read-only file / folder attribute
Read-only file attribute - an attribute of a file or folder which specifies the way in which file or folder is treated by operating system and various programs. While some programs may deny any attempts to modify a file or folder with read-only attribute, others will ask for confirmation or, in some special cases, will not regard this attribute to be essential.
In general, read-only attribute is a property of file or folder which does not affect its content but rather is meant to regulate the programs behavior towards a file or folder. While in single user environment setting read-only attribute may help to protect a document from accidental change or, on contrary, interfere with modification of files copied from CD (or other read-only media), read-only attribute obtains its very importance in multi-user or network environments where it strictly handles the usage of file in a collective work.