Attribute Meaning
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ARCHIVE A file or directory that is an archive file or a directory.
Applications use this attribute to mark files for backup or removal.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN The file or directory is hidden. It is not included in an ordinary directory listing.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL A file or directory that does not have other attributes set.
This attribute is valid only when used alone.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NOT_CONTENT_INDEXED The file or directory is not be indexed by the content indexing service.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_OFFLINE The data of a file or directory is not available immediately.
This attribute indicates that the file data is physically moved to offline storage. This attribute is used by Remote Storage, which is the hierarchical storage management software. Applications should not arbitrarily change this attribute.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_READONLY A file or directory that is read-only.
For a file, applications can read the file, but cannot write to it or delete it.
For a directory, applications cannot delete it.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_SYSTEM A file or directory that the operating system uses a part of, or uses exclusively.
FILE_ATTRIBUTE_TEMPORARY A file or directory that is being used for temporary storage.
File systems avoid writing data back to mass storage if sufficient cache memory is available, because typically, an application deletes a temporary file after the handle is closed. In that scenario, the system can entirely avoid writing the data. Otherwise, the data is written after the handle is closed.