(Objective-C) 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

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#import <CkoFtp2.h>
#import <CkoDateTime.h>

// This example requires the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
// See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

CkoFtp2 *ftp = [[CkoFtp2 alloc] init];

ftp.Hostname = @"ftp.example.com";
ftp.Username = @"myLogin";
ftp.Password = @"myPassword";
// Use explicit TLS
ftp.AuthTls = YES;
ftp.Port = [NSNumber numberWithInt:21];

// For debugging, turn on session logging so we can examine what is sent by the server.
ftp.KeepSessionLog = YES;

// Connect and login to the FTP server.
BOOL success = [ftp Connect];
if (success != YES) {
    NSLog(@"%@",ftp.LastErrorText);
    return;
}

[ftp ChangeRemoteDir: @"AAWorkarea"];

ftp.ListPattern = @"*.*";
int n = [[ftp GetDirCount] intValue];
NSLog(@"%@%d",@"n = ",n);

CkoDateTime *dt = 0;
int i = 0;
while (i < n) {
    // Get the original creation date/time as a CkDateTime object.
    dt = [ftp GetCreateDt: [NSNumber numberWithInt: i]];
    NSLog(@"%d%@%@%@%@",i,@": ",[ftp GetFilename: [NSNumber numberWithInt: i]],@", ",[dt GetAsTimestamp: NO]);

    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.

NSLog(@"%@",@"---- Session Log ----");
NSLog(@"%@",ftp.SessionLog);

[ftp Disconnect];