ATTR (Attribute)                       Charles Petzold
          Command                       PC Magazine Vol 5, No 11
	        Copyright 1986 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company
          ______________________________________________________

          Purpose:  ATTR.COM permits display and modification of
                    the archive, system, hidden, and read-only
                    file attributes.

          Format:   ATTR
                      or
                    ATTR *.*
                      or
                    ATTR [+A|-A] [+S|-S] [+H|-H] [+R|-R]
                    [d:][path]filename[.ext]

          Remarks:  Entering ATTR without any parameters, as in
                    the first format shown above, produces a help
                    display (essentially identical to the third
                    form above) that shows which file attributes
                    can be changed.

                    ATTR.COM permits the use of the global ? and
                    * characters (as in the second format above).
                    Entering ATTR filename displays a specific
                    file's attributes.  For example,

                         ATTR IBMBIO.COM

                    returns the display

                         IBMBIO.COM    Arc     Sys Hid R-O

                    showing that the Archive, System, Hidden, and
                    Read-Only bits of the attribute byte are set
                    for this file.

                    When wildcards are used to list the
                    attributes of all the files in a directory,
                    subdirectory names are shown as Dir (between
                    the Arc and Sys in the example above).
                    Unlike the DOS DIR command, ATTR lists hidden
                    files, whether sought by specified filename
                    or through a *.* listing.  However, ATTR does
                    not show Volume names or the dot and double-
                    dot entries in subdirectories.

                    The syntax for changing file attributes is
                    indicated in the third format above.  After
                    typing ATTR (and a space) you simply precede
                    the file specification with a plus or minus
                    sign, followed by the letter A (Archive), S
                    (System), H (Hidden), or R (Read-Only).  A
                    plus sign turns on the specified attribute; a
                    minus sign turns it off.  More than one
                    attribute can be changed at once, and the
                    attribute-designating letters may be entered
                    in any order and in upper- or lowercase.  No
                    space may be used between the plus or minus
                    and the letter that follows it, however.

          Example:  To convert the file 85TAX.WKS to hidden and
                    read-only, you would enter

                    ATTR +H +R 85TAX.WKS

                    Since DOS itself normally sets the Archive
                    bit, entering

                          ATTR 85TAX.WKS

                    would produce the display

                         85TAX.WKS     Arc         Hid R-O

                    Since the Hidden attribute has been set,
                    however, the  DIR command will produce the
                    message, "File not found."  And since the
                    Read-Only flag has also been set, a DEL
                    command will produce the message, "Access
                    denied."

                    Notes:

                    1.   Requires DOS 2.0 or later.