Exporting a list of server files from Disk in FTP by Zaweba

A record of what a server holds is one of those things you only wish you had after something has gone. The Disk view in FTP by Zaweba can give you one at any time, in a form you can open in a spreadsheet, keep with your notes or send to someone else.

What you can export

The list as shown can be exported to CSV. Because it exports what is on screen, you control what goes in. Show all for a full inventory of the scan, this branch for one part of the site, or the lens results for the items the web-server lens has flagged.

Tagged files can be exported too. That is the natural record for a clean-up: tag the files you plan to remove with Tag by or by hand, export the tagged set, and you have a list of exactly what you were about to change.

Tagged files, or whole folders, can also be downloaded. A CSV records names and details; a download keeps the files themselves.

Why keep a record

Clean-ups raise questions afterwards. A client asks where an old price list went. A colleague wonders whether a folder was there before. A search engine reports a missing page. With an export from before the clean-up, you can answer in a moment rather than trying to remember.

A CSV is also handy for planning. Open it in a spreadsheet, sort by size or date, add a column for notes, and go through it with the site's owner before anything is touched. Grid by Zaweba, the free spreadsheet in the same family, works with CSV files.

Downloading tagged files before trashing them is a second layer of safety on top of the server trash. The trash lets you restore files while they are still in it; a download keeps a copy on your PC after the trash has been emptied.

A routine for a tidy-up

Scan the server in Disk. Use the treemap, the biggest 100 files and the lens to see where space is going and what looks risky. Export the whole list as shown, so you have a snapshot of the server as it was. Tag what you plan to remove, export the tagged set, and download it if the files are not easily replaced. Then send the tagged files to the trash, check the site, and empty the trash once you are sure.

With two CSV files and a folder of downloads on your PC, the clean-up is fully documented, and if anything needs to come back you have both the list and the files.

Mistakes to avoid

Do not export the wrong view. If the list is set to this branch when you meant to record the whole server, the CSV will only cover that branch. Check the list mode before you export.

Do not rely on a CSV alone for files that matter. A list tells you a file existed; it cannot bring it back. Download anything you might need again.

Do not leave exports and downloads lying about without thinking about what is in them. A server listing can show the structure of a site, and downloaded files may include configuration or data. Keep them somewhere sensible on your PC.

Where this fits

Exports are the quiet companion to everything else in the Disk view of FTP by Zaweba. Tagging decides what to act on, the trash and the operations log let you undo, and an export written before you start means you always know what the server looked like.