VB.NET

Get a Directory Listing as XML

Demonstrates the Chilkat Ftp2.GetXmlDirListing method, which retrieves a directory listing and returns the parsed entries as an XML document rooted at <remoteDir>, with a <file> element per entry. The only argument is the listing pattern; an empty string lists the current directory.

Tip: Code to parse the returned XML can be generated at Chilkat Tools.

Background: This is the parse-friendly listing: Chilkat has already interpreted the server's raw LIST output — whatever its format — into consistent XML with names, sizes, dates, and types as elements. That spares you from writing format-specific parsers and is the right choice when a program, rather than a person, consumes the listing. Load the result into a Chilkat.Xml object to iterate the entries.

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VB.NET

Dim success As Boolean = False

'  Demonstrates the Ftp2.GetXmlDirListing method, which returns a directory listing as a parsed
'  XML document.  The only argument is the listing pattern; an empty string lists the current
'  remote directory.

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


'  The XML is rooted at <remoteDir>, with <file> elements for each entry.  This is easier to
'  parse programmatically than the raw text listing.
Dim xml As String = ftp.GetXmlDirListing("*.html")
If (ftp.LastMethodSuccess = False) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(ftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If

Debug.WriteLine(xml)

'  The XML can be loaded into a Chilkat.Xml object for further processing.

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