Fetch Help > Using Fetch > Viewing and setting permissions

Permissions restrict which users can view, get, edit, put, or delete files, and which users can look inside or make changes to the contents of folders. For instance, you may have read permission (permission to look at a file on a server or download it) but not write permission (permission to delete a file or make changes to it).

You can view remote items' permissions with the Get Info command, and change their permissions (if you are the owner of the items). Typically you can only view or set permissions on servers running the UNIX operating system.

You can set read, write, and execute permissions for three sets of users — the owner, the group, and all others (world permission).

To view the permissions of remote items:

1. Select the items you want to view the permissions of.
2. Choose Remote > Get Info or click the Get Info button in the transfer window toolbar.
3. Click the disclosure triangle next to "Ownership and Permissions" to display the permissions pane, if necessary.

If all the permissions checkboxes are blank, you are probably trying to view the permissions of an item you just uploaded. To see the true state of the permissions, close the info window, click the Refresh button in the transfer window, and then get info on the item again.

To set or change the permissions of remote items:

1. Select the items you want to set permissions for.
2. Choose Remote > Get Info or click the Get Info button in the transfer window toolbar.
3. Click the disclosure triangle next to "Ownership and Permissions" to display the permissions pane, if necessary.
4. Check the permission boxes as desired, or enter a UNIX equivalent string in the edit field.
5. Click the Apply button.

To discard any changes to permissions, just close the info window without clicking the Apply button.

If you have selected multiple items, some of the checkboxes may have a dash instead of being unchecked or checked. That means not all of the items you've selected have the same permissions. Leaving a checkbox with a dash unchanged will preserve the mixed permissions, even if you change other permissions. If you click a checkbox with a dash, you can force the permissions to all become the same.

The permissions checkboxes are simultaneously translated into a UNIX equivalent string, which is shown in an edit field below the checkboxes. You can change the permissions by typing a UNIX equivalent string into that edit field.

See the permissions help topic for more information.