Changing file attributes on Windows

Groovy is widely used as a scripting language for automating repetitive tasks. While working with files, it occurs sometime that one has to change the attributes of a file in Windows. For example, you may need to set the file as read-only, archived, and so on.

In this recipe, we will learn how to change file attributes in Windows using Groovy.

Getting ready

Let's start by creating a file and adding some content to it. Open your shell, start groovysh and type the following code:

f = new File('test.txt')
f << 'hello, this is a test file'

You should now see a file named test.txt in the same directory where you started groovysh.

On a DOS console, type:

attrib test.txt

The output should be as follows:

A       I    C:\hello.txt

The initial on the left stands for the first letter of the enabled attribute: A for "archive", S for "system", H for "hidden" and R for "read-only".

How to do it...

With the exclusion of the read-only attribute; in Java, there is no way...