C# see if files exist in SFTP directory

Article
2019-01-09

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_{Wednesday, January 9, 2019 9:57 PM}

Hello,

i have the following code below:

        static void Main()
        {
            string userName = "TEST";
            string password = "TEST";
            string ftpURL = "sftp.iehp.org//Directory1//Director2//*FileBLahBlah*.csv";
            
            try
            {
                FtpWebRequest ftpRequest = (FtpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(ftpURL);
                ftpRequest.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.DownloadFile;
                ftpRequest.Credentials = new NetworkCredential(userName, password);

                using (FtpWebResponse ftpResponse = (FtpWebResponse)ftpRequest.GetResponse())
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("FILES EXIST");
                }
            }
            catch
            {
                Console.WriteLine("FILES DONT EXIST");
            }

            Console.ReadLine();

        }

however it doesnt seem to work because i know there is a file in that directory, i tested the username and password, however there is a file called TestFileBlahblah01092019.csv however it never shows up in the console.. "Files Exist", i know i am missing something so simple... any help :(

All replies (9)

_{Wednesday, January 9, 2019 10:01 PM}

Maybe it would be helpful to see the exception:

            catch(Exception e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(e);
            }

_{Wednesday, January 9, 2019 10:04 PM}

Or maybe the Url is wrong:

string ftpURL = "sftp://sftp.iehp.org//Directory1//Director2//*FileBLahBlah*.csv";

But please tell us the exception you are getting, it is helpful to see what is going wrong.

Greetings, Chris

_{Wednesday, January 9, 2019 10:16 PM}

i put now:

            catch (Exception e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(e);
                Console.WriteLine("FILES DONT EXIST");
            }

it says:

System.UriFormatException: Invalid URI: The format of the URI could not be determined.
at System.Uri.CreateThis(String uri, Boolean dontEscape, UriKind uriKind)
at System.Net.WebRequest.Create(String requestUriString)

at FTP_TEST.Program.Main() in c:\users\dude\documents\visual studio 2015\Projects\FTP_TEST\FTP_TEST\Program.cs:line 20

not sure, it says though its line 20, which is on:

     FtpWebRequest ftpRequest = (FtpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(ftpURL);

but not sure why its not liking this?

_{Wednesday, January 9, 2019 10:17 PM}

thank you for your help, i did try adding "SFTP" in front of the step like you suggested, however i get this message:

System.NotSupportedException: The URI prefix is not recognized.
at System.Net.WebRequest.Create(Uri requestUri, Boolean useUriBase)
at FTP_TEST.Program.Main() in c:\users\sqladmin1\documents\visual studio 2015\Projects\FTP_TEST\FTP_TEST\Program.cs:line 20

_{Wednesday, January 9, 2019 10:19 PM}

It doesn't like ftpURL or better said the value...

It looks like the URL format is wrong.

Have you tried to add sftp:// to the url like in my second post?

Or maybe you can set a breakpoint to this line and tell us whats the value of ftpURL.

_{Wednesday, January 9, 2019 10:23 PM}

I'm not sure if sftp is supported :/

_{Wednesday, January 9, 2019 10:26 PM}

Hey thanks again for helping me out DerChris88, so i did try adding SFTP in front, example:

sftp://sftp.iehp.org//Directory1//Director2//*FileBLahBlah*.csv";however i get the following error:System.NotSupportedException: The URI prefix is not recognized.
   at System.Net.WebRequest.Create(Uri requestUri, Boolean useUriBase)
   at FTP_TEST.Program.Main() in c:\users\sqladmin1\documents\visual studio 2015\Projects\FTP_TEST\FTP_TEST\Program.cs:line 20
FILES DONT EXISTso still not right :(, i also tried sftp.iehp.org//directory1 etc. but still same error. i tried just a single / and not use double // but nothing :(

_{Wednesday, January 9, 2019 10:27 PM}

I'm sorry but I think sftp is not working with this class. You may need a library for it like ssh.net

_{Thursday, January 10, 2019 8:14 AM}

Hi StevenlB,

Thank you for posting here.

For your question, you could try the examples in the link below.

https://www.example-code.com/csharp/sftp.asp

Best Regards,

Wendy

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C# see if files exist in SFTP directory

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