Archive bit on directories? How to fake it, so it appears in Windows?

[Arlé Mooldijk]

Hi all,

I have been trying to move one of the applications at my work from a Windows
server to a Samba server (on Mandrake Linux 8.1). The problem with this
application is that it needs to see an archive bit on one or more of the
directories (as a sort of copy protection), but this is unsupported in
Samba. I know it is impossible to change the archive bit on directories, due
to the fact that the archive bit is mapped to the user executable bit in
Linux, which is always on for directories.

I do not have access to the source code of the application so I am unable to
change the application's behavior. That's why I am looking for a solution
within Samba.

What I am looking for is an option in Samba to enable the archive bit on
(all or certain) directories under a single share (where an option is set)
so they appear set in Windows. There's no need to be able to unset the
archive bit of the directories from Windows. This would enable me to use the
application from a Linux server.

I have looked into the source code of Samba (version 2.2.3a) but I'm not an
experienced programmer so I don't know how to add this option.

Can anyone help me to add this option to Samba? Maybe it is of use to other
users as well and could it be implemented into the release version...

With Kind Regards,
Arlé Mooldijk