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

The only way which worked for me was an inversed logic by trying to create the directory/path (which will throw an exception if it already exists) and if so delete it again afterwards. Otherwise use the Exception to set a flag meaing that the directory/path exists. I'm quite new to VB.NET and I'm shure there's a nicer way to code this - but anyway here's my code:

        Public Function DirectoryExists(directory As String) As Boolean
        ' Reversed Logic to check if a Directory exists on FTP-Server by creating the Directory/Path
        ' which will throw an exception if the Directory already exists. Otherwise create and delete the Directory

        ' Adjust Paths
        Dim path As String
        If directory.Contains("/") Then
            path = AdjustDir(directory)     'ensure that path starts with a slash
        Else
            path = directory
        End If

        ' Set URI (formatted as ftp://host.xxx/path)

        Dim URI As String = Me.Hostname & path

        Dim response As FtpWebResponse

        Dim DirExists As Boolean = False
        Try
            Dim request As FtpWebRequest = DirectCast(WebRequest.Create(URI), FtpWebRequest)
            request.Credentials = Me.GetCredentials
            'Create Directory - if it exists WebException will be thrown
            request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.MakeDirectory

            'Delete Directory again - if above request did not throw an exception
            response = DirectCast(request.GetResponse(), FtpWebResponse)
            request = DirectCast(WebRequest.Create(URI), FtpWebRequest)
            request.Credentials = Me.GetCredentials
            request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.RemoveDirectory
            response = DirectCast(request.GetResponse(), FtpWebResponse)
            DirExists = False

        Catch ex As WebException
            DirExists = True
        End Try
        Return DirExists

    End Function

WebRequestMethods.Ftp.MakeDirectory and WebRequestMethods.Ftp.RemoveDirectory are the Methods i used for this. All other solutions did not work for me.

Hope it helps