Module xattr

Return the list of attribute names for a file.

Example:

>>> xattr.list('/path/to/file')
['user.test', 'user.comment', 'system.posix_acl_access']
>>> xattr.list('/path/to/file', namespace=xattr.NS_USER)
['test', 'comment']

Parameters:

• item - the item to query; either a string representing the filename, or a file-like object, or a file descriptor
• nofollow (boolean) - if given and True, and the function is passed a filename that points to a symlink, the function will act on the symlink itself instead of its target
• namespace (string) - if given, the attribute must not contain the namespace itself, but instead the namespace will be taken from this parameter

Returns: list

list of strings; note that if a namespace argument was passed, it (and the separator) will be stripped from the names returned

Raises:

• EnvironmentError - caused by any system errors

Get the value of a given extended attribute.

Example:

>>> xattr.get('/path/to/file', 'user.comment')
'test'
>>> xattr.get('/path/to/file', 'comment', namespace=xattr.NS_USER)
'test'

Parameters:

• item - the item to query; either a string representing the filename, or a file-like object, or a file descriptor
• name (string) - the attribute whose value to set; usually in form of system.posix_acl or user.mime_type
• nofollow (boolean) - if given and True, and the function is passed a filename that points to a symlink, the function will act on the symlink itself instead of its target
• namespace (string) - if given, the attribute must not contain the namespace itself, but instead the namespace will be taken from this parameter

Returns: string

the value of the extended attribute (can contain NULLs)

Raises:

• EnvironmentError - caused by any system errors

Get all the extended attributes of an item.

This function performs a bulk-get of all extended attribute names and the corresponding value. Example:

>>> xattr.get_all('/path/to/file')
[('user.mime-type', 'plain/text'), ('user.comment', 'test'),
 ('system.posix_acl_access', '\x02\x00...')]
>>> xattr.get_all('/path/to/file', namespace=xattr.NS_USER)
[('mime-type', 'plain/text'), ('comment', 'test')]

Parameters:

• item - the item to query; either a string representing the filename, or a file-like object, or a file descriptor
• namespace (string) - an optional namespace for filtering the attributes; for example, querying all user attributes can be accomplished by passing namespace=NS_USER
• nofollow (boolean) - if passed and true, if the target file is a symbolic link, the attributes for the link itself will be returned, instead of the attributes of the target

Returns: list

list of tuples (name, value); note that if a namespace argument was passed, it (and the separator) will be stripped from the names returned

Raises:

• EnvironmentError - caused by any system errors

Set the value of a given extended attribute.

Example:

>>> xattr.set('/path/to/file', 'user.comment', 'test')
>>> xattr.set('/path/to/file', 'comment', 'test', namespace=xattr.NS_USER)

Parameters:

• item - the item to query; either a string representing the filename, or a file-like object, or a file descriptor
• name (string) - the attribute whose value to set; usually in form of system.posix_acl or user.mime_type
• value (string) - a string, possibly with embedded NULLs; note that there are restrictions regarding the size of the value, for example, for ext2/ext3, maximum size is the block size
• flags (integer) - if 0 or ommited the attribute will be created or replaced; if XATTR_CREATE, the attribute will be created, giving an error if it already exists; if XATTR_REPLACE, the attribute will be replaced, giving an error if it doesn't exists;
• nofollow (boolean) - if given and True, and the function is passed a filename that points to a symlink, the function will act on the symlink itself instead of its target
• namespace (string) - if given, the attribute must not contain the namespace itself, but instead the namespace will be taken from this parameter

Returns: None

Raises:

• EnvironmentError - caused by any system errors

Remove an attribute from a file.

Example:

>>> xattr.remove('/path/to/file', 'user.comment')

Parameters:

• item - the item to query; either a string representing the filename, or a file-like object, or a file descriptor
• name (string) - the attribute whose value to set; usually in form of system.posix_acl or user.mime_type
• nofollow (boolean) - if given and True, and the function is passed a filename that points to a symlink, the function will act on the symlink itself instead of its target
• namespace (string) - if given, the attribute must not contain the namespace itself, but instead the namespace will be taken from this parameter

Returns: None

Raises:

• EnvironmentError - caused by any system errors

Return the list of attribute names for a file (deprecated).

Parameters:

• a string representing filename, or a file-like object, or a file descriptor; this represents the file to be queried
• (optional) a boolean value (defaults to false), which, if the file name given is a symbolic link, makes the function operate on the symbolic link itself instead of its target;

Get the value of a given extended attribute (deprecated).

Parameters:

• a string representing filename, or a file-like object, or a file descriptor; this represents the file on which to act
• a string, representing the attribute whose value to retrieve; usually in form of system.posix_acl or user.mime_type
• (optional) a boolean value (defaults to false), which, if the file name given is a symbolic link, makes the function operate on the symbolic link itself instead of its target;

Set the value of a given extended attribute (deprecated).

Be carefull in case you want to set attributes on symbolic links, you have to use all the 5 parameters; use 0 for the flags value if you want the default behavior (create or replace)

Parameters:

• a string representing filename, or a file-like object, or a file descriptor; this represents the file on which to act
• a string, representing the attribute whose value to set; usually in form of system.posix_acl or user.mime_type
• a string, possibly with embedded NULLs; note that there are restrictions regarding the size of the value, for example, for ext2/ext3, maximum size is the block size
• (optional) flags; if 0 or ommited the attribute will be created or replaced; if XATTR_CREATE, the attribute will be created, giving an error if it already exists; of XATTR_REPLACE, the attribute will be replaced, giving an error if it doesn't exists;
• (optional) a boolean value (defaults to false), which, if the file name given is a symbolic link, makes the function operate on the symbolic link itself instead of its target;

Remove an attribute from a file (deprecated).

Parameters:

• a string representing filename, or a file-like object, or a file descriptor; this represents the file on which to act
• a string, representing the attribute to be removed; usually in form of system.posix_acl or user.mime_type
• (optional) a boolean value (defaults to false), which, if the file name given is a symbolic link, makes the function operate on the symbolic link itself instead of its target;