A non-application specific file attribute manager (101) receives (201) a plurality of files (103) in a plurality of formats. The file attribute manager (101) scans (203) the plurality of received files (103), and gleans (205) attributes concerning each of the plurality of scanned files (103). The file attribute manager (101) stores (207) gleaned attributes concerning each of the scanned files (103) as records (105) in a database (107). The file attribute manager (101) indexes (209) the records (105) according to the contents of their associated files (103).