(VB.NET) SFTP Read Text File to String

Demonstrates how to download a text file from an SSH server directly into a string variable.

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

Dim sftp As New Chilkat.SFtp

' Set some timeouts, in milliseconds:
sftp.ConnectTimeoutMs = 5000
sftp.IdleTimeoutMs = 15000

' Connect to the SSH server.  
' The standard SSH port = 22
' The hostname may be a hostname or IP address.
Dim hostname As String = "sftp.example.com"
Dim port As Integer = 22
Dim success As Boolean = sftp.Connect(hostname,port)
If (success <> True) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(sftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


' Authenticate with the SSH server.  Chilkat SFTP supports
' both password-based authenication as well as public-key
' authentication.  This example uses password authenication.
success = sftp.AuthenticatePw("myLogin","myPassword")
If (success <> True) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(sftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


' After authenticating, the SFTP subsystem must be initialized:
success = sftp.InitializeSftp()
If (success <> True) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(sftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


' Open a file on the server:
Dim handle As String
handle = sftp.OpenFile("hamlet.xml","readOnly","openExisting")
If (sftp.LastMethodSuccess <> True) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(sftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


' Get the total size of this file (in bytes)
Dim bFollowLinks As Boolean = False
Dim bIsHandle As Boolean = True
Dim numBytes As Integer

' bFollowLinks is ignored because we are passing a handle
' and not a remote filename.
' There are alternative methods for handling file sizes
' greater than 32-bit.  (See the reference documentation.)
numBytes = sftp.GetFileSize32(handle,bFollowLinks,bIsHandle)
If (numBytes < 0) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(sftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If



' The charset indicates the character encoding of the text
' file on the SSH server.   Setting the charset correctly
' allows the Chilkat SFTP component to correctly interpret
' the bytes that represent the characters.
Dim charset As String
charset = "ansi"
Dim fileContents As String
fileContents = sftp.ReadFileText(handle,numBytes,charset)
If (sftp.LastMethodSuccess <> True) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(sftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
Else
    Debug.WriteLine("Received file:")
    Debug.WriteLine(fileContents)
End If


' Close the file.
success = sftp.CloseHandle(handle)
If (success <> True) Then
    Debug.WriteLine(sftp.LastErrorText)
    Exit Sub
End If


Debug.WriteLine("Success.")