Delphi ActiveX

Get a Directory Listing as XML

Demonstrates the Chilkat Ftp2.GetXmlDirListing method, which retrieves a directory listing and returns the parsed entries as an XML document rooted at <remoteDir>, with a <file> element per entry. The only argument is the listing pattern; an empty string lists the current directory.

Tip: Code to parse the returned XML can be generated at Chilkat Tools.

Background: This is the parse-friendly listing: Chilkat has already interpreted the server's raw LIST output — whatever its format — into consistent XML with names, sizes, dates, and types as elements. That spares you from writing format-specific parsers and is the right choice when a program, rather than a person, consumes the listing. Load the result into a Chilkat.Xml object to iterate the entries.

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var
success: Integer;
ftp: TChilkatFtp2;
xml: WideString;

begin
success := 0;

//  Demonstrates the Ftp2.GetXmlDirListing method, which returns a directory listing as a parsed
//  XML document.  The only argument is the listing pattern; an empty string lists the current
//  remote directory.

ftp := TChilkatFtp2.Create(Self);

ftp.Hostname := 'ftp.example.com';
ftp.Username := 'myFtpLogin';

//  Normally you would not hard-code the password in source.  You should instead obtain it
//  from an interactive prompt, environment variable, or a secrets vault.
ftp.Password := 'myPassword';

success := ftp.Connect();
if (success = 0) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(ftp.LastErrorText);
    Exit;
  end;

success := ftp.ChangeRemoteDir('public_html');
if (success = 0) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(ftp.LastErrorText);
    Exit;
  end;

//  The XML is rooted at <remoteDir>, with <file> elements for each entry.  This is easier to
//  parse programmatically than the raw text listing.
xml := ftp.GetXmlDirListing('*.html');
if (ftp.LastMethodSuccess = 0) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(ftp.LastErrorText);
    Exit;
  end;
Memo1.Lines.Add(xml);

//  The XML can be loaded into a Chilkat.Xml object for further processing.

success := ftp.Disconnect();
if (success = 0) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(ftp.LastErrorText);
    Exit;
  end;