SETFILE(1) BSD General Commands Manual SETFILE(1)NAME
/usr/bin/SetFile — set attributes of files and directories
SYNOPSIS
/usr/bin/SetFile [-P] [-a attributes] [-c creator] [-d date] [-m date]
[-t type] file ...
DESCRIPTION
/usr/bin/SetFile is a tool to set the file attributes on files in an HFS+
directory. It attempts to be similar to the setfile command in MPW. It
can apply rules to more than one file with the options applying to all
files listed.
Flags:
-P Acts on a symlink file instead on the file the symlink resolves to.
-a attributes Sets the file attributes bits where attributes is a string
of case sensitive letters. Each letter corresponds to a
file attribute: an uppercase letter indicates that the
attribute bit is set (1), a lowercase letter indicates
that it is not (0). Note: attributes not specified remain
unchanged.
A | a Alias file
B | b Has bundle
C | c Custom icon (allowed on folders)
D | d Located on the desktop (allowed on folders)
E | e Extension is hidden (allowed on folders)
I | i Inited - Finder is aware of this file and has
given it a location in a window. (allowed on
folders)
L | l Locked
M | m Shared (can run multiple times)
N | n File has no INIT resource
S | s System file (name locked)
T | t "Stationery Pad" file
V | v Invisible (allowed on folders)
Z | z Busy (allowed on folders)
-c creator Specifies the file's creator, where creator can be a
string of four MacRoman characters, an empty string ('')
designating a null creator, or a binary, decimal, octal,
or hexadecimal number in standard notation (e.g.
0x52486368).
-d date Sets the creation date, where date is a string of the
form: "mm/dd/[yy]yy [hh:mm:[:ss] [AM | PM]]" Notes:
Enclose the string in quotation marks if it contains spa‐
ces. The date must be in the Unix epoch, that is, between
1/1/1970 and 1/18/2038. If the year is provided as a two-
digit year, it is assumed to be in the 21st century and
must be from 00 (2000) through 38 (2038).
-m date Sets the modification date where date is a string of the
form in -d above. (mm/dd/[yy]yy [hh:mm:[:ss] [AM | PM]])
-t type Sets the file type, where type can be a string of four
MacRoman characters, an empty string ('') designating a
null type, or a binary, decimal, octal, or hexadecimal
number in standard notation (e.g. 0x55455955).
RETURN VALUES
0 attributes set
1 syntax error
2 any other error
SEE ALSOGetFileInfo(1)EXAMPLES
This command line sets the modification date of "myFile":
SetFile-m "8/4/2001 16:13" myFile
Mac OS X January 4, 2009 Mac OS X
