HP ARPA File Transfer Protocol User's Guide > Chapter 4 Using FTP

Performing Directory Operations

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With FTP, you can view the remote working directory, change remote directories, and view or save a listing of the contents of remote directories.

Viewing the Remote Working Directory

The PWD command is used to list the name of the remote working directory. The content of the information displayed by PWD is dependent on the remote system.

For example, a UNIX implementation could display:


  ftp> PWD
  251 "/users/myname" is the current working directory

Viewing the Contents of a Remote Directory

To list the contents of the remote working directory use the DIR command. The contents displayed using the DIR command are dependent on the remote host directory listing facilities.

In the sample below, the working directory is mytest. The first entry is a directory, the remaining entries are files.


  ftp> DIR
  200 PORT command okay.
  150 Opening data connection for /bin/ls -l (123.50.42.32,50895)
    (0 bytes). total 33

  drwxrwxrwx     1 myname     guest      10     Feb 13 18:44    ftest
  -rw-rw-rw-     1 myname     guest     100     Feb 12 18:42    file1
  -rw-rw-rw-     1 myname     guest     100     Feb 12 18:42    file2
  -rw-rw-rw-     1 myname     guest     110     Feb 13 18:43    testt

  226 Transfer complete
  nnn bytes received in n.nn seconds (n.nn Kbytes/sec)

To list the contents of another directory, enter the DIR command followed by a valid remote directory name:


  ftp> DIR remotedirectory

Simple directory Listing

The LS command provides a consistent display of directory contents for unlike computer systems. One item per line is displayed. For example:


  ftp> LS
  200 PORT command okay.
  150 Opening data connection for /bin/ls (123.50.42.32,50896)
    (0 bytes).
  ftest
  file1
  file2
  testt
  226 transfer complete

Listing Directory Information to a Local File

You can transfer remote directory information to a local file with the LS or DIR commands using the following form (assuming a remote host UNIX file system):


  ftp> DIR [remotedirectory/]filename localfile

or,


  ftp> LS [remotedirectory/]filename localfile

The format of remotedirectory/filename is dependent on the remote system implementation. The filename part can contain metacharacters (wildcard characters) supported by the remote system. Some metacharacters supported by the HP 9000 are asterisk (*), and question mark (?).

For example, to transfer a listing of all files in the working directory to your local file REMDIR, enter:


  ftp> DIR * REMDIR

To transfer the contents of the directory named ftest beginning with the letter R to local file REMDIR1, enter:


  ftp> LS ftest/R* REMDIR1

Changing Directories

To change directories in the remote account you are using, enter the CD command as follows:


  ftp> CD remotedirectory

Where remotedirectory is the directory you wish to access.

Example

The following example shows a user logged in to an HP 9000 as "myname" who checks the current directory, changes directories, then checks the new current directory.


  ftp> PWD
  251 "/users/myname" is the current working directory.
  ftp> CD test
  200 CWD command okay.
  ftp> PWD
  251 "/users/myname/test" is the current working directory.
  ftp> CD ..
  200 CWD command okay.
  ftp> PWD
  251 "/users/myname" is the current working directory.

Connecting and Logging On to a Remote Host

Setting or Changing Transfer Types