PHP Extension

Get a Remote File's Last-Modified Time

Demonstrates the Chilkat SFtp.GetFileLastModifiedStr method, which returns a remote file's last-modified date and time. The arguments are the remote path (or handle), whether symbolic links are followed, and whether the first argument is a handle.

Background: The last-modified time is the workhorse timestamp — it updates whenever a file's contents change and is what incremental-sync logic compares to decide whether a file needs re-transferring. It is the most reliably supported of the three across servers and filesystems, which is why timestamp-based sync keys off it.

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PHP Extension

<?php

include("chilkat.php");

$success = false;

//  Demonstrates the SFtp.GetFileLastModifiedStr method, which returns a remote file's last-modified
//  date and time.  The 1st argument is the remote path (or handle), the 2nd selects whether
//  symbolic links are followed, and the 3rd indicates whether the 1st argument is a handle.

$sftp = new CkSFtp();

//  Connect, authenticate, and initialize the SFTP subsystem.
$port = 22;
$success = $sftp->Connect('sftp.example.com',$port);
if ($success == false) {
    print $sftp->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

//  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) {
    print $sftp->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

$success = $sftp->InitializeSftp();
if ($success == false) {
    print $sftp->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

//  The 2nd argument (bFollowLinks) selects whether a symbolic link is followed to its target.
//  The 3rd argument (bIsHandle) is false here because the 1st argument is a path, not an
//  open handle.
$bFollowLinks = true;
$bIsHandle = false;

$lastModified = $sftp->getFileLastModifiedStr('subdir/report.pdf',$bFollowLinks,$bIsHandle);
if ($sftp->get_LastMethodSuccess() == false) {
    print $sftp->lastErrorText() . "\n";
    exit;
}

print 'Last modified: ' . $lastModified . "\n";

$sftp->Disconnect();

?>