Perl

Check if an FTP Listing Entry is a Symbolic Link

Demonstrates the Chilkat Ftp2.GetIsSymbolicLink method, which returns whether a cached directory-listing entry is a symbolic link. The only argument is a zero-based index. This information is available only when the server's listing format reports it.

Background: Symbolic links matter because following one can lead outside the expected directory or into a cycle, so recursive operations often need to identify and skip them. Unlike the file/directory distinction, symlink information is not always present — only listing formats that mark links (typically Unix-style LIST output) expose it, and this returns false when the server does not.

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use strict;
use warnings;
use Chilkat2;

# Demonstrates the Ftp2.GetIsSymbolicLink method, which returns whether a cached directory-listing
# entry is a symbolic link.  The only argument is a zero-based index.  This information is only
# available when the server's listing format reports it.

my $ftp = Chilkat2::Ftp2->new;

$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');

my $success = $ftp->Connect();
if (!$success) {
    print $ftp->LastErrorText, "\n";
    exit;
}

$success = $ftp->ChangeRemoteDir('public_html');
if (!$success) {
    print $ftp->LastErrorText, "\n";
    exit;
}

# GetDirCount retrieves the directory listing on the first call and returns the number of
# entries.  A negative return indicates failure.
my $n = $ftp->GetDirCount();
if ($n < 0) {
    print $ftp->LastErrorText, "\n";
    exit;
}

for my $i (0 .. $n - 1) {
    my $name = $ftp->GetFilename($i);
    if ($ftp->GetIsSymbolicLink($i)) {
        print '[LINK] ', $name, "\n";
    } else {
        print '       ', $name, "\n";
    }
}

$success = $ftp->Disconnect();
if (!$success) {
    print $ftp->LastErrorText, "\n";
    exit;
}