How to check NTFS file permissions?

[Chris]

This problem comes up because WinXP keeps putting it's 'System Volume
Information' directories on each partition. In this case, I think the FS
was created by an earlier incarnation of the machine I'm on.

However it is marked Read Only, and there doesn't seem to be any way to
change it. Properties window says it is Read only (with a square, not a
checkmark) and Hidden, and it lets me think I'm changing it, even asks if
I want to change all subordinates, but never changes it. That's an OT,
but I'd be happy to hear a solution to it.

The problem I'm having is that File.readable? and File.executable? both
give me true for that directory, but if I try Dir.chdir into it, it throw=
s
an exception.

Is there a check I can do, or is my only option: rescue Errno::EACCES?=20
And I guess the followup is: is it much more expensive in Ruby to catch
exceptions than to execute regular code (as it is in Java)?


Thanks,

-Chris

 

[Chris]

POSIX-y - oh, right. I'm still not used to crossing the Win/not-Win line
yet It was strange to see the file attributes of ctime =3D change tim=
e,
instead of create time. Back to the point, though, if Dir.chdir isn't a
read and it isn't an execute (and I assume it isn't a write), what kind o=
f
operation is it? And can someone add that method to Ruby's File or Dir?

I'm hoping I don't run into this problem often - I've gone through a
couple larger partitions and things have worked well except for this one
thing. I'm more than a little surprised that it happened with SVI but no=
t
with Recycler. And while I don't trust what I can't see and Window's
ACLs are definitely on that list, it gets hard to do anything if I don't
assume things are working the way it looks like they should. No one has
made enough documentation to dissuade that state of affairs


To address Daniel Berger's comment (which jogged my memory of this),
unfortunately in the WindowsXP GUI nothing is cut-and-dried: a checkbox
square can contain a square instead of a checkmark if it is only partiall=
y
true. Here it must be that some of the directory's files are read-only
but others are not. So it may not reflect anything about the directory
itself. I'm beginning to understand my confusion...


Well, Thanks guys,

-Chris


David Vallner said: