VB.NET

Get an FTP Listing Entry's Creation Time

Demonstrates the Chilkat Ftp2.GetCreateTimeStr method, which returns the creation time of a cached directory-listing entry as an RFC 822 date-time string. The only argument is a zero-based index.

Background: Creation time is the least commonly reported of the timestamps — many servers and filesystems track only modification and access times — so expect it to be absent on some servers. When present it is genuinely useful because, unlike the modified time, it does not change when a file is edited. The RFC 822 format includes a timezone offset, making the moment unambiguous.

Chilkat VB.NET Downloads

Download Chilkat for VB.NET

VB.NET

Dim success As Boolean = False

'  Demonstrates the Ftp2.GetCreateTimeStr method, which returns the creation time of a cached
'  directory-listing entry as an RFC 822 date-time string.  The only argument is a zero-based
'  index.

Dim ftp As New Chilkat.Ftp2

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"

success = ftp.Connect()
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(ftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


success = ftp.ChangeRemoteDir("public_html")
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(ftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


'  GetDirCount retrieves the directory listing on the first call and returns the number of
'  entries.  A negative return indicates failure.
Dim n As Integer = ftp.GetDirCount()
If (n < 0) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(ftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


Dim i As Integer
For i = 0 To n - 1
    Dim name As String = ftp.GetFilename(i)

    '  The value is an RFC 822 string such as "Fri, 21 Nov 1997 09:55:06 -0600".  Not all servers
    '  report a creation time.
    Dim createTime As String = ftp.GetCreateTimeStr(i)
    Debug.WriteLine(name & "  created " & createTime)
Next

success = ftp.Disconnect()
If (success = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(ftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If