view the filenames, type
To view just the first filename, type
See Also
copyfile
, cd
, dir
, filebrowser
, fileparts
, ls
, mfilename
, mkdir
, movefile
, rmdir
figurepalette | filebrowser |
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