With the CData Cmdlets users can install a data module, set the connection properties, and start scripting. This section provides examples of using our FTP Cmdlets with native PowerShell cmdlets, like the CSV import and export cmdlets.

Installing and Connecting

If you have PSGet, installing the cmdlets can be accomplished from the PowerShell Gallery with the following command. You can also obtain a setup from the CData site.

Install-Module FTPCmdlets

The following line is then added to your profile, loading the cmdlets on the next session:

Import-Module FTPCmdlets;

You can then use the Connect-FTP cmdlet to create a connection object that can be passed to other cmdlets:

$conn = Connect-FTP -RemoteHost 'MyFTPServer'

The CData Cmdlets PowerShell Module for FTP allows connecting to FTP servers.

Connecting to an FTP Server

FTP supports both plaintext and SSL/TLS connections. To connect to an FTP server specify the RemoteHost, User, and Password. Set SSLMode and SSLServerCert to secure connections with TLS/SSL. See SSL Configuration for more information on configuring connectivity over TLS/SSL.

Connecting to Data

Set the following connection properties to control the relational view of the file system:

• RemotePath: Set this to the current working directory.
• TableDepth: Set this to control the depth of subfolders to report as views.
• FileRetrievalDepth: Set this to retrieve files recursively and list them in the Root table.

Stored Procedures are available to download files, upload files, and send protocol commands. See Data Model for more on using SQL to interact with the server.

Retrieving Data

The Select-FTP cmdlet provides a native PowerShell interface for retrieving data:

$results = Select-FTP -Connection $conn -Table "Notes" -Columns @("Filesize, Filename") -Where "FilePath='/documents/doc.txt'"

The Invoke-FTP cmdlet provides an SQL interface. This cmdlet can be used to execute an SQL query via the Query parameter.

Piping Cmdlet Output

The cmdlets return row objects to the pipeline one row at a time. The following line exports results to a CSV file:

Select-FTP -Connection $conn -Table Notes -Where "FilePath = '/documents/doc.txt'" | Select -Property * -ExcludeProperty Connection,Table,Columns | Export-Csv -Path c:\myNotesData.csv -NoTypeInformation

You will notice that we piped the results from Select-FTP into a Select-Object cmdlet and excluded some properties before piping them into an Export-CSV cmdlet. We do this because the CData Cmdlets append Connection, Table, and Columns information onto each row object in the result set, and we do not necessarily want that information in our CSV file.

However, this makes it easy to pipe the output of one cmdlet to another. The following is an example of converting a result set to JSON:

 
PS C:\> $conn  = Connect-FTP -RemoteHost 'MyFTPServer'
PS C:\> $row = Select-FTP -Connection $conn -Table "Notes" -Columns (Filesize, Filename) -Where "FilePath = '/documents/doc.txt'" | select -first 1
PS C:\> $row | ConvertTo-Json
{
  "Connection":  {

  },
  "Table":  "Notes",
  "Columns":  [

  ],
  "Filesize":  "MyFilesize",
  "Filename":  "MyFilename"
} 

Deleting Data

The following line deletes any records that match the criteria:

Select-FTP -Connection $conn -Table Notes -Where "FilePath = '/documents/doc.txt'" | Remove-FTP

Modifying Data

The cmdlets make data transformation easy as well as data cleansing. The following example loads data from a CSV file into FTP, checking first whether a record already exists and needs to be updated instead of inserted.

Import-Csv -Path C:\MyNotesUpdates.csv | %{
  $record = Select-FTP -Connection $conn -Table Notes -Where ("Id = `'"+$_.Id+"`'")
  if($record){
    Update-FTP -Connection $conn -Table Notes -Columns @("Filesize","Filename") -Values @($_.Filesize, $_.Filename) -Where "Id  = `'$_.Id`'"
  }else{
    Add-FTP -Connection $conn -Table Notes -Columns @("Filesize","Filename") -Values @($_.Filesize, $_.Filename)
  }
}