attrib(CMD) 19 June 1992 attrib(CMD) Name attrib - display or change file attributes Syntax attrib [+r|-r] [+a|-a] [+s|-s] [+h|-h] [[drive:][path]filename] [/s] To display all attributes of all files in the current directory, use the following syntax: attrib Description This command displays, sets, or removes the read-only, archive, system, and hidden attributes assigned to files. Parameter [drive:][path]filename Specifies the location and name of the file or set of files you want to process. Switches +r Sets the read-only file attribute. -r Clears the read-only file attribute. +a Sets the archive file attribute. -a Clears the archive file attribute. +s Sets the file as a system file. -s Clears the system file attribute. +h Sets the file as a hidden file. -h Clears the hidden file attribute. /s Processes files in the current directory and all of its subdirec- tories. Notes Groups of files You can use wildcards (? and *) with the filename parameter to display or change the attributes for a group of files. If a file has the system or hidden attribute set, you must clear that attribute before you can change any other attributes for that file. Archive attributes The archive attribute (a) is used to mark files that have changed since they were previously backed up. The backup, restore, and xcopy commands use these archive attributes. For information about archive attributes, see the backup(CMD), restore(CMD), and xcopy(CMD) commands. Examples To display the attributes of a file named NEWS86 located on the current drive, type the following command: attrib news86 To assign the read-only attribute to the file REPORT.TXT, type the fol- lowing command: attrib +r report.txt To remove the read-only attribute from files in the \USER\JONES directory on a disk in drive B and from files in any subdirectories of \USER\JONES, type the following command: attrib -r b:\user\jones\*.* /s As a final example, suppose you want to give an associate a disk contain- ing all files in the default directory on a disk in drive A except files with the .BAK extension. Because you can use xcopy to copy only those files marked with the archive attribute, you need to set the archive attribute for those files you want to copy. To do this, you use the fol- lowing two commands to set the archive attribute for all files on drive A and then to clear the attribute for those files with the .BAK extension: attrib +a a:*.* attrib -a a:*.bak Next, use the xcopy command to copy the files from the disk in drive A to the disk in drive B. The /a switch in the following command causes xcopy to copy only those files marked with the archive attribute: xcopy a: b: /a If you want xcopy to clear each file's archive attribute after it copies the file, use the /m switch instead of /a, as in the following example: xcopy a: b: /m Related command For more information about copying files and directories, see the xcopy(CMD) command.