Apache Ant User Manual

## Attrib

Since Apache Ant 1.6.

### Description

Changes the attributes of a file or all files inside specified directories. Right now it has effect only under Windows. Each of the 4 possible permissions has its own attribute, matching the arguments for the attrib command.

FileSets, DirSets or FileLists can be specified using nested `<fileset>`, `<dirset>` and `<filelist>` elements.

Since Ant 1.7, this task supports arbitrary resource collections as nested elements.

By default this task won't do anything unless it detects it is running on a Windows system. If you know for sure that you have a `attrib` executable on your `PATH` that is command line compatible with the Windows command, you can use the task's os attribute and set its value to your current OS.

See the setpermissions task for a platform independent alternative.

### Parameters

Attribute | Description | Required
--- | --- | ---
file | the file or directory of which the permissions must be changed. | Yes, or nested `<fileset/list>` elements
readonly | the readonly permission. | At least one of the four
archive | the archive permission.
system | the system permission.
hidden | the hidden permission.
type | One of file, dir or both. If set to file, only the permissions of plain files are going to be changed. If set to dir, only the directories are considered. Note: The type attribute does not apply to nested `dirset`s—`dirset`s always implicitly assume type to be dir. | No; default is file
verbose | Whether to print a summary after execution or not. | No; defaults to false
os | list of Operating Systems on which the command may be executed. | No
osfamily | OS family as used in the <os> condition. | No; defaults to windows

### Examples

    <attrib file="${dist}/run.bat" readonly="true" hidden="true"/>

makes the `run.bat` file read-only and hidden.

    <attrib readonly="false">
      <fileset dir="${meta.inf}" includes="**/*.xml"/>
    </attrib>

makes all `.xml` files below `${meta.inf}` readable.

    <attrib readonly="true" archive="true">
      <fileset dir="shared/sources1">
        <exclude name="**/trial/**"/>
      </fileset>
      <fileset refid="other.shared.sources"/>
    </attrib>

makes all files below `shared/sources1` (except those below any directory named `trial`) read-only and archived. In addition all files belonging to a FileSet with id `other.shared.sources` get the same attributes.