file / folder / JPG photo date, time and attribute definitions

Creation date attribute:

• Specifies the original creation date and time of file or folder. When the file or folder is created / newly made, creation date and time are recorded in file system. Detailed information about creation date and time.

Last modified date attribute:

• Indicates on the file systems level when the file or folder was modified last time. When the files contents are modified and saved, last modified date and time stamp is set to correspond with the time of changes done. Detailed information about last modified date and time.

Last accessed date attribute:

• Indicates on the file systems level when a file was accessed. If the file is only opened for viewing, copied, moved, etc., last accessed date is changed to current one. Detailed information about last accessed date and time.

Image taken date attribute:

• Timestamp information most commonly recorded in JPG file Exif data by digital camera. Indicates date and time the image was taken if JPG photo date change has not been made afterwards.

Image modified date attribute:

• Image modified tag in JPG Exif data specifies the date and time when last changes to image contents were applied. Image editor software must support Exif tags, otherwise all internal image information will be erased.

Image digitized date attribute:

• Attribute originally meant to specify the date and time when image was transferred to digital format. In most cases image digitized date and time matches that of image taken, since in most cases digitization is the file creation process itself.

Read-only attribute:

• Describes a file that may only be read. Devices such as CD-ROM can be read but not changed. This attribute can be assigned to a file or a folder. Read-only file or folder cannot be modified or deleted, but a read-only folder may have its contents modified or deleted. Detailed information about read-only file attribute.

Archive attribute:

• The file is an archive file. Applications use this attribute to mark files for backup or removal. Detailed information about archive file attribute.

Hidden attribute:

• The file is hidden. It is not included in an ordinary directory listing. Detailed information about hidden file attribute.

System attribute:

• The file is part of the operating system or is used exclusively by it. Do no delete system files. Detailed information about system file attribute.

Temporary attribute:

• The file is being used for temporary storage. File systems attempt to keep all of the data in memory for quicker access rather than flushing the data back to mass storage. A temporary file should be deleted by the application as soon as it is no longer needed. Detailed information about temporary file attribute.

Offline attribute:

• The data of the file is not immediately available. This attribute indicates that the file data has been physically moved to offline storage. This attribute is used by Remote Storage, the hierarchical storage management software. Applications should not arbitrarily change this attribute. Detailed information about offline file attribute.

Not indexed (not content indexed) attribute:

• The file will not be indexed by the content indexing service. Detailed information about not indexed file attribute.

Encrypted attribute:

• The folder or file is encrypted on a NTFS volume. Encryption is provided by the Encrypting File System (EFS). Detailed information about encrypted file attribute. Read more at Microsoft TechNet: The Encrypting File System.

Compressed attribute:

• File that is made generally much smaller than the original size of file. Supported by NTFS volumes (Windows NT / 2000 / XP / Vista / Windows 7 / 2003 Server / 2008 Server). It can be applied on files, folders, and entire NTFS volumes. Decompression occurs automatically when the file is read. The file is compressed again when it is closed or saved. Don't mix up Commpressed attribute with common compressed file extensions (.ZIP, .RAR, .ARJ and .TAR or .GZ). Detailed information about compressed file attribute.

Reparse point attribute:

• Reparse points are used as building blocks by Microsoft and third-parties to enhance NTFS file system behavior. They are used in Hierarchical Storage Management (HSM) and Volume Mount Points. They are also used by Installable File System (IFS) filter drivers to mark certain files as special to that driver (Requires Windows 2000 or higher). Detailed information about reparse point file attribute.

Sparse file attribute:

• In a sparse file, large ranges of zeroes may not require disk allocation. Space for nonzero data will be allocated as needed as the file is written. NTFS includes full sparse file support for both compressed and uncompressed files. Detailed information about sparse file attribute.