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# Properties and permissions

**Alt+Enter** shows what a file or folder is: its size, dates, owner and permissions, and where
the system has them, its ZFS dataset, the FreeBSD package it belongs to and its file flags;
for an old picture, a video or geodata also what it holds (a video's length, size and tracks;
a map's layers, coordinate system and extent, a GPX track's length and time). In
the desktop app you can change the permission bits there (on Windows the read-only flag) and
your own file flags; the terminal app shows the same facts in a window of text.

![The Properties dialog of deploy.sh: Location /home/demo/projects/rocket, Type File, Size 69 B, Created, Modified and Accessed, Owner demo:demo · uid 1000, gid 1000, Permissions 755 with rwxr-xr-x next to it, Flags none, Apply and Close](../screenshots/files-properties.png)

## Contents

- [How to use it](#how-to-use-it)
- [What you see](#what-you-see)
- [ZFS, packages and file flags](#zfs-packages-and-file-flags)
- [Settings and config.toml](#settings-and-configtoml)
- [In the terminal app](#in-the-terminal-app)
- [Questions](#questions)

## How to use it

1. Put the cursor on a file or folder (not `..`; in the terminal app `..` means the folder you
   are in).
2. Press **Alt+Enter** (or *Properties* in the F9 command list). For a folder, the status line
   says *Reading properties…* while its size is measured.
3. To change the permissions, type three or four octal digits into the field (`755`, `0600`),
   or tick or untick *Read-only* on Windows.
4. Press **Enter** or *Apply*. *Close* (or **Esc**) closes without changing anything.

## What you see

The dialog is titled with the entry's name.

| Item | Shows |
|---|---|
| *Location* | The folder it is in |
| *Type* | *File*, *Folder*, or *Symbolic link* `→` its target |
| *Size* | The size; from 10 KB on also the exact bytes; for a folder, *in 1,234 files*. A folder you may not list says *Could not be read: No permission* (or why else it could not), not a size of 0 |
| *Created*, *Modified*, *Accessed* | Dates, where the file system records them |
| *Owner* | The user and group by name, as `ls -l` shows them, then their ids: `demo:demo · uid 1000, gid 1000` (the BSDs, illumos, Linux, macOS). An id with no name stays a number |
| *Permissions* | An octal field, `644`, with `rw-r--r--` next to it, updated as you type (the BSDs, Linux, macOS) |
| *Attributes* | *Read-only* (Windows) |
| What it holds | For an old picture, a module, a mailbox, a comic, a dBase table, a disk image or a local model, its facts ([Old pictures and files](../previews/old-formats.md), [Your local models](local-models.md#the-facts)) |

A value that is not octal says *Permissions are 3 or 4 octal digits, e.g. 644* under the list,
and nothing is changed. After *Apply* the dialog closes and the pane is read again.

## ZFS, packages and file flags

Below the permissions, where they apply:

![Properties of README.md on FreeBSD 14.5: Owner uid 1001, Permissions 644, Flags uarch with tick boxes for nodump and hidden, ZFS dataset tank/home/demo mounted at /tank/home/demo, Compression lz4 ratio 1.24x, Space 1001 KB used, 499 MB available, 424 KB referenced, Quota 500 MB with descendants, Snapshots 3 (Alt+Z lists them)](../screenshots/files-properties-zfs.png)
<!-- screenshot: files-properties-zfs.png: retake on FreeBSD: the Owner line now reads demo:wheel · uid 1001, gid 0 -->

| Item | Shows | Where |
|---|---|---|
| *Flags* | The file flags set, by the names `ls -lo` uses: `uarch`, `nodump`, `hidden`, `schg` …; *none* when there are none. Under it, a tick box for each flag you may set (when you own the file) | FreeBSD (not NetBSD or OpenBSD); on Linux the attributes `lsattr` shows that matter here: `immutable`, `append-only`, `nodump`; macOS |
| *Package* | The installed package the file belongs to, `git-2.56.0`, and *Files of this package*, which lists its files as a folder | FreeBSD, files of packages (`pkg which`) |
| *ZFS dataset*, *Mounted at* | The dataset the file is on, and where it is mounted | ZFS |
| *Compression* | The dataset's compression and its ratio: `lz4, ratio 1.52x` | ZFS |
| *Space* | Used, available and referenced space of the dataset | ZFS |
| *Quota* | `quota` (with the datasets below it) and `refquota` (this dataset alone), when either is set | ZFS |
| *Snapshots* | How many snapshots the dataset has, and the key that lists them: `12 (Alt+Z lists them)` ([ZFS snapshots as folders](zfs-snapshots.md)) | ZFS |

**Flags you can set.** The user flags, on a file you own: `uchg` (user immutable), `uappnd`
(user append-only), `nodump` (left out by dump(8)) and `hidden` (hidden in Finder and Samba).
Tick or untick them and press *Apply*; the other flags stay as they are. ZFS on FreeBSD keeps
`nodump` and `hidden` but no `uchg` or `uappnd`, so on ZFS only those two are offered.

**System flags** (`schg`, `sappnd`, `sunlnk`, `arch`) are shown, not offered: only root sets
them, and while the system runs at securelevel 1 or higher (`sysctl kern.securelevel`) not even
root can clear them. The dialog says so under the flags when one is set. On Linux the
attributes are shown only: `chattr` sets them, as root.

**Files of this package** (*F9 → Files of this package*, or the button next to the package)
opens `<file>/@package`: every file the package installed, by its full path, with its size and
date, as `pkg info -l` lists them. **Enter** on one goes to its folder with the cursor on it;
**F3** views it and **F5** copies it, as anywhere. The list is read-only, and its badge names
the package. **Backspace** leads back to the file's folder.

## Settings and config.toml

None. The keys are `properties` (**Alt+Enter**), `flags` and `package` (no key of their own:
**F9**) in `[keys]`.

## In the terminal app

**Alt+Enter** (or *F9 → Properties*) opens a window with the same facts as text: location,
type, size, modified, owner, permissions, and the ZFS, package and flag lines; for an old
picture, a tracker module, a mailbox, a comic, a dBase table, a container image or a local model
also what it holds ([Old pictures and files](../previews/old-formats.md), [Container images](container-images.md#what-you-see),
[Your local models](local-models.md#the-facts)),
and for a neural network model (a Core ML package folder too) its format, inputs, outputs, nodes
and parameters ([Neural network models](../previews/neural-networks.md)), and for a video (or a song the tags reader does not know) its format, length, size in pixels
and tracks, by an installed ffprobe or ffmpeg's pulled image
([Media](../previews/media.md#video-and-sound-with-ffmpeg)), and for
geodata its layers, coordinate system and extent by GDAL, a GPX file's tracks without it
([Geodata](../previews/geodata.md#the-facts)). A folder's size
is measured on a thread; the status line says *Reading properties…* meanwhile. Any key closes
it. Nothing is changed there; instead:

| To | In the terminal app |
|---|---|
| Change the permissions | **Alt+M**: [Permissions and dates](permissions-and-dates.md) of the marked files, planned first |
| Change your file flags | *F9 → File flags* on the file: a line with the flags set, to edit (`nodump hidden`); the flags you may set are named above it, and the others you leave out are cleared |
| List a package's files | *F9 → Files of this package* on the file |

## Questions

#### Can I change the owner?

No, only the permission bits (or the read-only flag on Windows). Changing the owner needs
administrator rights; use `sudo chown` on the command line.

#### Does changing a folder's permissions change the files in it?

No, only the folder itself. For everything inside, mark it and press **Alt+M** with *Into folders, all the way down* ticked ([Permissions and dates](permissions-and-dates.md)).

#### What do the four-digit values mean?

The first digit holds the special bits: `4` setuid, `2` setgid, `1` sticky. `1777` is a shared
folder like `/tmp`; `0644` is the same as `644`.

#### Why is Created missing?

Not every file system records when a file was made. Where it does not (some Linux file systems,
network shares), the line is left out.

#### What happens when I change the permissions of a symbolic link?

The permissions of what it points at change: links themselves have no permissions of their own
on Linux.

#### Why can I not tick uchg on ZFS?

ZFS on FreeBSD stores `nodump` and `hidden` for users, and immutability only as the system flag
`schg`. Setting `uchg` there fails with *Operation not supported*, so the dialog offers only
the two that work. As root: `chflags schg file`.

#### Why does every file on ZFS show `uarch`?

ZFS on FreeBSD sets the archive flag (`uarch`, from Windows' "archive" attribute) on files it
writes, for Samba. `ls -lo` shows it too. It is harmless; `chflags nouarch` clears it.

#### Which package does a file belong to, from the command line?

`pkg which /usr/local/bin/git`, and `pkg info -l git` lists its files: the same two commands
Coxswain runs.

#### Why does the dialog show an error for a file inside an archive?

A file inside an archive is not on disk, so it has no properties the system can report. Copy it
out with **F5** first ([Archives as folders](archives.md#limits)).

#### How do I change permissions in the terminal app?

Its window (**Alt+Enter**) only shows the facts. Change permissions with **Alt+M**
([Permissions and dates](permissions-and-dates.md)), and your file flags with **F9** → *File flags* on the file
([In the terminal app](#in-the-terminal-app)).

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[← Previous: Your local models, by name](local-models.md) · [Next: Permissions and dates in bulk (Alt+M) →](permissions-and-dates.md)