How to Determine If a File Is Read-Only

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This article was previously published under Q153058

SUMMARY

This article describes how to determine if a file has an attribute of read- only, and how to determine if a file is opened as read-only using Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications code.

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Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements. You can determine if a file has an attribute of read-only or if the file is opened as read-only by using the macros described in this article.

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Steps to Set a File to Read-Only Using Windows

In Microsoft Excel, open up a new workbook and save it to the C:\ folder (directory) with the name C:\Test.xls.
Close Test.xls, and in Windows Explorer (Windows File Manager in versions earlier than Windows 95), select the file you saved in Step 1.
On the File menu, click Properties.
In the file's Properties box, click to select the Read-only check box, and then click OK.

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Steps to Set a File to Read-Only using the Macintosh

In Microsoft Excel, open a new workbook and save it as "Test" to the hard disk.
Close Test and hide Microsoft Excel. On the desktop, open your hard disk by double-clicking the hard disk icon.
Highlight "Test," click the File menu, and then click Get Info.
Click on Locked, then click on the close button in the upper-left corner of the Info box.

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Sample Visual Basic Procedures

Example 1: A Macro to Determine if File's Read-Only Attribute is Set

The following macro will determine if a file's read-only attribute is set. Open the file you created above, and then type the macros below in a module sheet.

Sub Example1()

    ' Test to see if the Read-only attribute was assigned to the file.

    If GetAttr("c:\test.xls") And vbReadOnly Then
        MsgBox "File is Read-only"
    Else
        MsgBox "File is not read-only"
    End If

End Sub

If you followed steps 1 - 5 in the "Steps to Set a File to Read-Only using Windows" section, when you run the macro in Example 1, you will receive a message box with the "File is Read-only" message.

Note: If you are working on a Macintosh, substitute the harddisk's name and "test" for "c:\test.xls". For example, if your harddisk's name is "HD", you would type GetAttr("HD:test").

Example 2: A Macro to Determine if Active Workbook is Opened as Read-Only

The following macro will determine if the active workbook is opened as read-only.

Sub Example2()

    ' Check to see if the active workbook was
    ' opened as read-only within Microsoft Excel.

    If ActiveWorkbook.ReadOnly Then
        MsgBox "File was opened as read-only"
    Else
        MsgBox "File was not opened as read-only"
    End If

End Sub

If you open the workbook created in step 1 of the "Steps to Set a File to Read-Only using Windows" section, when you run the macro from Example 2, you will receive a message box with the "File was opened as read-only" message.

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REFERENCES

For additional information about getting help with Visual Basic for Applications, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

163435 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/163435/EN-US/ ) VBA: Programming Resources for Visual Basic for Applications

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APPLIES TO

Microsoft Excel 97 Standard Edition
Microsoft Excel 95 Standard Edition
Microsoft Excel 5.0 Standard Edition
Microsoft Excel 98 for Macintosh

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kbdtacode kbhowto kbprogramming KB153058

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Retired KB Content Disclaimer

This article was written about products for which Microsoft no longer offers support. Therefore, this article is offered "as is" and will no longer be updated.

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