Checking If Object on Ftp Server Is File or Directory Using Python and Ftplib

Checking if object on FTP server is file or directory using Python and ftplib

There's no better way (with FTP protocol in general, not just with ftplib).

The MLST/MLSD is the only correct and reliable way.

If you cannot use MLST/MLSD, trying CWD is the next best option.

Trying to parse LIST is a fallback option. But you need to know that the server uses listing format your program understands.

Determine if a listing is a directory or file in Python over FTP

Unfortunately FTP doesn't have a command to list just folders so parsing the results you get from ftp.dir() would be 'best'.

A simple app assuming a standard result from ls (not a windows ftp)

from ftplib import FTP

ftp = FTP(host, user, passwd)
for r in ftp.dir():
    if r.upper().startswith('D'):
        print r[58:]  # Starting point

Standard FTP Commands

Custom FTP Commands

Using Python's ftplib to get a directory listing, portably

Try using ftp.nlst(dir).

However, note that if the folder is empty, it might throw an error:

files = []

try:
    files = ftp.nlst()
except ftplib.error_perm as resp:
    if str(resp) == "550 No files found":
        print "No files in this directory"
    else:
        raise

for f in files:
    print f

Get the latest FTP folder name in Python

If your FTP server supports MLSD command, a solution is easy:

If you want to base the decision on a modification timestamp:

entries = list(ftp.mlsd())
# Only interested in directories
entries = [entry for entry in entries if entry[1]["type"] == "dir"]
# Sort by timestamp
entries.sort(key = lambda entry: entry[1]['modify'], reverse = True)
# Pick the first one
latest_name = entries[0][0]
print(latest_name)

If you want to use a file name:

# Sort by filename
entries.sort(key = lambda entry: entry[0], reverse = True)

If you need to rely on an obsolete LIST command, you have to parse a proprietary listing it returns.

A common *nix listing is like:

drw-r--r-- 1 user group           4096 Mar 26  2018 folder1-20180326
drw-r--r-- 1 user group           4096 Jun 18 11:21 folder2-20180618
-rw-r--r-- 1 user group           4467 Mar 27  2018 file-20180327.zip
-rw-r--r-- 1 user group         124529 Jun 18 15:31 file-20180618.zip

With a listing like this, this code will do:

If you want to base the decision on a modification timestamp:

lines = []
ftp.dir("", lines.append)

latest_time = None
latest_name = None

for line in lines:
    tokens = line.split(maxsplit = 9)
    # Only interested in directories
    if tokens[0][0] == "d":
        time_str = tokens[5] + " " + tokens[6] + " " + tokens[7]
        time = parser.parse(time_str)
        if (latest_time is None) or (time > latest_time):
            latest_name = tokens[8]
            latest_time = time

print(latest_name)

If you want to use a file name:

lines = []
ftp.dir("", lines.append)

latest_name = None

for line in lines:
    tokens = line.split(maxsplit = 9)
    # Only interested in directories
    if tokens[0][0] == "d":
        name = tokens[8]
        if (latest_name is None) or (name > latest_name):
            latest_name = name

print(latest_name)

Some FTP servers may return . and .. entries in LIST results. You may need to filter those.

Partially based on: Python FTP get the most recent file by date.

If the folder does not contain any files, only subfolders, there are other easier options.

If you want to base the decision on a modification timestamp and the server supports non-standard -t switch, you can use:
```
lines = ftp.nlst("-t")
latest_name = lines[-1]
```
See How to get files in FTP folder sorted by modification time

If you want to use a file name:

lines = ftp.nlst()
latest_name = max(lines)

What is the way to know how any file is updated in ftp location using Python?

You can use the dir method to get the last modified timestamps from the file listing, and parse the 6th to 8th fields on your own. Note that the 8th field can be either a year or a time of the day, in which case the year is the current year. But then again you don't necessarily have to parse the date/time at all since all you need is to detect change.

>>> from ftplib import FTP
>>> ftp = FTP('ftp.redhat.com')
>>> ftp.login()
'230 Login successful.'
>>> ftp.dir()
lrwxrwxrwx    1 ftp      ftp             1 Dec 19  2009 pub -> .
drwxr-xr-x   45 ftp      ftp          4096 Jul 05 16:46 redhat
>>> l=[]
>>> ftp.dir(lambda x: l.append(x))
>>> l
['lrwxrwxrwx    1 ftp      ftp             1 Dec 19  2009 pub -> .', 'drwxr-xr-x   45 ftp      ftp          4096 Jul 05 16:46 redhat']
>>>

Knowing whether or not FTP is still connected with ftplib

You could try retrieving something from the server, and catching any exceptions and returning whether or not it's connected based on that.

For example:

def is_connected(ftp_conn):
    try:
        ftp_conn.retrlines('LIST')
    except (socket.timeout, OSError):
        return False
    return True

This simple example will print the 'LIST' results to stdout, you can change that by putting your own callback into the retrlines method

(Make sure you set a timeout in the initial FTP object construction, as the default is for it to be None.)

ftp = ftplib.FTP("ftp.gnu.org", timeout=5, user='anonymous', passwd='')

Determine if a ftp file is a regular file or folder with python ftp lib

I don't find any differences between platforms. On which platforms does this not work?:

isFile = lambda e: e[0][0] != 'd'
for e in ftp.dir('.'):
  if isFile(e):
    foo(e)
  else:
    bar(e)

Is Django and ftplib connection posible?

Here is a manual that you should check first
Here is a same question that you should check second

Here is an example of correct code:

from ftplib import FTP

with FTP(
  conf_settings.FTP_DOMAIN,
  conf_settings.FTP_USER,
  conf_settings.FTP_PASSWORD
) as ftp:
  with open(os.path.join(folder, filename), 'rb') as file:
    ftp.storbinary(f'STOR {filename}', file)

Checking If Object on Ftp Server Is File or Directory Using Python and Ftplib