The UFS, NFS, and TMPFS file systems have been enhanced to include extended file attributes. Extended file attributes enable application developers to associate specific attributes to a file. For example, a developer of an application used to manage a windowing system might choose to associate a display icon with a file. Extended file attributes are logically represented as files within a hidden directory that is associated with the target file.
You can use the runat command to add attributes and execute shell commands in the extended attribute namespace. This namespace is a hidden attribute directory that is associated with the specified file.
To use the runat command to add attributes to a file, you first have to create the attributes file.
$ runat filea cp /tmp/attrdata attr.1 |
Then, use the runat command to list the attributes of the file.
$ runat filea ls -l |
For more information, see the runat(1) man page.
Many Solaris file system commands have been modified to support file system attributes by providing an attribute-aware option. Use this option to query, copy, or find file attributes. For more information, see the specific man page for each file system command.