I was trying to write and then remove a custom xattr attribute via GIO (user.my_custom_attribute), so I sketched the following code:
#include <glib.h>
#include <gio/gio.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#define G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_XATTR_USER_CUSTOM "xattr::my_custom_attribute"
int main (int argc, char ** argv) {
GFile * location;
GError * err = NULL;
location = g_file_new_for_path("testfile.txt");
/* PART 1: Write "My custom content" into "user.my_custom_attribute" */
if (
!g_file_set_attribute_string(
location,
G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_XATTR_USER_CUSTOM,
"My custom content",
G_FILE_QUERY_INFO_NONE,
NULL,
&err
)
) {
g_message(
"Sorry, something went wrong :-( // %s",
err->message
);
g_error_free(err);
g_object_unref(location);
return 1;
}
/* PART 2: Remove "user.my_custom_attribute" */
if (
!g_file_set_attribute(
location,
G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_XATTR_USER_CUSTOM,
G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_TYPE_INVALID,
NULL,
G_FILE_QUERY_INFO_NONE,
NULL,
&err
)
) {
g_message(
"Sorry, something went wrong :-( // %s",
err->message
);
g_error_free(err);
g_object_unref(location);
return 1;
}
g_object_unref(location);
return 0;
}
Unfortunately PART 1 of the code works and the attribute is created, but PART 2 fails and the attribute is not removed.
I searched a bit in the forum and I found a similar question. Then I found out that a patch was proposed five years ago, which would solve the issue (https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/glib/-/issues/1187) – well, at least so it seems from the description (I did not look at the patch).
Are there any plans to support G_FILE_ATTRIBUTE_TYPE_INVALID for removing xattr attributes as per the patch above?