Extended Attributes

Extended Attributes (EA) are a property of directories as well as of files.

Implementation depends on underlying file systems.

Functions

 * DosOpen2 for adding EAs to new or existing files
 * DosMkDir2 for adding EAs to new directories
 * DosQFileInfo, DosQPathInfo to read EAs
 * DosFindFirst, DosFindNext to search for files with specific EAs

Standard Extended Attributes

 * .TYPE:type of files (ASCII)
 * .KEYPHRASES:text key phrases (ASCII)
 * .SUBJECT:brief summary of content (ASCII single-value)
 * .COMMENTS:Notes (multi-value)
 * .HISTORY:file modification (ASCII)
 * .VERSION:version number (ASCII or binary)
 * .ICON:binary icon data
 * .ASSOCTABLE:association
 * .HPFSNAME:long name

Usage
REXX.METACONTROL REXX.PROGRAMDATA
 * REXX interpreter

.TYPE
 * System Editor

.MMPREF_MMAUDIO .MMPREF_MMIMAGE .POSTER
 * Multimedia Presentation Manager/2

.CLASSINFO .ICON .ICONPOS .LONGNAME .TYPE
 * Workplace Shell

Articles

 * Roger Orr: Extended Attributes - what are they and how can you use them ? - (May 1993)
 * Björn Fahller: Encapsulating Extended Attributes Part 1 (May 1996), Part 2 (Jun 1996)

Links

 * Implementation of extended attributes on the FAT file system (Bob Eager)