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file attributes: cygwin (ls, chmod, chown, chgrp) versus XP


I'm very familiar with the Unix filesystem, and the commands to change and display attributes.  I've been using cygwin for years, but have yet to understand the XP permissions and how they correlate to how cygwin and XP tools manipulate attributes.

Where can I get a simple (and current) description of the relationship between Unix file attributes (permissions, user, and group) and how that corresponds to XP file attributes?  I'd also like to know how to set/get them in cygwin and also XP.  I'd expect that to be chmod(1), chown(1), chgrp(1), id(1), ls(1), passwd(5), group(5), and the shell's file test operators (-r, -w, -x, -O, -G).  I only see a few attributes from the XP File Explorer (read-only, hidden, archive, system), but would expect much more.  How are ACL's related?  Is the XP 'cacls' program the only view into these permissions?  If so, what's the mapping?

I've noticed that the ls(1) output is different if I create a file with a cygwin utility or with an XP utility.  Specifically:
1. What does the "+" mean in the 11th column after the standard 1-column type and 9-column permission fields?
2. Why are default permissions different if the file is created with cygwin and XP?  I understand that cywing will try to create them with 666, modulated by the umask of 0022, yeilding a default of 644, but how the heck does XP come up with "700+" (my interpretation of "rwx------+")?

-rw-r--r--  1 michael  0 Sep  3 00:33 created_by_bash_io_redirect
-rwx------+ 1 michael 18 Sep  3 00:32 created_by_emacs
-rwx------+ 1 michael 17 Sep  3 00:31 created_by_notepad
-rw-r--r--  1 michael  0 Sep  3 00:31 created_by_touch

In addition, I can't get group information to show up in ls(1) output.  The -G flag to suppress it has no effect, and seems to always be active.

It seems like these would be an important topics to reference in the ls(1) and chmod(1) man pages, and also in the (seemingly outdated) documentation of File Permissions (http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/ntsec.html#ntsec-files).

Have there been significatnt changes to cygwin since NT to accomodate XP?  I don't even know if the NT and XP filesystems are similar enough that I can rely on documentation that discusses NT vs cygwin.

I've spent many hours over the past few years trying to find answers.  If you have the answer, or better yet, if you have a reference to a document that's also readable by others, please shine a light.  I'm in the dark.

Thanks a bunch,
Michael Wolf



--
Michael R. Wolf
    MichaelRWolf@att.net
        All mammals learn by playing.


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