Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!newstop!sun!imagen!atari!apratt
From: apratt@atari.UUCP (Allan Pratt)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Re: Hidden folders (was Hidden Files)
Message-ID: <2814@atari.UUCP>
Date: 23 Jan 91 18:58:39 GMT
References: <1991Jan16.163558.26338@arc.ab.ca> <1991Jan21.053855.1449@mailer.cc.fsu.edu> <8800@star.cs.vu.nl> <15861@sdcc6.ucsd.edu>
Organization: Atari Corp., Sunnyvale CA
Lines: 22

Somebody says "MAC copies to MSDOS (Atari) disks create a hidden folder."

Then ss60wbi@sdcc4.ucsd.edu (G. "Maddog" Knauss) writes:
>You can make ANY file think it's a folder by fiddling with
>GEMDOS(67). [...] I shudder to think of what's going to happen to the disk
>structure if the file isn't actually a folder, though.

TOS versions 1.4 and greater do not allow this.  They return "access
denied" if you try to change the folder bit to make a file into a folder.
You also can't set the volume-label bit or any of the undefined bits.

You can't change ANY of the attribute bits of a folder.  If the folder
bit is set, it has to be the ONLY bit set.  "Hidden folder" is an invalid
combination under GEMDOS.

Obviously, it's possible for something illegal to come in from outside.  I
really didn't think about this when I put those restrictions on Fattrib.
I'll have to think about that one.

============================================
Opinions expressed above do not necessarily	-- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp.
reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else.	  ...ames!atari!apratt