Marking a file as read only

The primary reason for making a file read only is to prevent it from being accidentally modified. This could apply to end-user license agreements, readme files, and other documents that the user might open with a text editor such as Word.

In this recipe, we'll install a text file and then set its Read-only flag.

Getting ready

To prepare for this recipe, create a new setup project and name it ReadOnlyInstaller.

How to do it…

Set the ReadOnly attribute on a File element to prevent it from being accidentally modified with the following steps:

1. Add a File element within Component to install a file called Sample.txt:

   <ComponentGroup Id="ProductComponents" 
                   Directory="INSTALLFOLDER">
     <Component Id="cmpSampleTXT" 
                Guid="{44BB2441-F98C-41F9-A1FE-EB732B626CF4}">
       <File Source="Sample.txt" />
     </Component>
   </ComponentGroup>

2. Add the ReadOnly attribute to the File element to mark that file as read only:

   <File Source...