Java

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.

Chilkat Java Downloads

Download Chilkat for Java

Chilkat2 Java

import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.ChilkatException;
import com.chilkatsoft.chilkat2.Ftp2;

public class ChilkatExample {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // 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.

        Ftp2 ftp = new Ftp2();

        ftp.setHostname("ftp.example.com");
        ftp.setUsername("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.setPassword("myPassword");

        String xml;
        try {
            ftp.connect();

            ftp.changeRemoteDir("public_html");

            // 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");
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }

        System.out.println(xml);

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

        try {
            ftp.disconnect();
        } catch (ChilkatException e) {
            System.out.println(e.getLastErrorText());
            return;
        }
    }
}