Working with File Attributes in C# .Net 2.0

Question

So how can i recursively search a Folder and un-hide ALL files and sub folders in a directory? Like have it check each file and each folder... if they're hidden.. un-hide them. Iv been messing around with it all morning with no luck... i got all folders to set back to normal but thats about it.

Answer 1

foreach (var filePath in Directory.GetFiles(@"C:\Temp2"))
{
    Console.Write("File " + filePath);

    FileAttributes fileAttribute = File.GetAttributes(filePath);

    if ((fileAttribute & FileAttributes.Hidden) > 0)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(" is hidden.");

        // unset the hidden flag, but do not change other flags:
        File.SetAttributes(filePath, fileAttribute & ~FileAttributes.Hidden);
    }
    else
    {
        Console.WriteLine(" is not hidden.");
    }
}

to do it recursively, use

Directory.GetFiles(@"C:\Temp2", "*", SearchOption.AllDirectories)

to include directories too, use GetFileSystemEntries

Directory.GetFileSystemEntries(@"C:\Temp2", "*", SearchOption.AllDirectories)

Answer 2

How about something like this?

foreach (var file in directory.GetFiles())
{
    if ((File.GetAttributes(file.FullName) & FileAttributes.Hidden) == FileAttributes.Hidden)
    {
         File.SetAttributes(file.FullName, FileAttributes.Normal);
    }
}

Answer 3

This is easily solved using recursion.

File attributes such as "hidden" is specified as an enum flag and is most easliy set or cleared using bit operations. You can see a file or directory's attributes by getting a FileInfo or DirectoryInfo for that path.

// startDir assumed to be full path
public static void UnhideAll(string startDir)
{
    DirectoryInfo dir = new DirectoryInfo(startDir);
    Console.WriteLine("Working in {0}", startDir);
    // First, clear hidden flag on the current directory (if needed)
    if ((dir.Attributes & FileAttributes.Hidden) != 0)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Clearing hidden flag on dir");
        dir.Attributes &= ~FileAttributes.Hidden;
    }
    else
        Console.WriteLine("No need to clear flag since it's already non-hidden");

    // Second, recursively go into all sub directories
    foreach (var subDir in dir.GetDirectories())
        UnhideAll(subDir.FullName);

    // Third, fix all hidden files in the current folder
    foreach (var file in dir.GetFiles())
    {
        if ((file.Attributes & FileAttributes.Hidden) != 0)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Clearing hidden flag on file {0}", file.FullName);
            file.Attributes &= ~FileAttributes.Hidden;
        }
        else
            Console.WriteLine("Skipping {0} since it's not hidden", file.FullName);
    }
}    

You can now recursively unhide all hidden files inside a directory by calling

UnhideAll(@"C:\SomePath\That\Should\Be\Unhidden");

Of course, you'll want to remove all calls to Console.WriteLine when you use this code but I left them there to make it easier for you to see what's going on when the code is running. Here's a more condense version:

// startDir assumed to be full path
public static void UnhideAll(string startDir)
{
    DirectoryInfo dir = new DirectoryInfo(startDir);
    // First, clear the current directory
    dir.Attributes &= ~FileAttributes.Hidden;
    // Second, recursively go into all sub directories
    foreach (var subDir in dir.GetDirectories())
        UnhideAll(subDir.FullName);

    // Third, fix all hidden files in this folder
    foreach (var file in dir.GetFiles())
        file.Attributes &= ~FileAttributes.Hidden;
}