The applications for RSS have extended far beyond a way to distribute news items. RSS is now used for everything from tracking packages to car dealer inventories. These reflect one of the great aspects of RSS: you can use it to tell you when something happens that you care about, rather than having to go check for yourself. In that spirit, this article will show you how to write a PHP script that will monitor an FTP server for you, notifying you of the newest files added or changed.
PHP, FTP, and Thee

With all the emphasis on web-related functionality, the FTP commands in PHP are often overlooked. The good news is that these functions are included with standard PHP 4, so no external libraries are required.

It is important to make sure your PHP install has the FTP functions enabled, however. To do this, use phpinfo() in a simple file to see what has been enabled:

<?php
phpinfo();
?>

When you view the above script in your web browser, you'll see the classic PHP Info page with nearly all the configuration information you'll ever need.

Full Article: http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2006/03/22/rss-feeds-for-ftp-servers.html