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Microsoft Win32 Internet Programmer's Reference

FTP Functions

The FTP functions deal with FTP file and directory manipulation and navigation.

FtpCreateDirectory

BOOL FtpCreateDirectory(
    IN HINTERNET hFtpSession,
    IN LPCTSTR lpszDirectory
);

Creates a new directory on the FTP server.

Returns TRUE if successful, or FALSE otherwise. To get a specific error code, call GetLastError. If the error code indicates that the FTP server denied the request to create a directory, use InternetGetLastResponseInfo to determine why.

hFtpSession: Valid handle to an FTP session.
lpszDirectory: Address of a null-terminated string that contains the name of the directory to create on the remote system. This can be either a fully qualified path name or a name relative to the current directory.

An application should use FtpGetCurrentDirectory to determine the remote site's current working directory, instead of assuming that the remote system uses a hierarchical naming scheme for directories.

The lpszDirectory parameter can be either partially or fully qualified file names relative to the current directory. A backslash (\) or forward slash (/) can be used as the directory separator for either name. The FtpCreateDirectory function translates the directory name separators to the appropriate character before they are used.

FtpDeleteFile

BOOL FtpDeleteFile(
    IN HINTERNET hFtpSession,
    IN LPCTSTR lpszFileName
);

Deletes a file stored on the FTP server.

Returns TRUE if successful, or FALSE otherwise. To get a specific error code, call GetLastError.

hFtpSession: Valid handle to an FTP session.
lpszFileName: Address of a null-terminated string that contains the name of the file to delete on the remote system.

The lpszFile parameter can be either partially or fully qualified file names relative to the current directory. A backslash (\) or forward slash (/) can be used as the directory separator for either name. The FtpDeleteFile function translates the directory name separators to the appropriate character before they are used.

FtpFindFirstFile

HINTERNET FtpFindFirstFile(
    IN HINTERNET hFtpSession,
    IN LPCTSTR lpszSearchFile OPTIONAL,
    OUT LPWIN32_FIND_DATA lpFindFileData,
    IN DWORD dwFlags
    IN DWORD dwContext
);

Searches the specified directory of the given FTP session. File and directory entries are returned to the application in the WIN32_FIND_DATA structure.

Returns a valid handle for the request if the directory enumeration was started successfully; otherwise, returns NULL. To get a specific error code, call GetLastError. If the function finds no matching files, GetLastError returns ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES.

hFtpSession: Valid handle to an FTP session returned from InternetConnect.
lpszSearchFile: Address of a null-terminated string that specifies a valid directory path name or file name for the FTP server's file system. If the value of lpszSearchFile is NULL or if it is an empty string, it will find the first file in the current directory on the server.
lpFindFileData: Address of a WIN32_FIND_DATA structure that receives information about the found file or directory.
dwFlags: Application-defined value that associates this search with any application. For a description of the values, see InternetOpenUrl.
dwContext: An application-defined value that associates this search with any application data. This parameter is used only if the application has already called InternetSetStatusCallback to set up a status callback function.

This function enumerates both files and directories.

The FtpFindFirstFile function is similar to the Win32 FindFirstFile function. Note, however, that only one FtpFindFirstFile can occur at a time within a given FTP session. The enumerations, therefore, are correlated with the FTP session handle. This is because the FTP protocol allows only a single directory enumeration per session.

After calling FtpFindFirstFile and until calling InternetCloseHandle, the application cannot call FtpFindFirstFile again on a given FTP session handle. If this happens, calls to the FtpFindFirstFile function will fail with error code ERROR_FTP_TRANSFER_IN_PROGRESS.

After beginning a directory enumeration with FtpFindFirstFile, the InternetFindNextFile function can be used to continue the enumeration.

The InternetCloseHandle function is used to close the handle returned from FtpFindFirstFile. If the InternetCloseHandle function closes the handle before InternetFindNextFile fails with ERROR_NO_MORE_FILES, the directory enumeration will be terminated.

Because the FTP protocol provides no standard means of enumerating, some of the common information about files, such as file creation date and time, is not always available or correct. When this happens, FtpFindFirstFile and InternetFindNextFile fill in unavailable information with a "best guess" based on available information. For example, creation and last access dates will often be the same as the file's modification date.

The application cannot call FtpFindFirstFile between calls to FtpOpenFile and InternetCloseHandle.

FtpGetCurrentDirectory

BOOL FtpGetCurrentDirectory(
    IN HINTERNET hFtpSession,
    OUT LPCTSTR lpszCurrentDirectory,
    IN OUT LPDWORD lpdwCurrentDirectory
);

Retrieves the current directory for the specified FTP session.

Returns TRUE if successful, or FALSE otherwise. To get the specific error code, call GetLastError. If the error code indicates that the FTP server denied the request to change to a directory, use InternetGetLastResponseInfo to determine why.

hFtpSession: Valid handle to an FTP session.
lpszCurrentDirectory: Address of a buffer that receives the current directory string, which specifies the absolute path to the current directory. The string is null terminated.
lpdwCurrentDirectory: Address of a variable that specifies the length, in characters, of the buffer for the current directory string. The buffer length must include room for a terminating null character. Using a length of MAX_PATH is sufficient for all path names. When the function returns, this parameter receives the number of characters copied into the buffer.

If the lpszCurrentDirectory buffer is not large enough, lpdwCurrentDirectory receives the number of bytes required to retrieve the full, current directory name.

FtpGetFile

BOOL FtpGetFile(
    IN HINTERNET hFtpSession,
    IN LPCTSTR lpszRemoteFile,
    IN LPCTSTR lpszNewFile,
    IN BOOL fFailIfExists,
    IN DWORD dwFlagsAndAttributes,
    IN DWORD dwFlags,
    IN DWORD dwContext
);

Retrieves a file from the FTP server and stores it under the specified file name, creating a new local file in the process.

Returns TRUE if successful, or FALSE otherwise. To get a specific error code, call GetLastError.

hFtpSession: Valid handle to an FTP session.
lpszRemoteFile: Address of a null-terminated string that contains the name of the file to retrieve from the remote system.
lpszNewFile: Address of a null-terminated string that contains the name of the file to create on the local system.
fFailIfExists: Boolean flag that indicates whether the function should proceed if a local file of the specified name already exists. If fFailIfExists is TRUE and the local file exists, FtpGetFile fails.
dwFlagsAndAttributes: File attributes and flags for the new file. Can be any combination of FILE_ATTRIBUTE_* and INTERNET_FLAG_* file attributes. See CreateFile for more information on FILE_ATTRIBUTE_* attributes, and see InternetOpenUrl for more information on INTERNET_FLAG_* flags.
dwFlags: Flag value that indicates the conditions under which the transfer occurs. Can be any of the FTP_TRANSFER_TYPE_* values. For a description of these values, see FtpOpenFile.
dwContext: Application-defined value that associates this search with any application data. This is used only if the application has already called InternetSetStatusCallback to set up a status callback function.

The FtpGetFile function is a high-level routine that handles all the bookkeeping and overhead associated with reading a file from an FTP server and storing it locally. An application that needs to retrieve file data only or that requires close control over the file transfer should use the FtpOpenFile and InternetReadFile functions.

If the dwTransferType specifies FILE_TRANSFER_TYPE_ASCII, translation of the file data converts control and formatting characters to local equivalents. The default transfer is binary mode, where the file is downloaded in the same format as it is stored on the server.

Both lpszRemoteFile and lpszNewFile can be either partially or fully qualified file names relative to the current directory. A backslash (\) or forward slash (/) can be used as the directory separator for either name. The FtpGetFile function translates the directory name separators to the appropriate character before they are used.

FtpOpenFile

HINTERNET FtpOpenFile(
    IN HINTERNET hFtpSession,
    IN LPCTSTR lpszFileName,
    IN DWORD fdwAccess,
    IN DWORD dwFlags,
    IN DWORD dwContext
);

Initiates access to a remote file for writing or reading.

Returns TRUE if successful, or FALSE otherwise. To get a specific error code, call GetLastError.

hFtpSession

Valid handle to an FTP session.

lpszFileName

Address of a null-terminated string that contains the name of the file to access on the remote system.

fdwAccess

Value that determines how the file will be accessed. This can be GENERIC_READ or GENERIC_WRITE, but not both.

dwFlags

Conditions under which subsequent transfers occur. Can be any of these values:

Value	Meaning
FTP_TRANSFER_TYPE_ASCII	Transfer the file using FTP's ASCII (Type A) transfer method. Control and formatting information is converted to local equivalents.
FTP_TRANSFER_TYPE_BINARY	Transfer the file using FTP's Image (Type I) transfer method. The file is transferred exactly as it exists with no changes. This is the default transfer method.

dwContext

Application-defined value that associates this search with any application data. This is only used if the application has already called InternetSetStatusCallback to set up a status callback function.

The FtpOpenFile function should be used in the following situations:

An application has data it needs to send to an FTP server to be created as a file on the FTP server, but the application does not have a local file containing the data. After InternetOpen opens the file with FtpOpenFile, the application uses InternetWriteFile to send the FTP file data to the server.
An application needs to retrieve a file from the server into application-controlled memory, instead of writing the file to disk. The application uses InternetReadFile after using InternetOpen to open the file.
An application needs a fine level of control over a file transfer. For example, the application may need to display a "thermometer" when downloading a file to indicate to the user that the file transfer is or is not proceeding correctly.

After calling the FtpOpenFile function and until calling InternetCloseHandle, the application can call only InternetReadFile orInternetWriteFile, InternetCloseHandle, or the FtpFindFirstFile function. Calls to other FTP functions on the same FTP session will fail and set the error code to ERROR_FTP_TRANSFER_IN_PROGRESS.

Only one file can be open in a single FTP session. Therefore, no file handle is returned and the application simply uses the FTP session handle when necessary.

The lpszFile parameter can be either partially or fully qualified file names relative to the current directory. A backslash (\) or forward slash (/) can be used as the directory separator for either name. The FtpOpenFile function translates the directory name separators to the appropriate character before they are used.

The InternetCloseHandle function is used to close the handle returned from FtpOpenFile. If the InternetCloseHandle function closes the handle before all the data has been transferred, the transfer is terminated.

FtpPutFile

BOOL FtpPutFile(
    IN HINTERNET hFtpSession,
    IN LPCTSTR lpszLocalFile,
    IN LPCTSTR lpszNewRemoteFile,
    IN DWORD dwFlags,
    IN DWORD dwContext
);

Stores a file on the FTP server.

Returns TRUE if successful, or FALSE otherwise. To get a specific error code, call GetLastError.

hFtpSession: Valid handle to an FTP session.
lpszLocalFile: Address of a null-terminated string that contains the name of the file to send from the local system.
lpszNewRemoteFile: Address of a null-terminated string that contains the name of the file to create on the remote system.
dwFlags: Conditions under which the transfer occurs. Can be any combination of FTP_TRANSFER_* defined constants. For further information on the FTP_TRANSFER_* constants, see FtpOpenFile.
dwContext: Application-defined value that associates this search with any application data. This parameter is used only if the application has already called InternetSetStatusCallback to set up a status callback.

The FtpPutFile function is a high-level routine that handles all the bookkeeping and overhead associated with reading a file locally and storing it on an FTP server. An application that needs to send file data only, or that requires close control over the file transfer, should use the FtpOpenFile and InternetWriteFile functions.

If the dwTransferType specifies FILE_TRANSFER_TYPE_ASCII, translation of the file data converts control and formatting characters to local equivalents.

Both lpszNewRemoteFile and lpszLocalFile can be either partially or fully qualified file names relative to the current directory. A backslash (\) or forward slash (/) can be used as the directory separator for either name. The FtpPutFile function translates the directory name separators to the appropriate character before they are used.

FtpRemoveDirectory

BOOL FtpRemoveDirectory(
    IN HINTERNET hFtpSession,
    IN LPCTSTR lpszDirectory
);

Removes the specified directory on the FTP server.

Returns TRUE if successful, or FALSE otherwise. To get the specific error code, call GetLastError. If the error code indicates that the FTP server denied the request to remove a directory, use InternetGetLastResponseInfo to determine why.

hFtpSession: Valid handle to an FTP session.
lpszDirectory: Address of a null-terminated string that contains the name of the directory to remove on the remote system. This can be either a fully qualified path name or a name relative to the current directory.

The lpszDirectory parameter can be either partially or fully qualified file names relative to the current directory. A backslash (\) or forward slash (/) can be used as the directory separator for either name. The FtpRemoveDirectory function translates the directory name separators to the appropriate character before they are used.

FtpRenameFile

BOOL FtpRenameFile(
    IN HINTERNET hFtpSession,
    IN LPCTSTR lpszExisting,
    IN LPCTSTR lpszNew
);

Renames a file stored on the FTP server.

Returns TRUE if successful, or FALSE otherwise. To get a specific error code, call GetLastError.

hFtpSession: Valid handle to an FTP session.
lpszExisting: Address of a null-terminated string that contains the name of the file that will have its name changed on the remote FTP server.
lpszNew: Address of a null-terminated string that contains the new name for the remote file.

The lpszExisting and lpszNew parameters can be either partially or fully qualified file names relative to the current directory. A backslash (\) or forward slash (/) can be used as the directory separator for either name. The FtpRenameFile function translates the directory name separators to the appropriate character before they are used.

FtpSetCurrentDirectory

BOOL FtpSetCurrentDirectory(
    IN HINTERNET hFtpSession,
    IN LPCTSTR lpszDirectory
);

Changes to a different working directory on the FTP server.

Returns TRUE if successful, or FALSE otherwise. To get the specific error code, call GetLastError. If the error code indicates that the FTP server denied the request to change a directory, use InternetGetLastResponseInfo to determine why.

hFtpSession: Valid handle to an FTP session.
lpszDirectory: Address of a null-terminated string that contains the name of the directory to change to on the remote system. This can be either a fully qualified path name or a name relative to the current directory.

The lpszDirectory parameter can be either partially or fully qualified file names relative to the current directory. A backslash (\) or forward slash (/) can be used as the directory separator for either name. The FtpSetCurrentDirectory function translates the directory name separators to the appropriate character before they are used.