How to check if an FTP directory exists

Question

Looking for the best way to check for a given directory via FTP.

Currently i have the following code:

private bool FtpDirectoryExists(string direct         


        

Answer 1

I was also stuck with a similar problem. I was using,

FtpWebRequest request = (FtpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("ftp://ftpserver.com/rootdir/test_if_exist_directory");  
request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.ListDirectory;  
FtpWebResponse response = (FtpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();

and waited for an exception in case the directory didn't exist. This method didn't throw an exception.

After a few hit and trials, I changed the directory from: "ftp://ftpserver.com/rootdir/test_if_exist_directory" to: "ftp://ftpserver.com/rootdir/test_if_exist_directory/". Now the code is working for me.

I think we should append forwardslash (/) to the URI of the ftp folder to get it to work.

As requested, the complete solution will now be:

public bool DoesFtpDirectoryExist(string dirPath)
{
    try
    {
        FtpWebRequest request = (FtpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(dirPath);  
        request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.ListDirectory;  
        FtpWebResponse response = (FtpWebResponse)request.GetResponse();
        return true;
     }
     catch(WebException ex)
     {
         return false;
     }
}

//Calling the method (note the forwardslash at the end of the path):
string ftpDirectory = "ftp://ftpserver.com/rootdir/test_if_exist_directory/";
bool dirExists = DoesFtpDirectoryExist(ftpDirectory);