This step-by-step article describes how to use the File Attribute Management Script

tool (Fileattributes.pl) to configure compression and display the attributes of

folders and files on local and remote Microsoft Windows 2000-based computers.

The File Attribute Management Script tool is available in the Microsoft Windows
2000 Resource Kit Supplement 1. Use this script tool to complete the following
tasks on files or folders of NTFS volumes on computers that are running Windows
2000:
Display the attributes of files and folders. The following list describes the
attributes that Fileattributes.pl displays, and lists the letters that
Fileattributes.pl uses to represent them:
A: Archived. The file or folder can be archived.
C: Compressed. The file or folder is compressed.
E: Encrypted. The contents of the file or folder are encrypted.
H: Hidden. The file or folder is hidden, which means that it does not appear in
Windows Explorer or in folder lists.
R: Read-only. The file or the contents of the folder is read-only, which means that
it cannot be changed or accidentally deleted.
S: System. The file is a system file which is used to load, configure, or run
Windows 2000.
Turn on or turn off compression of files and folders.
The information that Fileattributes.pl displays corresponds to the information that
appears in the Attributes section of the General tab of the Properties dialog box
of a folder or file. To view this information in Microsoft Windows Explorer, right-
click a folder or file, click Properties, and then click the General tab.
System Requirements for Fileattributes.pl

Fileattributes.pl runs on a source computer and acts on a target computer (which

can be the same or different computer than the source computer). Before you can use
this script tool to configure the compression of or display the attributes of
folders and files on NTFS volumes of local or remote computers, the following
requirements must be met on the source and target computers.
Source Computer

The computer is running either Windows 2000 Professional or Windows 2000 Server.
ActiveState ActivePerl Build 521 is installed. This program is available in the
Windows 2000 Resource Kit.

The computer must also be correctly configured to run the Perl scripts that are
included in the Windows 2000 Resource Kit Supplement 1. The resource kit WMI
provider module, Wmi.pm, must be in the Perl Installation Folder\Site\Lib\W2rk
folder. The resource kit Setup program typically creates the W2rk folder and copies
the Wmi.pm file to this folder.

If the W2rk folder is not automatically created during Setup, you can manually
create it and then configure the environment in which to run Fileattributes.pl. For
more information about how to do this, see the "Troubleshooting" section later in
this article.
You are logged on by using a user account that is a member of the administrators
group on the target computer.
Target Computer

The computer is running either Windows 2000 Professional or Windows 2000 Server
The computer contains volumes that are formatted with the NTFS file system.
Overview of Fileattributes.pl

Fileattributes.pl uses the following general syntax:

fileattributes.pl -operation
where -operation is one of the following commands that you can pass to the script.
The following list describes each operation that you can use with
Fileattributes.pl:
-change: Use this operation to turn on or turn off compression for folders and
files.
-query: Use this operation to display the attributes of folders and files.
Each operation uses its own syntax.
Change

The fileattributes.pl -change statement uses the following syntax:

fileattributes.pl -change Folder| File [ Folder| File...] [ -s Computer [ -u
Domain\User -p Password]][-compress on|off][-recurse]
The parameters that you can use with fileattributes.pl -change are:
Folder | File [ Folder | File...]: Use this parameter to specify the folder or file
that you want to compress using the following format: Drive:\Folder\FileName.

You can use the wildcard character (*) in any position in the path. If you want to
specify two or more folders or files, separate each item with a space. If the
folder or file name contains a space, enclose the folder or file name and path in
quotation marks ("").

When the file or folder is on a volume that is not mapped to the local computer,
use the relative path (the path as it is seen from the remote computer).
-s Computer: Use this parameter to specify the name or IP address of a remote
computer. If you omit this parameter, the local computer is specified.
-u Domain\User: Use this parameter to specify the user account with which to run
Fileattributes.pl. If you omit this parameter, Fileattributes.pl uses the
permissions of the currently logged-on user. If you use this parameter, you must
also use the -p parameter to provide the user's password.
-p Password: Use this parameter to specify the password of the user account that is
specified by the -u parameter. The -p parameter is required when you use the -u
parameter.
Note Both the -p and -u parameters are available only when you use the -s
parameter.

-compress on | off: Use this parameter to turn on or turn off compression for the
specified folders or files.
-recurse: Use this parameter to extend the command to all child objects of the
specified folder. If you omit this parameter, only the specified folder and the
files in that folder are affected. Subfolders and the files that are contained in
them are not affected.
Query

The fileattributes.pl -query statement uses the following syntax:

fileattributes.pl Folder| File [ Folder| File...] [ -s Computer [ -u Domain\User -p
Password]][-recurse][-format table| list | csv][-filter "FieldOperatorValue" [-
filter "FieldOperatorValue"...]]
The parameters that you can use with fileattributes.pl -query are:
Folder | File [ Folder | File...]: Use this parameter to specify the folder or file
that you want to display using the following format: Drive:\Folder\FileName.

You can use the wildcard character (*) in any position in the path. If you want to
specify two or more folders or files, separate each item with a space. If the
folder or file name contains a space, enclose the folder or file name and path in
quotation marks ("").

When the file or folder is on a volume that is not mapped to the local computer,
use the relative path (the path as it is seen from the remote computer).
-s Computer: Use this parameter to specify the name or IP address of a remote
computer. If you omit this parameter, the local computer is specified.
-u Domain\User: Use this parameter to specify the user account with which to run
Fileattributes.pl. If you omit this parameter, Fileattributes.pl uses the
permissions of the currently logged-on user. If you use this parameter, you must
also use the -p parameter to provide the user's password.
-p Password: Use this parameter to specify the password of the user account that is
specified by the -u parameter. The -p parameter is required when you use the -u
parameter.
Note Both the -p and -u parameters are available only when you use the -s
parameter.
-recurse: Use this parameter to display the attributes of the specified folder and
all child objects of the specified folder. If you omit this parameter, only the
specified folder and the files that are contained in that folder are included in
the display.
-format table|list| csv: Use this parameter to specify the output format. By
default, if you omit this parameter, Fileattributes.pl uses the table format.
-filter "FieldOperatorValue" [-filter "FieldOperatorValue"...]: Use this parameter
to specify the criteria for folders and files that are included in the display. If
you omit this parameter, all items that are specified in the Folder | File
parameter are included in the display.

To establish more than one criteria, use a separate instance of -filter

"FieldOperatorValue" for each criteria that you want to specify, and separate each
instance with a space. Fileattributes.pl displays only those files and folders that
meet all of the criteria.

The following table lists the operators and values that are available for each
field that is used with the -filter parameter, and an example of each
"FieldOperatorValue".
Field Operator Value Example
TYPE = ! file | folder "type=file"
PATH = ! Valid path and file names. Wildcard characters (*) are permitted.
"path\file!e:\winnt\system32\*.dll"
ATTRIBUTE = ! One or more of the following abbreviations without spaces: A | C
| E | H | R | S "attribute=C"
"attribute!HS"
Examples

To compress the E:\Reports folder and the files that are contained in this folder
on the local computer, type fileattributes.pl -change -compress on e:\reports at
the command prompt, and then press ENTER.
To compress the E:\Reports folder and all child objects of this folder (all
subfolders and files that are contained in the subfolders), type fileattributes.pl
-change -compress on -recurse e:\reports at the command prompt, and then press
ENTER.
To run Fileattributes.pl by using the administrator account to compress the D:\My
Graphics folder of a remote computer that is named Server8 in the Corp domain, type
fileattributes.pl -change -compress on "d:\my graphics" -s server8 -u
corp\administrator -p password at the command prompt, and then press ENTER.
To display the attributes of only files in the C:\*.* folder of the local computer,
type fileattributes.pl -query c:\*.* -format list -filter "type=file" at the
command prompt, and then press ENTER.
To display the attributes of all files in the E:\Pictures folder, display the
output in a comma-delimited format, and then redirect the output to a file that is
named Pictures.csv in the C:\Attributes folder of the local computer, type
fileattributes.pl -query e:\pictures\*.* -recurse -format csv >
c:\attributes\pictures.csv at the command prompt, and then press ENTER.
To display the files in the E:\Pictures folder that are archived, read-only, and
compressed, type fileattributes.pl -query e:\pictures\*.* -filter "attribute=ARC"
at the command prompt, and then press ENTER.
To display all encrypted files that are on volumes E, F, and Z, type the following
line at the command prompt, and then press ENTER.

Note In this example, the Z drive on the local computer is mapped to drive C of a
remote computer. If the remote volume is mapped to a drive on the local computer,
you can specify the mapped drive letter in the file path. You do not need to use
the -s parameter to indicate another computer.
fileattributes.pl -query e: f: z: -recurse -filter "attribute=e"
Troubleshooting

When you try to run Fileattributes.pl, you receive the following error message:
ERROR: Wmi.pm is required to run the script.
Copy Wmi.pm from the Resource Kit directory to /Perl/site/lib/W2RK.
This behavior can occur if the computer is not correctly configured to run the Perl
scripts that are included in the Windows 2000 Resource Kit Supplement 1. To use
Fileattributes.pl, the W2rk folder must exist in the Perl Installation
Folder\site\lib folder, and it must contain the Wmi.pmi file.

To resolve this behavior, manually configure the environment in which to run Perl
scripts:
Create a folder that is named W2rk in the Perl Installation Folder\Site\Lib folder.

Note The default Perl Installation Folder is drive:\Perl, where drive is the drive
on which Windows is installed.
Copy the Wmi.pmi file from the folder in which the Windows 2000 Resource Kit is
installed (by default, it is \Program Files\Resource Kit) to the W2rk folder that
you created in step 1.