Attrib

An external command in DOS and Windows that displays and changes the attribute settings in every file. The A, H, R and S bits are 1=yes and 0=no.

File Attributes
     A - Archived (backed up?)
     H - Hidden file
     R - Read only
     S - System file

To display the current attributes in all files in the current folder, type:

attrib *.*     files only
    attrib *.* /s  files & subfolders

READ ONLY STATUS
When a file is read-only, it cannot be changed or deleted. To set and reset VITAL.TXT, type:

attrib vital.txt +r   set to read-only
 attrib vital.txt -r   reset to read/write

ARCHIVE ATTRIBUTE
New files are set to archive status (archive bit is on). When files are copied by the Xcopy command, the archive bit is turned off (0) on the original file and not turned on again (1) until the file has been modified by some application. The following example removes and restores the archive status in XYZ.TXT.

attrib xyz.txt -a   turn off
   attrib xyz.txt +a   turn back on

To back up only modified files, the /m switch is used with the Xcopy command. After copying, the archive bit on the original file is turned off (set to zero). For example, to Xcopy only modified files to the BACKUP folder in drive D, type the following (for more examples, see Xcopy).

xcopy *.* d:\backup /m

SYSTEM AND HIDDEN ATTRIBUTE
These attributes are assigned to operating system files and some files that applications generate. As a rule, users do not tamper with them.

attrib xyz +s   make XYZ a system file
 attrib xyz -s   clear system file status

 attrib xyz +h   make XYZ a hidden file
 attrib xyz -h   clear hidden status

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References in periodicals archive

In general, it must be concluded that changes in the private and public sphere, can not be attrib uted to the decreasing levels of religiosity.

The Religious Factor in Contemporary Society

(8.) William Shakespeare, attrib. A Funerall Elegye.

Shakespeare and the Peters in History

Code Location W:c.1782a Haydn-Haus, Eisenstadt W:c.1782b (attrib.) Mozart-Geburtshaus, Salzburg W:c.1782C (school) Haydn-Geburtshaus, Rohrau W:c.1782d (school) Technisches Museum, Vienna W:c.1782e Mozart-Geburtshaus, Salzburg W:c.1785a Germinisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, Inv.

Mozart and the pianos of Gabriel Anton Walter

Also in attrib. phrases, as public opinion investigation, poll [Poll sb.(1) 7 d], polling, survey (see opinion poll, survey),' .

Why do we do what we do? A review of what we think we do, reflections on why we do it, and whether or not it does any good

For example, assume a suspect wants to hide a document called "evidence.doc" that he keeps in a file titled "Hacker." To hide the document, the criminal would type at the DOS prompt: "attrib evidence.doc + h." Although the Hacker file will still exist, the evidence.doc document will appear to be gone.

Confessions of a hard drive

* "What an abominable thing is youth" (versus "what a wonderful thing is youth," and possibly "Youth is a Wonderful thing; what a crime to waste it on children," attrib. George Bernard Shaw; Molloy 159)

Samuel Beckett's revised aphorisms

In the process of arguing for a "constitution of principle" rather than the "constitution of detail" that he attrib to Justice Scalia and other conservative jurists, Dworkin subjects "enumerated rights" and "original intent" theories to withering critiques.

Life's Dominion: An Argument About Abortion, Euthanasia, and Individual Freedom

APPEND.EXE BACKUP.EXE COMP.EXE DISKCOMP.EXE EDLIN.EXE MEM.EXE RESTORE.EXE ATTRIB.EXE CHKDSK.EXE DEBUG.EXE DISCOPY.EXE FORMAT.COM MODE.COM XCOPY.EXE (DOS 5.0 or later)

The PC Corner

Here's how you do you it (nontechnical types can now skip to item 5): Go to your "C>" prompt and type "ATTRIB +R *.EXE".

Don't catch the bug

Three indirect antecedents of INTEN are posited: GLOB, PRIOR, and ATTRIB. They are indirect antecedents in the sense that these constructs are hypothesized to affect INTEN only through their effects on ATTI, PROB, and VALUE.

Determinants of consumers' decisions to seek third party redress: an empirical study of dissatisfied patients

Portrait of Sir George Gill of Wyddial, Hertfordshire, Dressed in Italian Armour, 1578, attrib. to Cornelis Ketel (1548-1616), oil on oak panel, 125 x 89cm.

BADA: Jo Lawson-Tancred's highlights of the fair