SQL Server

Get a Remote File's Creation Time

Demonstrates the Chilkat SFtp.GetFileCreateTimeStr method, which returns a remote file's creation 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: Creation time is the least universally available of the three timestamps: many Unix filesystems historically tracked only modified and accessed times, so a server may return nothing or a placeholder. Where it is supported it is genuinely useful — it does not change when a file is edited, unlike the modified time — but code should tolerate its absence rather than depend on it.

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-- Important: See this note about string length limitations for strings returned by sp_OAMethod calls.
--
CREATE PROCEDURE ChilkatSample
AS
BEGIN
    DECLARE @hr int
    DECLARE @iTmp0 int
    DECLARE @sTmp0 nvarchar(4000)
    DECLARE @success int
    SELECT @success = 0

    --  Demonstrates the SFtp.GetFileCreateTimeStr method, which returns a remote file's creation 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.

    DECLARE @sftp int
    EXEC @hr = sp_OACreate 'Chilkat.SFtp', @sftp OUT
    IF @hr <> 0
    BEGIN
        PRINT 'Failed to create ActiveX component'
        RETURN
    END

    --  Connect, authenticate, and initialize the SFTP subsystem.
    DECLARE @port int
    SELECT @port = 22
    EXEC sp_OAMethod @sftp, 'Connect', @success OUT, 'sftp.example.com', @port
    IF @success = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @sftp, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @sftp
        RETURN
      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.
    DECLARE @password nvarchar(4000)
    SELECT @password = 'mySshPassword'

    EXEC sp_OAMethod @sftp, 'AuthenticatePw', @success OUT, 'mySshLogin', @password
    IF @success = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @sftp, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @sftp
        RETURN
      END

    EXEC sp_OAMethod @sftp, 'InitializeSftp', @success OUT
    IF @success = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @sftp, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @sftp
        RETURN
      END

    --  The 2nd argument (bFollowLinks) selects whether a symbolic link is followed to its target.
    --  The 3rd argument (bIsHandle) is 0 here because the 1st argument is a path, not an
    --  open handle.
    DECLARE @bFollowLinks int
    SELECT @bFollowLinks = 1
    DECLARE @bIsHandle int
    SELECT @bIsHandle = 0

    DECLARE @createTime nvarchar(4000)
    EXEC sp_OAMethod @sftp, 'GetFileCreateTimeStr', @createTime OUT, 'subdir/report.pdf', @bFollowLinks, @bIsHandle
    EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @sftp, 'LastMethodSuccess', @iTmp0 OUT
    IF @iTmp0 = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @sftp, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @sftp
        RETURN
      END

    PRINT 'Created: ' + @createTime

    --  Note: Not all servers and filesystems record a creation time.

    EXEC sp_OAMethod @sftp, 'Disconnect', NULL

    EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @sftp


END
GO