>>I found this API to set a file attribute
>>
>>
>>

DECLARE SHORT SetFileAttributes IN kernel32;
>>    STRING lpFileName,;
>>    INTEGER dwFileAttributes
>>

>>
>>I assume I set lpFilename to xyz.doc
>>but what do I set dwFileAttributes to make xyz.doc read only?
>
>Peter
>
>Another way is by using WSH:
>

>#define READONLY 1
>#define HIDDEN 2
>#define SYSTEM 4
>#define ARCHIVE 32
>oFSO = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
>oFile = oFSO.GetFile("c:\xyz.doc")
>oFile.Attributes = READONLY && changes to RO
>

Alex,

It's better to use the bit manipulation functions. This is because on of the file attribute bits is, itself, read-only (FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORY 0x10) and may cause an error. Further, setting the attributes directly clears the other bits such as the archive bit.