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Pascal (Lazarus/Delphi)

Resolve an Absolute Remote Path with SFTP RealPath

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Demonstrates the Chilkat SFtp.RealPath method, which asks the server to canonicalize a path and returns the resulting absolute remote path. The first argument is the original path and the second is an optional compose path (SFTP v5 or later); pass an empty string when no composition is needed.

Background: The server — not the client — owns the remote filesystem's layout, so path canonicalization must happen on the server. RealPath resolves ., .., and symbolic links into a single absolute path, which is the reliable way to learn the session's home directory (canonicalize .) or to turn a relative path into an absolute one before storing or displaying it. On SFTP v5 and later, the compose path can additionally join or override the original.

Chilkat Pascal (Lazarus/Delphi) Downloads

Pascal (Lazarus/Delphi)
program ChilkatDemo;

// Demonstrates using the Chilkat Pascal wrapper via the C bridge DLL.
// Builds as a console application under Lazarus (FPC) or Delphi.

{$IFDEF FPC}
  {$MODE DELPHI}
{$ENDIF}
{$APPTYPE CONSOLE}

uses
  {$IFDEF UNIX}
  cthreads,
  {$ENDIF}
  SysUtils,
  CkDllLoader,
  Chilkat.SFtp;

// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

procedure RunDemo;
var
  success: Boolean;
  sftp: TSFtp;
  port: Integer;
  password: string;
  homeDir: string;
  resolved: string;

begin
  success := False;

  //  Demonstrates the SFtp.RealPath method, which asks the server to canonicalize a path and
  //  returns the resulting absolute remote path.  The 1st argument is the original path and the
  //  2nd is an optional compose path (SFTP v5+), which may be an empty string.

  sftp := TSFtp.Create;

  //  Step 1: Connect the SSH transport.  Port 22 is the usual port.
  port := 22;
  success := sftp.Connect('sftp.example.com',port);
  if (success = False) then
    begin
      WriteLn(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 = False) then
    begin
      WriteLn(sftp.LastErrorText);
      Exit;
    end;

  //  Step 3: Open the SFTP subsystem.  This must be done after authentication and before any
  //  file or directory operations.
  success := sftp.InitializeSftp();
  if (success = False) then
    begin
      WriteLn(sftp.LastErrorText);
      Exit;
    end;

  //  Resolve "." to the absolute path of the session's default (home) directory.  No compose path
  //  is needed, so the 2nd argument is an empty string.
  homeDir := sftp.RealPath('.','');
  if (sftp.LastMethodSuccess = False) then
    begin
      WriteLn(sftp.LastErrorText);
      Exit;
    end;
  WriteLn('Home directory: ' + homeDir);

  //  Canonicalize a relative path with "..", resolving it to an absolute path.
  resolved := sftp.RealPath('subdir/../otherdir','');
  if (sftp.LastMethodSuccess = False) then
    begin
      WriteLn(sftp.LastErrorText);
      Exit;
    end;
  WriteLn('Resolved path: ' + resolved);

  sftp.Disconnect();


  sftp.Free;

end;

// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

begin

  try
    RunDemo;
  except
    on E: Exception do
      WriteLn('Unhandled exception: ', E.ClassName, ': ', E.Message);
  end;

  WriteLn;
  {$IFDEF MSWINDOWS}
  WriteLn('Press Enter to exit...');
  ReadLn;
  {$ENDIF}
end.