Java

Set a Remote File's Creation Time

Demonstrates the Chilkat SFtp.SetCreateTimeStr method, which sets a remote file's creation 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 such as Fri, 21 Nov 1997 09:55:06 -0600.

Background: Setting timestamps matters when preserving a file's original chronology — migrating an archive, restoring a backup, or mirroring a directory so the copies look identical to the source. Whether creation time can actually be set depends on the server and filesystem; many do not support a settable creation time even when they can set the modified and accessed times. The RFC 822 format includes a timezone offset, so the moment is unambiguous.

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Java

import com.chilkatsoft.*;

public class ChilkatExample {

  static {
    try {
        System.loadLibrary("chilkat");
    } catch (UnsatisfiedLinkError e) {
      System.err.println("Native code library failed to load.\n" + e);
      System.exit(1);
    }
  }

  public static void main(String argv[])
  {
    boolean success = false;

    //  Demonstrates the SFtp.SetCreateTimeStr method, which sets a remote file's creation 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.

    CkSFtp sftp = new CkSFtp();

    //  Connect, authenticate, and initialize the SFTP subsystem.
    int port = 22;
    success = sftp.Connect("sftp.example.com",port);
    if (success == false) {
        System.out.println(sftp.lastErrorText());
        return;
        }

    //  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.
    String password = "mySshPassword";

    success = sftp.AuthenticatePw("mySshLogin",password);
    if (success == false) {
        System.out.println(sftp.lastErrorText());
        return;
        }

    success = sftp.InitializeSftp();
    if (success == false) {
        System.out.println(sftp.lastErrorText());
        return;
        }

    //  The 1st argument is a path, so bIsHandle is false.
    boolean bIsHandle = false;
    String dateTimeStr = "Fri, 10 Jul 2026 20:15:30 -0600";
    success = sftp.SetCreateTimeStr("subdir/report.pdf",bIsHandle,dateTimeStr);
    if (success == false) {
        System.out.println(sftp.lastErrorText());
        return;
        }

    System.out.println("Creation time set.");

    sftp.Disconnect();
  }
}