FTP File and System Methods

Once you establish an FTP session, call methods of your session instance to perform FTP tasks. %Net.FtpSessionOpens in a new tab provides the following methods for reading and writing files:

Delete()

Deletes a file.

Retrieve()

Copies a file from the FTP server into an InterSystems IRIS stream and returns the stream by reference. To work with this stream, use the standard stream methods: Write(), WriteLine(), Read(), ReadLine(), Rewind(), MoveToEnd(), and Clear(). You can also use the Size property of the stream.

RetryRetrieve()

Allows you to continue retrieving a file, given a stream created by a previous use of Retrieve().

Store()

Writes the contents of an InterSystems IRIS stream into a file on the FTP server.

StoreFiles()

Given a local directory, and a wildcard mask, this method writes multiple files to that directory. Note that this method ignores directories, and uses the current transfer mode (binary or ASCII), which means that you cannot upload a mixed set of binary and ASCII files in one call.

Append()

Appends the contents of a stream to the end of the specified file.

Rename()

Renames a file.

In addition, %Net.FtpSessionOpens in a new tab provides methods for navigating and modifying the file system on the FTP server: GetDirectory(), SetDirectory(),SetToParentDirectory(), and MakeDirectory().

To examine the contents of the file system, use the List() or NameList() methods.

List() creates a stream that contains a list of all the files whose names match a given pattern and returns this stream by reference.
NameList() creates an array of filenames and returns this array by reference.

You can also use the ChangeUser() method to change to a different user; this is faster than logging out and logging in again. Use the Logout() method to log out.

The System() method returns (by reference) information about the type of computer that is hosting the FTP server.

The Size() and MDTM() methods return a file’s size and its modification time, respectively.

Use the generic sendCommand() method to send a command to the FTP server and to read the response. This method may be used to send commands that are not explicitly supported in %Net.FtpSessionOpens in a new tab.

For details, see the class documentation for %Net.FtpSessionOpens in a new tab.

Using a Linked Stream to Upload Large Files

Establishing an FTP Session