Definition of File attribute

A file attribute is metadata that describes or is associated with a computer file. For example, an operating system often keeps track of the date a file was created and last modified, as well as the file's size and extension (and what application to open it with). File permissions are also kept track of. The user may attach other attributes themselves, such as comments or color labels, as in Apple Computer's Mac OS X (version 10.3 or later).