(Java) Get Create Date/Time of Files in a Remote Directory

Gets the creation date/times of files in a remote FTP directory.

Note: Linux and MacOSX filesystems do not keep a file's creation date/time. If the FTP server is running on such as system, then the Chilkat methods to return a creation date/time will instead return a last-modified date/time.

Also Note: FTP servers have differing capabilities. The "MLSD" command is not supported by all FTP servers. For such servers, only the last-modified date/time is returned per file or directory. Also, the precision of the date/time can vary.

Also, even if MLSD is supported, the server may not return "create" times. A sample MLSD response without "create" times is shown here:

MLSD
150 Opening data channel for directory listing of "/AAWorkarea"

(DirListingCharset: utf-8)
listing size = 1258
type=file;modify=20170915140700;size=1224; 2012-05-12T12_25_23.1481154Z.txt
type=file;modify=20170915140700;size=1297; 2012-05-12T12_25_27.2577797Z.txt
type=dir;modify=20180425163206; chilkat-9.5.0-php-5.6-win32
type=file;modify=20180425163146;size=3768683; chilkat-9.5.0-php-5.6-win32.zip
type=file;modify=20180222182447;size=9487872; chilkat_electron18_win32-9.50.72.tar
type=file;modify=20180222182447;size=3612565; chilkat_electron18_win32-9.50.72.tgz
type=dir;modify=20180903155724; DotNet4_CSharp_Sample
type=file;modify=20180227230517;size=469; meteorNotes.txt
type=dir;modify=20180227225933; my_cool_app
type=dir;modify=20180222183126; package
type=file;modify=20180214223538;size=9487872; package.tar
type=file;modify=20180214223538;size=3612484; package.tgz
type=dir;modify=20180312233811; phpAx
type=dir;modify=20170526002148; smartconnect_terminalemulatorR1.0.0.1
type=file;modify=20180503225204;size=21900478; smartconnect_terminalemulatorR1.0.0.1.zip
type=file;modify=20180503225117;size=1152; smartPay.txt
type=dir;modify=20180514140507; testVc10
type=dir;modify=20180612143825; thinlaunch
type=dir;modify=20180925173446; WindowsFormsApplication1
226 Successfully transferred "/AAWorkarea"

The original creation time of a file is only available if the "create" fact is returned in the MLSD response. See RFC 3659 - Format of Facts / Standard Facts

Chilkat Java Downloads Java Libs for Windows, MacOS, Linux, Alpine Linux, Solaris Java Libs for Android

import com.chilkatsoft.*;

public class ChilkatExample {

  static {
    try {
        System.loadLibrary("chilkat");
    } catch (UnsatisfiedLinkError e) {
      System.err.println("Native code library failed to load.\n" + e);
      System.exit(1);
    }
  }

  public static void main(String argv[])
  {
    // This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
    // See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

    CkFtp2 ftp = new CkFtp2();

    ftp.put_Hostname("ftp.example.com");
    ftp.put_Username("myLogin");
    ftp.put_Password("myPassword");
    // Use explicit TLS
    ftp.put_AuthTls(true);
    ftp.put_Port(21);

    // For debugging, turn on session logging so we can examine what is sent by the server.
    ftp.put_KeepSessionLog(true);

    // Connect and login to the FTP server.
    boolean success = ftp.Connect();
    if (success != true) {
        System.out.println(ftp.lastErrorText());
        return;
        }

    ftp.ChangeRemoteDir("AAWorkarea");

    ftp.put_ListPattern("*.*");
    int n = ftp.GetDirCount();
    System.out.println("n = " + n);

    CkDateTime dt;
    int i = 0;
    while (i < n) {
        // Get the original creation date/time as a CkDateTime object.
        dt = ftp.GetCreateDt(i);
        System.out.println(i + ": " + ftp.getFilename(i) + ", " + dt.getAsTimestamp(false));

        i = i+1;
        }

    // Show the session log so we can see the details of the FTP directory listing sent by the server.
    // This tells us what information is available.  Some FTP servers provide better and more accurate information
    // than others.

    System.out.println("---- Session Log ----");
    System.out.println(ftp.sessionLog());

    ftp.Disconnect();
  }
}