cfftp: Connecting to an FTP server

Description

To establish a connection with an FTP server, you use the connection attribute.

Syntax

<cfftp 
  action = "action"
  username = "name"
  password = "password"
  server = "server"
  timeout = "timeout in seconds"
  port = "port"
  connection = "name"
  proxyServer = "proxyserver"
  retryCount = "number"
  stopOnError = "Yes" or "No"
  passive = "Yes" or "No">

Attributes

Attribute Req/Opt Default Description

action
Required

FTP operation to perform.

open: create an FTP connection

close: terminate an FTP connection

For more information, see "cfftp: Connection caching".

username
Required if action = "open"

User name to pass in the FTP operation.

password
Required if action = "open"

Password to log in the user.

server
Required if action = "open"

FTP server to which to connect; for example, ftp.myserver.com

timeout
Optional
30
Value in seconds for the timeout of all operations, including individual data request operations.

port
Optional
21
Remote port to which to connect.

connection
Optional

Name of the FTP connection. Used to cache a new FTP connection or to reuse a connection. If you specify the username, password, and server attributes, and if no connection exists for them, ColdFusion creates one. Calls to cfftp with the same connection name reuse the connection information.

proxyServer
Optional

String. Name of proxy server (or servers) to use, if proxy access is specified.

retryCount
Optional
1
Number of retries until failure is reported.

stopOnError
Optional
No

Yes: halts processing, displays an appropriate error.

No: populates these variables:

cfftp.succeeded - Yes or No.

cfftp.errorCode - Error number. See the IETF Network Working Group RFC 959: File Transfer Protocol (FTP): www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc0959.txt.

cfftp.errorText - Message text

For conditional operations, use cfftp.errorCode. Do not use cfftp.errorText for this purpose.

passive
Optional
No

Yes: enable passive mode

No

Attribute	Req/Opt	Default	Description
action	Required		FTP operation to perform. open: create an FTP connection close: terminate an FTP connection For more information, see "cfftp: Connection caching".
username	Required if `action = "open"`		User name to pass in the FTP operation.
password	Required if `action = "open"`		Password to log in the user.
server	Required if `action = "open"`		FTP server to which to connect; for example, `ftp.myserver.com`
timeout	Optional	30	Value in seconds for the timeout of all operations, including individual data request operations.
port	Optional	21	Remote port to which to connect.
connection	Optional		Name of the FTP connection. Used to cache a new FTP connection or to reuse a connection. If you specify the `username`, `password`, and `server` attributes, and if no connection exists for them, ColdFusion creates one. Calls to `cfftp` with the same connection name reuse the connection information.
proxyServer	Optional		String. Name of proxy server (or servers) to use, if proxy access is specified.
retryCount	Optional	1	Number of retries until failure is reported.
stopOnError	Optional	No	Yes: halts processing, displays an appropriate error. No: populates these variables: cfftp.succeeded - Yes or No. cfftp.errorCode - Error number. See the IETF Network Working Group RFC 959: File Transfer Protocol (FTP): www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc0959.txt. cfftp.errorText - Message text For conditional operations, use `cfftp.errorCode`. Do not use `cfftp.errorText` for this purpose.
passive	Optional	No	Yes: enable passive mode No

Usage

If you use connection caching to an active FTP connection, you do not have to respecify the username, password, or server connection attributes:

Changing a cached connection, such as changing retryCount or timeout values, might require reestablishing the connection.

Example

<p>cfftp lets users implement File Transfer Protocol operations. 
By default, cfftp caches an open connection to an FTP server.
<p>cfftp operations are usually of two types:
<ul>
  <li>Establishing a connection
  <li>Performing file and directory operations
</ul>
<p>This example opens and verifies a connection, lists the files in a 
directory, and closes the connection.
<p>Open a connection
<cfftp action = "open"
  username = "anonymous"
  connection = "My_query"
  password = "youremail@email.com"
  server = "ftp.tucows.com"
  stopOnError = "Yes">
<p>Did it succeed? <cfoutput>#cfftp.succeeded#</cfoutput>
<p>List the files in a directory:
<cfftp action = "LISTDIR"
    stopOnError = "Yes"
    name = "ListFiles"
    directory = "/"
    connection = "my_query">
<cfoutput query = "ListFiles">
  #name#<br>
</cfoutput>

<p>Close the connection:
<cfftp action = "close"
connection = "My_query"
stopOnError = "Yes">
<p>Did it succeed? <cfoutput>#cfftp.succeeded#</cfoutput>