SQL Server

Set a Remote File's Creation Time

Demonstrates the Chilkat SFtp.SetCreateTimeStr method, which sets a remote file's creation date and time. The arguments are the remote path (or handle), whether the first argument is a handle, and an RFC 822 formatted date/time string such as Fri, 21 Nov 1997 09:55:06 -0600.

Background: Setting timestamps matters when preserving a file's original chronology — migrating an archive, restoring a backup, or mirroring a directory so the copies look identical to the source. Whether creation time can actually be set depends on the server and filesystem; many do not support a settable creation time even when they can set the modified and accessed times. The RFC 822 format includes a timezone offset, so the moment is unambiguous.

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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 @sTmp0 nvarchar(4000)
    DECLARE @success int
    SELECT @success = 0

    --  Demonstrates the SFtp.SetCreateTimeStr method, which sets a remote file's creation date and
    --  time.  The 1st argument is the remote path (or handle), the 2nd (bIsHandle) indicates which,
    --  and the 3rd is an RFC 822 formatted date/time string.

    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 1st argument is a path, so bIsHandle is 0.
    DECLARE @bIsHandle int
    SELECT @bIsHandle = 0
    DECLARE @dateTimeStr nvarchar(4000)
    SELECT @dateTimeStr = 'Fri, 10 Jul 2026 20:15:30 -0600'
    EXEC sp_OAMethod @sftp, 'SetCreateTimeStr', @success OUT, 'subdir/report.pdf', @bIsHandle, @dateTimeStr
    IF @success = 0
      BEGIN
        EXEC sp_OAGetProperty @sftp, 'LastErrorText', @sTmp0 OUT
        PRINT @sTmp0
        EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @sftp
        RETURN
      END

    PRINT 'Creation time set.'

    EXEC sp_OAMethod @sftp, 'Disconnect', NULL

    EXEC @hr = sp_OADestroy @sftp


END
GO