Hide a file using java

Question

I created a file using File() in java in my swing application. How can i make it hidden in my directory.i heard of changing of some attributes but not clear in my beginner perspective. Please help. Thanks in advance.

Hiding is done Thanks for the help. But the read & write on a hidden file is having issue. Please Help. Can the hidden file be treated like that of ordinary file in write/read?

[Make a File/Folder Hidden on Windows with Java](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1294989/make-a-file-folder-hidden-on-windows-with-java) — akash, Jul 22 '14 at 12:01
the file iam using is an xml for my java application and it carries the whole data which are not important for an user — victoryVSK, Jul 22 '14 at 14:01
Hiding is done. But any issue with reading & writing on a hidden file? — victoryVSK, Jul 22 '14 at 14:43
@user3852797 I suggest you ask a new question and post a minimal example.See [How to create a Minimal, Complete, and Verifiable example](http://stackoverflow.com/help/mcve). You should also accept one of the answers given here ... — DavidPostill, Jul 22 '14 at 15:18
Got the answer: File appDataDir = new File(System.getProperty("user.home"), "Application Data\\MyWidgetData"); — victoryVSK, Jul 23 '14 at 10:59

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 22 '14 at 12:05

5

Pure Java 7 way for DOS files:

Path file = Paths.get("fileToHide.dat");
Files.setAttribute(file, "dos:hidden", true);

http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/essential/io/fileAttr.html

answered Jul 22 '14 at 12:05

JamesB

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is this what you mean: my file is example.xml.----so is this the code: Path file = Paths.get("example.xml"); Files.setAttribute(file, "dos:hidden", true); – victoryVSK Jul 22 '14 at 14:02
The get method would need to take the full path to the example.xml file. – JamesB Jul 22 '14 at 14:23
Can you help with the issue of reading & writing on ahidden file. I am getting error after hidding my file! – victoryVSK Jul 22 '14 at 14:54

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 22 '14 at 12:08

It can be done using Java from JDK 1.7 onwards. See How to hide file from Java Program with Code Example using the java.nio.file package:

Path path = FileSystems.getDefault().getPath("directory", "hidden.txt");
Boolean hidden = path.getAttribute("dos:hidden", LinkOption.NOFOLLOW_LINKS);
if (hidden != null && !hidden) {
    path.setAttribute("dos:hidden", Boolean.TRUE, LinkOption.NOFOLLOW_LINKS);
}

Hide a file using java

2 Answers2