Module java.base
Package java.nio.file.attribute

Interface BasicFileAttributeView

All Superinterfaces:
AttributeView, FileAttributeView
All Known Subinterfaces:
DosFileAttributeView, PosixFileAttributeView
public interface BasicFileAttributeView extends FileAttributeView
A file attribute view that provides a view of a basic set of file attributes common to many file systems. The basic set of file attributes consist of mandatory and optional file attributes as defined by the BasicFileAttributes interface.

The file attributes are retrieved from the file system as a bulk operation by invoking the readAttributes method. This class also defines the setTimes method to update the file's time attributes.

Where dynamic access to file attributes is required, the attributes supported by this attribute view have the following names and types:

Supported attributes
Name Type
"lastModifiedTime" FileTime
"lastAccessTime" FileTime
"creationTime" FileTime
"size" Long
"isRegularFile" Boolean
"isDirectory" Boolean
"isSymbolicLink" Boolean
"isOther" Boolean
"fileKey" Object

The getAttribute method may be used to read any of these attributes as if by invoking the readAttributes() method.

The setAttribute method may be used to update the file's last modified time, last access time or create time attributes as if by invoking the setTimes method.

Since:
1.7

  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    String
    name()
    Returns the name of the attribute view.
    BasicFileAttributes
    readAttributes()
    Reads the basic file attributes as a bulk operation.
    void
    setTimes(FileTime lastModifiedTime, FileTime lastAccessTime, FileTime createTime)
    Updates any or all of the file's last modified time, last access time, and create time attributes.

  • Method Details

    • name

      String name()
      Returns the name of the attribute view. Attribute views of this type have the name "basic".
      Specified by:
      name in interface AttributeView
      Returns:
      the name of the attribute view

    • readAttributes

      BasicFileAttributes readAttributes() throws IOException
      Reads the basic file attributes as a bulk operation.

      It is implementation specific if all file attributes are read as an atomic operation with respect to other file system operations.

      Returns:
      the file attributes
      Throws:
      IOException - if an I/O error occurs
      SecurityException - In the case of the default provider, a security manager is installed, its checkRead method is invoked to check read access to the file

    • setTimes

      void setTimes(FileTime lastModifiedTime, FileTime lastAccessTime, FileTime createTime) throws IOException
      Updates any or all of the file's last modified time, last access time, and create time attributes.

      This method updates the file's timestamp attributes. The values are converted to the epoch and precision supported by the file system. Converting from finer to coarser granularities result in precision loss. The behavior of this method when attempting to set a timestamp that is not supported or to a value that is outside the range supported by the underlying file store is not defined. It may or not fail by throwing an IOException.

      If any of the lastModifiedTime, lastAccessTime, or createTime parameters has the value null then the corresponding timestamp is not changed. An implementation may require to read the existing values of the file attributes when only some, but not all, of the timestamp attributes are updated. Consequently, this method may not be an atomic operation with respect to other file system operations. Reading and re-writing existing values may also result in precision loss. If all of the lastModifiedTime, lastAccessTime and createTime parameters are null then this method has no effect.

      Usage Example: Suppose we want to change a file's last access time. 

          Path path = ...
    FileTime time = ...
    Files.getFileAttributeView(path, BasicFileAttributeView.class).setTimes(null, time, null);
      Parameters:
      lastModifiedTime - the new last modified time, or null to not change the value
      lastAccessTime - the last access time, or null to not change the value
      createTime - the file's create time, or null to not change the value
      Throws:
      IOException - if an I/O error occurs
      SecurityException - In the case of the default provider, a security manager is installed, its checkWrite method is invoked to check write access to the file
      See Also: