Question

Greetings!

I am trying to check directory write-permissions from within a Windows MFC/ATL program using C++. My first guess is to use the C-standard _access function, e.g.:

if (_access('C:\mydir', 2) == -1)    // Directory is not writable. 

But apparently on Windows 2000 and XP, _access can’t determine directory permissions. (i.e. the Security tab in the Properties dialog when you right-click on a directory in Explorer) So, is there an elegant way to determine a directory’s write-permissions in Windows 2000/XP using any of the Windows C++ libraries? If so, how?

Thanks

Evan

Answer 1

You can call CreateFile with GENERIC_WRITE access to check this. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa363858(VS.85).aspx

It’s not a C++ library but it still counts as elegant because it directly does what you want…