Create FTP clients in VB6 and VB.NET for file transfers
The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used for transferring files between a client and server over the Internet. FTP programs are essential tools for website management, allowing webmasters to upload and download files quickly.
Visual Basic 6 makes it easy to create FTP clients using the Microsoft Internet Transfer Control. With VB.NET, you can leverage the powerful FtpWebRequest
and FtpWebResponse
classes for more robust FTP operations.
This page demonstrates how to create FTP programs in both VB6 and VB.NET, with code examples and an interactive demo to simulate FTP operations.
Visual Basic uses the Internet Transfer Control (Inet) to handle FTP operations. The key properties and methods include:
Inet.URL
- Specifies the FTP hostnameInet.UserName
- Accepts the usernameInet.Password
- Accepts the user's passwordInet.Protocol
- Set to FTP protocolExecute
- Sends FTP commands to the serverGetChunk
- Retrieves data from the serverOpenURL
- Opens an FTP connectionPrivate Sub ConnectToFTP() ' Set FTP connection properties Inet1.URL = txtHost.Text Inet1.UserName = txtUser.Text Inet1.Password = txtPassword.Text Inet1.Protocol = icFTP ' Connect to FTP server and list files Inet1.Execute , "DIR" ' Wait for response Do While Inet1.StillExecuting DoEvents Loop ' Get directory listing Dim response As String response = Inet1.GetChunk(1024, icString) ' Process response ProcessDirectory response End Sub
Try out our simulated FTP client below. Enter connection details to see how an FTP program works:
Connect to an FTP server to view directory contents
In VB.NET, you can use the System.Net.FtpWebRequest
class for more advanced FTP operations. Here's an example:
Imports System.Net Imports System.IO Public Class FTPExample Public Sub ListFiles(host As String, user As String, password As String) ' Create FTP request Dim request As FtpWebRequest = CType(WebRequest.Create("ftp://" & host), FtpWebRequest) request.Credentials = New NetworkCredential(user, password) request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.ListDirectoryDetails ' Get response Using response As FtpWebResponse = CType(request.GetResponse(), FtpWebResponse) Using responseStream As Stream = response.GetResponseStream() Using reader As New StreamReader(responseStream) Dim directoryListing As String = reader.ReadToEnd() ' Process directory listing ProcessDirectory(directoryListing) End Using End Using End Using End Sub Public Sub DownloadFile(host As String, remoteFile As String, localFile As String, user As String, password As String) ' Create FTP request Dim request As FtpWebRequest = CType(WebRequest.Create("ftp://" & host & "/" & remoteFile), FtpWebRequest) request.Credentials = New NetworkCredential(user, password) request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.DownloadFile ' Get response and save file Using response As FtpWebResponse = CType(request.GetResponse(), FtpWebResponse) Using responseStream As Stream = response.GetResponseStream() Using fileStream As New FileStream(localFile, FileMode.Create) responseStream.CopyTo(fileStream) End Using End Using End Using End Sub End Class
Master FTP programming and other advanced Visual Basic techniques with our comprehensive guide:
This practical guide covers both VB6 and VB.NET implementations of FTP clients, along with dozens of other real-world applications.