Is there a way to hide files of only one particular extension/type?

writhziden said:

pxfragonard said:

Thanks for a very elegant and simple solution. I take it s / d means subdirectory... very nice!

The /s means all files within the directory containing that extension will have the attribute applied. /d, as you guessed, means all directories and subdirectories will be checked for files with that extension. The directories themselves will not be hidden, but the files with that extension contained in the directories will have the hidden attribute applied or removed.

Thanks very much!

EzioAuditore said:

pxfragonard said:

writhziden said:

Another option is to put the batch file in the top level directory. You could make two batch files, one with a +h called hide.bat and one with a -h called unhide.bat for instance. In the top level, create the hide.bat file with this command:

attrib /s /d +h *.dop

and the unhide.bat file with:

attrib /s /d -h *.dop

These will hide/unhide all files in the current directory and every subdirectory within that directory.

Thanks for a very elegant and simple solution. I take it s / d means subdirectory... very nice!

Here's what they mean:

/S Processes files in all directories in the specified path.
/D Process folders as well.

You can type attrib /? in a command window to know as what switches does it support and what they do.

If you just type /? you'll get a list of all the commands with their respective brief explanation...

You can do wonders (as i like to say) by mastering the commandline.. :P

Mastering the command line is way beyond me now but it's exciting to know you can make computers do any logical series of things because it's just a machine. I'm going to try to understand and work toward that goal.

Thanks guys. Solved!!!

You're welcome; that's excellent. Glad you learned a bit along the way, too. :)

It's quite fascinating. I'm going to try to learn about the command line functions!

one more question on this topic...
does the attrib command to hide a file type continue to apply to new instances of a given file type, or does it only hide files which are in existence at the time the .bat file is run?

The Attrib command will not continue to hide new instances of a file type. You will have to set the Hidden attribute onto new files for them to be hidden.

Thanks for the speedy reply, Pyprohly! I figured as much, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

So, if you designate a particular file extension as a system /hidden file, how is that different from other system (hidden) files, which become hidden as part of the general operations of the system (ie without the user running a .bat file, thus setting the hidden attrib? (ie get the +h attribute)? Are they made to be hidden by the OS, or some other process that has not been discussed here?

cutedrdave said:

So, if you designate a particular file extension [...]

File Attributes are relevant per item (whether file or folder), and not per file type or extension.

cutedrdave said:

[...] as a system /hidden file, how is that different from other system (hidden) files

Under what meaning of 'different' do you refer? Would you like to give an example of a sort of difference you are expecting?

Do note that Hidden and System are two different types of File Attributes. A System marked file does not necessarily imply hidden.