How to check that a specified folder exists on ftp server

Question

4.50/5 (2 votes)

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Dear All,

I am making a uploader which uploads multiple files and folder so i need to check that a specific folder exists on ftp server or not??????If it doesn't exist we call the MakeDir() function to create it and if it exist we'll leave it.........So to achieve this i've search pretty much and i've got the below mentioned function and it have a problem that either directory exists or not it will return "true."

C#

private void btnCheck_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            bool result = FtpDirectoryExists("ftp://micro123/First", "anonymous", "anonymous");
            MessageBox.Show("Folder"+result);
        }
        public bool FtpDirectoryExists(string directoryPath, string ftpUser, string ftpPassword)
        {
            bool IsExists = true;
            try
            {
                FtpWebRequest request = (FtpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(directoryPath);
                request.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(ftpUser, ftpPassword);
                request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.PrintWorkingDirectory;

                FtpWebResponse response = (FtpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();
            }
            catch (WebException ex)
            {
                IsExists = false;
            }
            return IsExists;
        }

Moreover, I've also tried the below mentioned which will return false if folder exist or not.

C#

request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.GetDateTimestamp;

Hope you guys understand my problem..........Please anyone help me.:(

Posted 13-Feb-12 10:44am

AAMERSAEED

Updated 13-Feb-12 11:24am

Michel [mjbohn]

v2

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5 solutions

Solution 1

This is pretty messy.

http://www.example-code.com/csharp/ftp_dirExists.asp[^]

seems to use a custom component, but you could look in there to see hwo they do it. You could also just try browsing to the directory, and see what you get back, or creating it in any case, if that doesn't empty it.

Posted 13-Feb-12 10:52am

Christian Graus

Solution 3

Hi All,

I've solved this problem by using

C#

request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.ListDirectoryDetails;

Actually I am getting all the files and folders from FTP server by using above webrequest method and add them into list box and after that by using foreach loop check one by one if it exist or not.

Hope you understand.

Posted 18-Feb-12 18:31pm

AAMERSAEED

Updated 19-Feb-12 8:18am

v2

Comments

André Kraak 19-Feb-12 14:18pm

Edited solution:
Added pre tags

Solution 5

You mod code: FtpDirectoryExists("ftp://micro123/First/", "anonymous", "anonymous");
Code working!

Posted 5-Jan-16 19:13pm

duongus

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Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov · Accepted Answer · 2012-02-13T12:00:00

One way is: list directories using appropriate System.Net.FtpWebRequest.Method. The method can be System.Net.WebRequestMethods.Ftp.ListDirectory or System.Net.WebRequestMethods.Ftp.ListDirectoryDetail. Read the data in HTTP response System.Net.FtpWebResponse to see which directory exists and which is not.

Please see:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.net.ftpwebrequest.method.aspx[^],
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.net.webrequestmethods.ftp.aspx[^],
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.net.ftpwebresponse.aspx[^].

—SA

rrowles2000 · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-21T05:22:00

I found this method ineffective if you have a large number of files to upload into a directory already containing a large number of directories/files....

So I created an FTP class that calls a webpage on the server that does the search for the dir on the server and returns just a boolean. Far more efficient interms of bandwidth especially if you are using a dongle or have low bandwidth.