Delphi ActiveX

Set a Remote File's Last-Access Time

Demonstrates the Chilkat SFtp.SetLastAccessTimeStr method, which sets a remote file's last-access date and time. The arguments are the remote path (or handle), whether the first argument is a handle, and an RFC 822 formatted date/time string.

Background: Setting the access time explicitly is mainly for faithful restores and mirrors, where you want the copy's metadata to match the original exactly. Note that many servers update the access time on their own whenever a file is read (unless mounted noatime), so a value you set can be overwritten by ordinary access — making this the least durable of the timestamps to control.

Chilkat Delphi ActiveX Downloads

Download Chilkat for Delphi ActiveX

Delphi ActiveX

var
success: Integer;
sftp: TChilkatSFtp;
port: Integer;
password: WideString;
bIsHandle: Integer;
dateTimeStr: WideString;

begin
success := 0;

//  Demonstrates the SFtp.SetLastAccessTimeStr method, which sets a remote file's last-access date
//  and time.  The 1st argument is the remote path (or handle), the 2nd (bIsHandle) indicates
//  which, and the 3rd is an RFC 822 formatted date/time string.

sftp := TChilkatSFtp.Create(Self);

//  Connect, authenticate, and initialize the SFTP subsystem.
port := 22;
success := sftp.Connect('sftp.example.com',port);
if (success = 0) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(sftp.LastErrorText);
    Exit;
  end;

//  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.
password := 'mySshPassword';

success := sftp.AuthenticatePw('mySshLogin',password);
if (success = 0) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(sftp.LastErrorText);
    Exit;
  end;

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

//  The 1st argument is a path, so bIsHandle is 0.
bIsHandle := 0;
dateTimeStr := 'Fri, 10 Jul 2026 20:15:30 -0600';
success := sftp.SetLastAccessTimeStr('subdir/report.pdf',bIsHandle,dateTimeStr);
if (success = 0) then
  begin
    Memo1.Lines.Add(sftp.LastErrorText);
    Exit;
  end;
Memo1.Lines.Add('Last-access time set.');

sftp.Disconnect();