Any suggestions on a best practice way to monitor a remote FTP site for the arrival of new/updated files? I don't need specific code, just some coaching on technique based on your real-world experience including suggestions for a utility vs. code based solution. My goal is to maintain a local collection of files synced with a remote FTP site and when I download a new/updated file locally, run a script to process it. The arrival and format of the files that I need to sync with are beyond my control (eliminating a rsync solution) ... all I have is a generic FTP connection to a specific FTP address. Note: The remote site I'm monitoring may have multiple uploads occuring at the same time. My basic strategy is to poll the remote directory on a regular basis and compare the new directory listing to a previous snapshot of the directory listing. If a file timestamp or size has changed (or a new file has appeared), then track this file as a changed file. Once a file has been marked as changed, wait <N> polling cycles for the file timestamp and size to remain stable, then download it, and trigger a local script to process the file. In addition to detecting new or changed files, I would compare remote directory listings to my local sync folder and delete local files that no longer exist on the remote site. My concern about using a utility is the utility's ability to detect when a remote file has finished being updated. I don't want to download files that are still in the process of being updated - I only want to download new/updated files after they've been closed on the remote site. Any ideas appreciated! Thanks, Malcolm
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