CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++windowsvisual-studio
Alexander Leon VI
Alexander Leon VI

Reputation: 509

Is it possible to create a hidden txt file in C++?

I am constructing an app in Visual Studio. I need to create some files to be used in a dll, but I want the files to be hidden when viewing the folder. How can I do this in a C++ program?

Interactively, you can mark a file has hidden by right-clicking on it, selecting "Properties" and selecting "Hidden". The question is, how can do something equivalent from a C++ program?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 13859

Answers (4)

AR Khan
AR Khan

Reputation: 1

Try this simple technique..

#include<iostream>
using namespace std;

int main(){
system("echo >file.txt");
system("attrib +h +s file.txt");

return 0;
}

Upvotes: 0

Michael Haephrati
Michael Haephrati

Reputation: 4245

Files created with the FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN can be easily seen when checking the "Hidden Items" checkbox. The only way to really hide a file is to use a File System Filter Driver that will eliminate the file (or a file/s pattern) record from the results, whenever NtQueryDirectoryFile() is called. Windows File Explorer calls NtQueryDirectoryFile() so with such driver, the file won't show even if "Hidden Items" is checked.

enter image description here

Upvotes: 0

Alex
Alex

Reputation: 17289

Use the SetFileAttributes function in the Windows API:

#include <windows.h>
#include <fstream>

std::fstream file; 
int main(){ 

   file.open("myUnhiddenFile.txt",std::ios::out); 
   file << "This is my unhidden file, that I have created just now" ; 
   file.close();

   wchar_t* fileLPCWSTR = L"myUnhiddenFile.txt"; // To avoid incompatibility
                                                 // in GetFileAttributes()
   int attr = GetFileAttributes(fileLPCWSTR);
   if ((attr & FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN) == 0) {
       SetFileAttributes(fileLPCWSTR, attr | FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN);
    }
   return(0);
}

Upvotes: 13

otah007
otah007

Reputation: 525

#include <Windows.h>

DWORD attributes = GetFileAttributes("MyFile.txt");
SetFileAttributes("MyFile.txt", attributes + FILE_ATTRIBUTE_HIDDEN)

Upvotes: 4

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