Beginner-level help with Synapse multi-file FTP download needed,
please
lazarus / 38-Networking and Web Programming

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Albion123 · 2013-03-25 17:44

With the absolutely invaluable information I found on this Forum and
others on the Internet, I have managed to write a Windows application
in Lazarus which downloads files over a VPN from an FTP server and
then deletes them from that server.

However, the names of the files and, indeed, whether or not they
exist, are not known in advance.  I have therefore been shelling out
to the Windows Command Prompt in order to use the built-in command-
line FTP.EXE and its scripting facilities.  This enables me to use
wildcards with the "mget" and "mdel" commands, which achieves the
desired result.

The problem is that this technique constantly grabs focus every time a
new Command Prompt is opened, which effectively renders the PC useless
for other tasks until the application has finished.  It also seems
slow, although this would not matter at all if the PC could be used
for other purposes at the same time.

I have tried to use the very highly-regarded Ararat Synapse, but in
spite of the demonstration applications provided with it I am unable
to do more than download a single file with a known name.

I believe that the following sequence of operations is necessary:
1) Connect to the FTP Server
2) When prompted by the FTP Server, provide a login name and password
3) List the available files
4) Download each of the required files in the list, one at a time
5) Log off and close the connection
Unfortunately, I am quite unable to find a simple example of the code
which would achieve this.  The only examples I have found are designed
for a level of ability and knowledge far in excess of mine. 
   
The example at http://wiki.freepascal.org/Synapse uses "ftpGetFile"
and this works well for a single file whose name is known in advance,
but it has no provision for wildcards.

Is anyone able to point me in the right direction for basic, simple
code which would perform the tasks at Steps 1 - 3 above, please?

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taazz · 2013-03-25 18:28

well you can always ctrl+click the FtpGetFile and see what it is doing
inside there to download the file also at the synapse home page there
are a few extra samples including a ftpdemo
http://synapse.ararat.cz/files/contrib/ftpdemo.zip

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BigChimp · 2013-03-26 08:29

What taazz said. Looking through Synapse's ftpsend.pas, the List
function sounds interesting...